How to restore permanently deleted files from Recycle Bin? Try Previous Versions, official tool - Windows File Recovery, or data recovery software - AOMEI FastRecovery.
Recently, I found some files recording my Dad’s life story. Then I put the locked files in the Recycle Bin and emptied it mistakenly. My father had a major brain injury and cannot tell me anything about it. So, is it possible to recover permanently deleted files in Windows 10? Any suggestions will be appreciated.
- Question from Reddit
Yes, permanently deleted files are recoverable. However, these files are no longer in the Recycle Bin but remain within the system until new data overwrites the space.
So, how to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin after emptying it or pressing the “Shift + Delete” keys. If you have no idea about it, please read the step-by-step instructions below.
Microsoft Windows has released many practical backup features that allow you to backup user data and restore it if your files are deleted, missing, or corrupted.
📍📍📍Notes:
✅ To restore from Previous Versions, be sure to enable System Restore or File History first.
✅ One of the most exciting point of this feature is that you’ll get a list of your files to select from.
Step 1. Press the “Win + E” keys to open Windows File Explorer. Then, find the folder containing your needed files, right-click it, and select the “Properties” option.
Step 2. Under the Previous Versions tab, select a file version and click “Restore”.
If there are no usable backups, please use data recovery software to recover permanently deleted files. Windows File Recovery, released by Microsoft, is a free command line utility and may be your best bet. It can recover lost Word documents, Excel, PPT, PDF, ZIP, JPG, JPEG, PNG, etc., and support different storage devices, such as internal and external hard drives, USB sticks, and SD cards.
👉Notes:
Before starting the Recycle Bin recovery, please figure out the mode and switches you want to fill in the basic command format.
Step 1. Check the file system of your source drive. Click “This PC” to find and right-click on the source drive, then select “Properties”.
Step 2. Select the basic “Regular” or “Extensive” mode after checking your file system and data loss scenarios.
|
File system |
Scenarios |
mode |
|
NTFS |
Deleted recently |
Regular |
|
NTFS |
Deleted for a while |
Extensive |
|
NTFS |
Formatted disk |
Extensive |
|
NTFS |
corrupted disk |
Extensive |
|
FAT and exFAT |
Any |
Extensive |
Step 3. Select some common switches from the following form.
|
Switch |
Description |
Supported modes |
|
/y: |
Recover specific extension groups, comma-separated |
Signature |
|
/p: |
Saves a log file of the recovery operation in a different location than the default location on the recovery drive (for example, D:\logfile). |
All |
|
/a |
Overrides user prompts, which is useful in a script file. |
All |
|
/u |
Recovers undeleted files, for example, from the Recycle Bin. |
NTFS Segment |
|
/k |
Recovers system files. |
NTFS Segment |
|
/g |
Recovers files without primary data streams. |
NTFS Segment |
|
/e |
To keep your results manageable and focus on user files, some file types are filtered by default, but this switch removes that filter. |
NTFS Segment |
|
/e: |
Specifies which file types are filtered. |
NTFS Segment |
Step 4. Download Windows File Recovery from Microsoft Store. Then, click “Open” after installing it.
Step 5. To restore permanently deleted files (e.g., PDF files ) from F drive to D drive, type “winfr F: D: /extensive /n*.pdf” in the command prompt window. Then, press “y” to start the Recycle Bin recovery process. To stop the recovery process, press the “Ctrl + C” keys.
To some degree, freeware Windows File Recovery is a powerful data recovery tool, but it’s not suitable for everyone. So, how to restore permanently deleted files from Recycle Bin? In this scenario, why not utilize another, more well-designed software like AOMEI FastRecovery?
Better to act than to think! Download it to solve your permanent deletion issues now!
🌟 Pro Tip: For a higher data recovery possibility, please stop using this drive immediately and avoid writing new data to it after data loss.
Step 1. Launch it on the computer. Hover the mouse over the drive with saved deleted files, and click Scan.
Step 2. The windows will display all the recoverable files by Type or Path after quick scanning. For specific files or folders, the easiest method to find them quickly is to search directly.
Step 3. Select permanently deleted files and click the “Recover” button to get your selected files back. Please save them in a new path to avoid data overwriting.
📍📍📍Notes:
✅ Click the Deep Scan button if the Quick Scan fails to locate the desired files. Deep Scan searches every sector of the disk to find more files.
✅ AOMEI FastRecovery supports you to recover files for free, up to 500MB. To recover unlimited files, please consider upgrading to the advanced edition.
This article describes 3 useful methods and how to restore permanently deleted files from Recycle Bin step by step.