Every time you delete a file on a Windows 10 PC either by right-clicking on the file and then clicking Delete option or by selecting the file and then hitting the Delete key on the keyboard, the file is moved to the Recycle Bin.
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While there is a provision under Recycle Bin settings to completely delete files instead of moving to Recycle Bin, the option is turned off by default in Windows 10. In short, unless you delete a file using Shift + Delete method, Windows moves selected files to Recycle Bin.
Deleting files to Recycle Bin is safe as you can restore deleted files if you need to access those files for some reason in future. And you can quickly delete all files in the Recycle Bin by right-clicking on the Recycle Bin icon and then clicking Empty Recycle Bin option.
Now, if you have accidentally deleted some files but not sure what all files you deleted, you can easily view all recently deleted files. Please note that you can view only recently deleted files that have been moved to Recycle Bin and not files deleted using Shift + Delete method.
View recently deleted files
Complete the given below directions to view recently deleted files in Windows 10.
IMPORTANT: This method is applicable only if you deleted files to Recycle Bin. If you used Shift + Delete method or any software to permanently delete files, this method can’t help you view recently deleted files.
Step 1: Open up Recycle Bin by double-clicking on its icon on desktop. If you can’t see Recycle Bin icon on desktop area, please refer to our how to add Recycle Bin icon to Windows 10 desktop guide.
Step 2:Right-click on the empty area, click Sort by, and then click Date deleted. That’s it! You can now see all recently deleted files with deleted date next to each file.
To restore a file, simply right-click on a file and then click Restore option to restore the file to its original location. If you want to restore multiple files at once, simply select files that you want to restore, right-click and then click Restore option.
As you can see in the picture, Recycle Bin displays the original location right next to the file name.
Between, if you are looking for a good data recovery tool, do check out the free version of Disk Drill software.
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I have a
$RECYCLE.BIN
folder on my external hard disk that takes up space and contains files that should be deleted permanently. I know that I am allowed to delete this folder, but how do I do that?
- I see the
$RECYCLE.BIN
folder and its files in Defraggler while it is defragmenting these useless (big) files. - However, the Windows recycle bin appears to be empty.
- Doing a disk cleanup from the Properties-dialog of the disk shows the recycle bin as containing 0 bytes of data and doesn't remove those files.
- I cannot see (and therefore not delete) this folder in Windows Explorer, not even when I can view hidden files.
- I can't format the external hard disk as it contains lots of files I want to keep.
- It is an NTFS-formatted external platter hard disk of a bit less than 1 TB.
Community♦
Daniel A.A. PelsmaekerDaniel A.A. Pelsmaeker
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4 Answers
In Windows Explorer's Folder Options dialog, along with ensuring Show hidden files, folders, and drives is selected, you need to ensure the Hide protected operating system files option is not selected.
This should show you all the Recycle Bin folders/files marked with +H and +S attributes.
You can get rid of the entire $Recycle.Bin folder if you're an admin user or via a Linux LiveCD, but Windows will recreate it once you delete some more files on the same drive.
KaranKaran
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The
$RECYCLE.BIN
directory can be deleted from Windows command line rmdir /q /s C:$RECYCLE.BIN
as described in the first answer to this similar question, although as a system virtual folder care should be taken. Also, it will get recreated upon deletion of files from the drive containing it.
Community♦
gm2gm2
In Windows 7 to empty the Recycle Bin on your external hard-drive, go to 'Computer' click on the hard-drive, then right click on the hard-drive and select 'Properties.' On the General tab, click Disk Cleanup. It then shows the space you will save by deleting contents of the Recycle Bin. You can view the files or delete them. The message on this tab 'The Recycle Bin contains files you have deleted from your computer. These files are not permanently removed until you empty the Recycle Bin.
Ramona Grimsley
user269392user269392
When your external hard-drive is plugged in to your computer, you should be able to find the recycle bin on this external drive in windows explorer. Right click on it and emtpy recycle bin (as far as I remember, I have no windows right now).
Or the little more complicated, but always working, way: Download a very small linux live CD (e.g. http://gparted.org/download.php) and copy it on a USB pendrive (e.g. with Unetbootin). Reboot your machine with the linux live system on the pendrive. The system will start from this pendrive and you’ll be able to delete all files you want on your external hard-drive.
erikerik
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