How to recover data from the trash after deletion. How to recover deleted files and folders from the Windows Recycle Bin. Using the Recuva program
First of all, you need to understand that any deleted file can be restored exactly until another is written in its place, on the hard disk. So if you find it is missing, try not to download, copy or install anything to your computer. Otherwise, you risk losing this information forever.
There are usually two main methods used to find and recover deleted data. All recovery utilities work using one, or two methods at once.
- Analysis of folders and their contents
A great way to return data, which retains all the basic information in the form of name, path and properties.
Applications that work on this principle, first of all, will try to read and process the first copy of the information removed from the basket. Often this is enough and deleted files are easily recovered.
Moreover, if the first copy turns out to be damaged and unreadable, then the utility starts trying to search and read other, possible copies of information about files and their structure.
Based on the results of the information found, the process of restoring the structure of folders and files takes place.
- Search for deleted files by their signatures
This method allows you to recover even more deleted information, but the folder structure, names and other information are not restored.
While the recovery program is running, it searches for signatures, which are template data characteristic of certain files. They are usually located at the beginning and at the end of the document.
But recovery is only possible if a signature is found. If it is not there, then only an area of empty space on the disk will be determined in place of the deleted file. There may be a lot of "false" alarms, there will be completely wrong or inoperative files.
Here is a short video on recovering lost files.
Basic steps to recover deleted files
If such a nuisance occurs, then first of all you need to follow the following steps:
- open the trash can, perhaps the deleted document is still there and you can easily restore it;
- but if there is nothing there, then it is not worth writing anything to disk, do not perform any operations with copy and write. When downloading and installing special utilities, do it all on a different logical drive;
- check the disk partition for errors and fix them - in some cases this can help;
- if the deleted files were on the main, system drive, then it is better to turn off the Internet immediately, otherwise downloading an update for the system, or any other software, can destroy all chances of recovery;
- if there were other important documents / photos / videos along with the deleted files, we recommend copying them to another location, creating a backup copy on another medium;
- install and run the data recovery utility and try to recover the loss.
- do not clean up deleted files immediately after placing them in it;
- increase the size of the basket;
- enable confirmation request to delete files.
Conditions under which files can be returned
There is no such program that could recover a lost file with 100% probability. But under different conditions, the chances of recovering a file can either approach this figure or tend to zero. For information to be recovered with the greatest success, the following conditions must be met:
- the file should be relatively small. With an increase in its volume, the chances of returning it to its previous state are significantly reduced;
- no operations related to downloading files, installing programs, copying and recording were performed with the disk on which the deleted data was located;
- after the data was deleted, the computer was turned off and did not boot anymore. The best option for file recovery is the use of special bootable operating systems that work from removable media;
- the file system of the disk partition was NTFS. If FAT or any other was used, then data recovery becomes much more difficult.
File recovery software
There are many quite working programs that can help out in such a situation. Now let's look at a couple of them.
Piriform recuva
One of the most convenient utilities for recovering files, we also published a post about using this utility.
Its main advantages:
- absolutely free;
- can work without installation and run from removable media;
- friendly and intuitive interface.
The file recovery process is as follows:
When the program starts, a wizard window with recovery options will open. Press "Next".
Select the type of file that will be restored and click "Next". 
After a while, the search will end and a table with all found files will appear. Find the one you want, mark and indicate the place where the program will save it. Click on the "Restore" button. It is desirable that the save location is on a different medium, and not where the file was deleted. 
To speed up the search, specify the location where the lost file was. You can specify a variant and "Unknown exactly", but this complicates the search process. Click Next again.
Further, the search for data will be performed, according to the specified parameters, which can still be really restored. 
Then the selected files will be restored and saved. 
At the end, a small window will appear with statistics on the work done by the program. 
DM Disk editor and data recovery
This program also works well and is capable of recovering files deleted from the recycle bin with a high probability. 
The main positive features of this utility:
- the possibility of using the free version;
- works with many different media, including;
- supports several major types of file systems.
Data recovery using this utility looks like this:
After installation, run it and a window appears in which you must specify the original location of the remote file. After that press the "OK" button. 
Next, select the desired disk partition. First you need to mark the desired medium and then select the section. After these actions, at the bottom, click the "Open volume" button. 
A window will open with basic data about the selected disk partition, file system type and much more. At the bottom, check the "search for lost directories" checkbox and click the "Open" button.
This will open a window with a table of data that can still be restored. 
In this list, find everything that needs to be saved from imminent loss, mark the checkboxes and click "Restore". You can select files separately, right-click on them and press "Restore".
In the process of working with a computer, we have to regularly delete files. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that sometimes there are situations when the files we need are deleted by mistake. In most cases, we can restore them from the Trash, but if after deleting the Trash was emptied, then the situation becomes more serious. The problem appears, how to recover files deleted from the recycle bin.
To solve this problem, you have to resort to. In this article, we will demonstrate how this is done using the example of the Recuva program. This program is completely free and has a very simple and intuitive interface. Therefore, it is ideal for less experienced users.
Step # 1. Launch the Recuva program and click on the "Next" button.
Immediately after starting the Recuva program, you will see a wizard for recovering files. If you click on the "Next" button, the program will continue to work in the "Wizard" mode. Whereas when you click on the "Cancel" button, the standard interface of the Recuva program will open. If you have little experience in, then it is better to click on the "Next" button and use the wizard. It is this option that we will consider in this article.
Step # 2. Select the file type.
The next step is to select the file type. You will be presented with a list of the most common file types. Select the type of files you want to recover. For example, if you deleted photos, then select the "Pictures" type, if you deleted Word / Excel documents, then select the "Documents" type. If you need to recover files of different types, or the file type you need is not in this list, then select the "All files" option.
Step number 3. Choose a location for storing files.
Next, you need to indicate where the files that we want to restore were stored. If you remember exactly the folder where the files were located, then select the "In the specified location" option and use the "Browse" button to select the folder where the files were previously deleted from the trash can. Specifying the exact location of the files should make them easier to recover.
If you do not remember which folder the files were in before you deleted them from the basket, then select the "In the basket" option. In this case, Recuva will search for all files that have been deleted from the recycle bin.
Step # 5. Start searching for files.
This completes the setup, and the program will ask you to click on the "Start" button.
After clicking on the "Start" button, disk analysis will start. The time it takes to search for files deleted from the recycle bin depends on the speed of your hard drive and the settings that you specified earlier.
After the analysis is complete, a list of found files will appear.
Step # 5. Recover files deleted from the recycle bin.
Once the files are found, we can restore them. To do this, you need to check the boxes next to the files you need and click on the "Restore" button.
After that, file recovery will start. The time it takes to recover files depends on their number, size and speed of your hard drive.
After all deleted files have been restored, a window will appear with information about the number of recovered files and the elapsed time.
As you can see, files deleted from the recycle bin were recovered without problems. At the same time, only a couple of minutes of time was spent on recovery.
Many, especially novice computer users, at least once had to mistakenly delete the necessary files, folders and even the trash can from the desktop. And then the problem arises, how to restore the basket and folders?
Restore basket
It is very easy to return the basket to the workplace, and it will take just a minute. However, inexperienced users usually do not know the shopping cart and start looking for information on the Internet. And you can do this in two ways - through or on the Desktop.
How to restore the basket via To do this, right-click on the Desktop and select the "Personalization" section in the list that opens. In the left column of the window that opens, click on the line "Change icons", put a tick next to the item "Trash". It remains to click at the bottom on "Apply" and "OK". The trash can icon will return to the Desktop.
How to restore the trash from the Control Panel? Click "Start", then "Control Panel" and "Appearance". A window will open in which you need to find the "Personalization" section. Then proceed in exactly the same way as on the Desktop.
Recover a file from the recycle bin
Every user has had cases of accidentally deleting files. Can I get back deleted folders and files? First you need to check the trash can - maybe the files are there. Recovering from the basket couldn't be easier. To do this, you need to open the trash can and find the deleted file, select it, right-click on it, and then select the "Restore" item. The object will be restored to where it was deleted from.
Recover file if trash is empty
It is somewhat more difficult to get the file back if the recycle bin is empty. You can restore the folder after emptying the trash can using special programs that need to be installed on your computer.
You should be aware that after deleting a file from the recycle bin, only its name is erased, and the file itself remains on the hard disk, but only until a new one is written over it. In order to detect files without names, you need a special program. On the Internet, you can find free and paid applications for. When downloading, the program cannot be saved to the same disk where the folders that need to be restored are located. Otherwise, the program files may overwrite the lost folders, and then they cannot be returned.
One such program is the free Recuva, the latest version of which is easy to find on the Internet and download. Then the downloaded program must be installed on the computer, following simple and clear prompts. During installation, it is important not to forget that it cannot be installed on the same drive where the files you are looking for are located. If the lost folder is on the C drive, then you should change the path to the file in the installation window, since by default all programs are installed on this drive.
After installation and clicking "Finish", the recovery wizard will appear on the desktop. You will be prompted to specify the type of file to be restored: document, music, video and others. You should mark the type and go to the next window, where you need to mark the location of the file, choosing from the proposed options. After clicking "Next", the program will offer to start the search. It is necessary to check the "Advanced search" box and click "Start".
The search time will depend on the size of the disk and the power of the computer, which may take more than a dozen minutes. After that, the program will display a list of files that can be recovered. It is required to find the lost file among them, put a tick next to it and click "Recover". The wizard will prompt you to select a folder where you want to place the recovered document or photo. After a few seconds, the file will be returned to your computer.
If in the place of the desired file the inscription "Viewing is not available" is found, this means that there is a new record over it and recovery is impossible.
The program offers a transition to the advanced mode. In this case, the list will look like a table, and it will be possible to view the contents of the files.
I accidentally deleted a file, and then cleaned the trash can - almost every active user faced such a situation. It is good if information that can be quickly taken from another source turned out to be erased. But what if the data in a single copy turned out to be deleted?
If you did not have time to empty the trash from deleted files, then proceed as follows:
- Double click on the "Trash" icon on your desktop.
- Highlight the data you want.
- Click the "Restore" button.
The deleted files will reappear in the place where they were previously stored. But what to do after emptying the trash can? Can you restore your shopping cart?
Returning information deleted from the basket
Yes, you can even recover deleted files from an emptied Recycle Bin. Special utilities will help to do this, which will find traces of the necessary data and return the lost information to its place. The fact is that in Windows, data is not completely destroyed even after emptying the recycle bin. Only records in the file table are erased, which allows the system to use the free space to write new information. As long as you haven't written new data to the place of the deleted file, there are excellent chances to recover the lost information. The main rule of recovery follows from this:
Do not write new information to the disk from which you want to recover files!
If the deleted data was on the Windows system partition, then it is better to remove the hard drive and connect it to another computer. If the information was stored on a section with files, then do not write anything else on it.
Using the Recuva program
Important: when choosing a location to save files, avoid the media from which they were recovered. Write them to another disk for now to avoid possible data overwriting.
The chances of recovery are increased if there is a green circle next to the file. It says that the data is not damaged or overwritten, which means that it can be returned. A yellow circle indicates that the information has been corrupted, a red color indicates a complete loss of data.
Working with the DMDE utility
If the Recuva program did not help you recover the files you need after removing them from the system, then try another utility for Windows - DMDE. You can download it for free on the official website of the program. 
DMDE works without installation - at startup, you just need to select a language and accept the terms of the license agreement. Further steps for data recovery:
You will have to search for the files you need by resolution - doc, png, exe, etc. To return the data, right-click and select "Recover files". 
While saving the information, select another medium (not the one from which the recovery was performed) and mark the options "Selected object" and "Only deleted". The user will be notified of a successful recovery using a pop-up window that appears when the operation is complete.