How to Recover Deleted Files from the Recycle Bin (Even AFTER Empty)

If you need to recover recently deleted files from the Recycle Bin, it usually takes just a couple of clicks and can be done without any hassle. But what if the files are gone? Maybe you emptied the bin by mistake, or perhaps it happened automatically. That’s an entirely different story. To spoil the ending—it basically leaves you with two options: look for backups or, if you have none, use data recovery software.

How to Recover Data from the Recycle Bin BEFORE Empty

It’s always the easiest to recover lost data before the Recycle Bin has been emptied. If you haven’t made any recovery attempts yet, we highly recommend you start with the two simple methods described below. You might get lucky and successfully undelete all lost files without having to download and use a third-party data recovery software application.

Method 1: Try the CTRL + Z Shortcut

The Windows operating system remembers your actions, allowing you to undo recent changes, such as the deletion of an important file or folder. How? By pressing a single keyboard shortcut: CTRL + Z.

Method 2: Check the Recycle Bin One Last Time

You’ve probably already done that, but practice shows that many users often forget to check the Recycle Bin to see if the files have actually been deleted. So, to recover data directly from the Recycle Bin:

1. Open the Recycle Bin by double-clicking on its icon.
2. Locate the items that you want to recover.
3. Check the box next to the files or folders you want to retrieve.
4. Right-click and select Restore to recover the items to their original locations.

Method 3: Check Your OneDrive

OneDrive is seamlessly integrated into Windows, with its backup and restore features easily accessible. If you have an existing backup of your deleted files on your OneDrive account, you can access and restore your backup by logging into your OneDrive account.

You can access your OneDrive account online or using the File Explorer > OneDrive – Personal. Then, search for the files you want to recover and download or copy them to your local drive.

Is Recycle Bin Recovery Possible?

The only issue is that Windows doesn’t come with a built-in data recovery application to restore access to permanently deleted files, unless, of course, you consider the Windows File Recovery tool – but even that isn’t truly native. Consequently, you’ll often need to rely on third-party data recovery software.

Here’s a 30-second explanation of how it works:

1. Data recovery software analyzes your storage devices, looking for all recoverable files.
2. The software then lets you specify which files you want to restore.
3. The restored files are moved to a safe location, and the logical links to them are restored.

All this sounds simple in theory, but there are many factors that may influence your recovery success rate, including the cause of the data loss, the quality of the selected data recovery application, the amount of time passed since the data loss incident took place, and the type of storage device on which the deleted files were stored.

As we already said, to achieve the best results, you should begin the data recovery process as soon as possible and use the best recovery tool available.

How to Recover Deleted Files from the Recycle Bin After Empty

So, as we discovered, just because you’ve already emptied the Recycle Bin folder doesn’t mean that your files are gone for good. If you act quickly enough and closely follow the instructions below, you should be able to get them back in no time.

For the purposes of this article, we’ve chosen to use Disk Drill as our preferred data recovery software, and there are several compelling reasons for this choice. We will list all of them below to save you time. Personally, I am a huge fan of Disk Drill and use it as my go-to software for most of my data recovery tasks. You’ll also find a link to my review of the tool below.

Step 1: Download, Install, and Launch Disk Drill to Start Recycle Bin Recovery

First, you need to download Disk Drill and install it on your computer (if possible, avoid downloading and installing it on the same drive or partition where the deleted files were originally stored). Then launch the application by double-clicking its newly created desktop icon.

Step 2: Choose the Location and Start Scanning for Lost Files

Disk Drill’s main window will display all available disks for recovery. Select the disk or partition where the deleted files were originally stored, then click the Search for lost data button to initiate the scan. By default, Disk Drill uses all available scanning methods automatically, so no additional settings are needed.

Step 3: Preview and Select Files for Recovery

Once Disk Drill finishes scanning your disk, you’ll be able to preview the files available for restoration in the recovery panel.

Files are grouped by type, such as Pictures or Documents, to streamline this process. You can view all files inside a folder and nested subfolders by holding the ALT key and clicking on the top folder. To preview a file, simply hover your mouse over it and click the preview icon (a small eye). Generally, all files that can be previewed can also be successfully recovered. Just keep in mind that the preview feature can only preview file formats supported by Windows and/or third-party file viewers/openers installed on your system.

When you find a file or folder that you want to recover, click the checkbox next to it to add it to the recovery queue.

Step 4: Click 'Recover' to Initiate the Recovery

After making your selections, click the Recover button and you will be prompted to choose a recovery destination for the selected files. Avoid using the same disk to minimize the chances of file corruption during recovery. Disk Drill will confirm that you’ve selected a suitable destination. Click Next to proceed.

Step 5: View the Recovered Files

It should take just a short while for Disk Drill to recover your files and display the “Data recovery complete” message. To view the recovered files, click the Show recovered data in Explorer button.

If you’re not satisfied with your recovery results, you can return to the list of all the disks that are available for recovery and try to rescan the disk or scan another disk. You can also try other software solutions, but our experience shows that Disk Drill has one of the highest recovery rates on the market, if not the highest.

So, here’s why we believe Disk Drill is an excellent software to begin your data recovery journey with:

• 🤗 Disk Drill has an intuitive and polished user interface that reduces the entire data recovery process into a single click on the Recover button.
• 🦾 It supports hundreds of file formats and can restore them from most storage devices and file systems, making it a professional-grade data recovery solution loved by over 500,000 PRO clients and used by many world-famous companies.It supports NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, EXT3, EXT4, and more. NTFS is our main focus here because your internal/system disk, where the files were stored before deletion, is most likely using this Windows file system. Disk Drill has proven to be extremely capable when it comes to recovery from NTFS partitions.
• ⏱ With Quick Scan, you can discover all recently deleted files from the Recycle Bin in no time. In addition to Quick Scan, Disk Drill also features Deep Scan, which is designed for more complex scenarios like file system loss or formatting. It can recover files even when the file system has been replaced, reinstalled, or lost entirely. Another mode, which is a kind of sub-mode of Deep Scan, is Signature Scan. It operates independently of the file system by identifying unique data patterns or “signatures” linked to specific file types. Signature Scan works well for recovering individual file types but will not preserve original file names or folder structures.
• 🛡️ Disk Drill recovers your files in the safest manner possible, taking great care not to cause more harm than good. It warns against recovering files to the same storage device on which they were originally located.
• 🆓 The free version of Disk Drill enables you to recover up to 500 MB of data, and the Pro Edition has no limitation on the amount of data that can be recovered.
• 📁 Disk Drill can recover files with original names and directory structures using advanced algorithms that analyze file system metadata and other information. This is only possible if the metadata wasn’t erased or damaged during data loss.

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Want to learn more about Disk Drill? Read our full review. If Disk Drill doesn’t resonate with you, check out other options from our list of top data recovery software.

How to Recover Files Deleted From the Recycle Bin after Empty Without Software

You actually don’t need to download and install a third-party software solution to recover files deleted from the Recycle Bin if you had enabled one of the built-in data backup features in Windows prior to data loss.

Method 1: Restore a Previous Version from File History

Recent versions of the Windows operating system come with a backup feature called File History. When enabled, File History takes regular backups of files stored in the Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, and Desktop folders.

As its name suggests, File History creates incremental backups of files that can be restored at a later date, allowing you to go back in time and get back an older version of a file that has been overwritten a long time ago.

Here’s what you need to do to recover previous versions of files from File History:

1. Right-click on the folder that contained the deleted file.
2. Choose Restore previous version from the menu.
3. Select the version you want to restore and click the Restore button.

Method 2: Restore Files from Windows Backup and Restore

Windows 7 introduced a backup feature that allowed its users to back up selected libraries, folders, and system data with a few simple clicks. Called Backup and Restore, the feature offers two main backup options:

• 💡 Let Windows choose: Windows will back up data files saved in libraries, on the desktop, and in default Windows folders. Windows will also create a system image, which can be used to restore your computer if it stops working. These items will be backed up on a regular schedule.
• 🤔 Let me choose: You can select libraries and folders and whether to include a system image in the backup. The items you choose will be backed up on a regular schedule.

Regardless of which of the two options you choose, you can always recover your data with minimal effort.

For Windows 7 Systems:

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Select System and Security.
3. Choose Backup and Restore.
4. Click Restore my files and follow the wizard.

For Windows 10 Users:

1. Open Settings.
2. Choose Update & Security.
3. Select the Backup.
4. Click the Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7) options.
5. Select a backup to restore from and follow the instructions.

For Windows 11 Users:

1. Connect the external storage device that contains your backup files.
2. Type Control Panel in the search box on the taskbar.
3. Select Control Panel from the list of results.
4. Select Backup and Restore (Windows 7).
5. Choose the backup you want to restore files from.
6. Select the location of your external storage device.
7. Follow the instructions provided to complete the restoration of your files.

Method 3: Restore Files from Cloud Backup

We already mentioned cloud backups when we talked about OneDrive, and here’s what you should know: while OneDrive won’t help in cases where files are emptied from the Recycle Bin (since your local Recycle Bin and OneDrive’s Recycle Bin are synced), not all cloud services work the same way. Sometimes, this difference can work to your advantage.

For example, Google Drive handles deletions differently. When you delete a synced file, it de-syncs the file, creating a situation where the deleted file is no longer in your computer’s Recycle Bin but stays in Google Drive’s Recycle Bin, called “Trash.” If you’re one of the lucky ones who backed up your files with Google Drive before the deletions, here’s a quick guide on how to retrieve deleted files from Google Drive’s “Recycle bin”:

1. Log into your Google Drive account via a web browser.
2. In the left-hand menu, click on Trash (or “Bin” in some regions).
3. Browse through the list of deleted files to locate the one you want to recover.
4. Right-click the file and select Restore to return it to its original folder in your Google Drive.

That’s it—your file will be restored and available again in its original location.

Other cloud services, may also retain deleted files in their own versions of a recycle bin for a certain period. Be sure to check the policies and retention timelines for the specific cloud service you’re using.

Best Practices to Prevent Loss of Important Data

It’s always a good idea to take extra steps in order to prevent the loss of important data. Even though it’s usually possible to recover deleted files from the Recycle Bin or using a data recovery software tool like Disk Drill, why risk permanent data loss when you can easily prevent it by following the tips below?

FAQ