You're having trouble finding a certain file on your Windows PC and you have a hunch you may have deleted it. We've all been there. But rather than moan and groan, you can try to recover it. Assuming you've already scoured the Recycle Bin and have come up empty, that's when it's time to turn to a good recovery tool.

Microsoft offers its own command-line recovery program, though it's not what I'd call user-friendly. Instead, you can use free programs like Recuva and Glarysoft File Recovery Free. Here's how they work.


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You've probably already used the Recycle Bin to bring back a file. In a nutshell, Windows devotes a small percentage of your hard disk space to a hidden system folder known as the Recycle Bin. This ensures that deleted files aren't actually deleted but kept in reserve. As long as you don't permanently delete the file or empty the Bin, the file should be available for you to recover, at least for a certain length of time.

Simply open the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop. As with any folder, you can sort the files by name, location, date, and other criteria. You can also search for a file by name. Once you find the file you wish to recover, right-click on it and select Restore.

When you delete a file, the data isn't physically removed from your disk. Rather, its space is marked as available by the operating system, which means the clusters allocated to that file can be overwritten by new data. If you swoop in quickly enough, the file may be fully intact and recoverable. The longer you wait, though, the greater the chances that most or all of a file's clusters will be overwritten, reducing the odds of fully recovering it.

Microsoft provides a free command-line utility for Windows 10 and 11 that tries to recover deleted files. Known as Windows File Recovery, the tool supports mechanical hard drives, SSDs, USB drives, and memory cards. It also offers both regular and extensive modes in an attempt to revive a file.

As a command-line program, Windows File Recovery can be challenging to use, requiring you to nail the proper syntax and switches (a GUI version is sorely needed). And even then, it doesn't always find or recover the files you need.

I've used several different third-party recovery tools and have generally had success with them. Again, their effectiveness rests largely upon how quickly you attempt to recover a file after it's been deleted. But assuming the file is still fully or largely intact, these tools will help you revive it.

Available in both free and paid flavors, Recuva is able to bring back files from internal and external hard drives, USB sticks, and memory cards. The website offers the full installation version of Recuva, but elsewhere you'll find a portable version to install on a USB stick, which avoids writing any new data to your hard drive.

The program kicks off with a wizard that asks you what types of files you're trying to recover and where they're located. Recuva then scans the chosen location and returns any deleted files available for recovery.

After the scan, Recuva will display the names of any matching files and indicate the odds of a successful recovery. You can even preview many types of files. Select the file and click the Recover button to bring it back.

Glarysoft starts by asking which drives or partitions on your PC you wish to scan. The program then runs a quick scan to search for deleted files. During or after the scan, you can track down specific files by type, location, and name.

Once the scan is complete, the tool shows you a list of all lost files and their recovery status, allowing you to browse or search for the one you want. You can even preview images and other readable types of files to make sure you've got the correct one.

The biggest drawback with the free edition is that you can recover only up to three files and as much as 2GB in size. For more, the Pro edition costs $50 per year. But if you just need to recover one or two or three files, the free flavor will do the trick.

If you can't find a file on your computer or you accidently modified or deleted a file, you can restore it from a backup (if you're using Windows backup) or you can try to restore it from a previous version. Previous versions are copies of files and folders that Windows automatically saves as part of a restore point. Previous versions are sometimes referred to as shadow copies.

Navigate to the folder that used to contain the file or folder, right-click it, and then select Restore previous versions. If the folder was at the top level of a drive, for example C:\, right-click the drive, and then select Restore previous versions.


You'll see a list of available previous versions of the file or folder. The list will include files saved on a backup (if you are using Windows Backup to back up your files) as well as restore points, if both types are available.

Right-click the file or folder, and then select Restore previous versions.


You'll see a list of available previous versions of the file or folder. The list will include files saved on a backup (if you're using Windows Backup to back up your files) as well as restore points, if both types are available.



The source and destination drives must be different. When recovering from the operating system drive (often C: ), use the /n switches to specify the user files or folder. 

Microsoft automatically creates a recovery folder for you called, Recovery_ on the destination drive.

When you are prompted for confirmation to continue, enter Y to start the recovery operation. Depending on the size of your source drive, this may take a while. To stop the recovery process, press Ctrl + C.

There are several file systems supported by Windows that vary depending on the storage device or operating system. Recovering files from non-NTFS file systems is only supported by extensive mode. To see which file system you have, right click a drive in File Explorer and select Properties.

To keep your results manageable and focus on user files, some file types are filtered by default, but this switch removes that filter. For a complete list of these file types, see the information after this table.

Behind the scenes, Windows is constantly creating and deleting files. By default, Windows File Recovery filters out these files, but some slip through. To prevent this, use the /n as per examples in this article.

For NTFS and segment modes, you may also see lost files recovered from the Recycle Bin (files either in the recycle bin or that were permanently deleted) with the name $files.xxx and stored in a folder called $RECYCLE.BIN.

When you are prompted for confirmation to continue, enter Y to start the recovery operation.


Depending on the size of your source drive, this may take a while.


To stop the recovery process, press Ctrl+C.

There are several file systems supported by Windows that vary depending on the storage device or operating system. Recovering files from non-NTFS file systems is only supported in signature mode. To see which file system you have, right click a drive in File Explorer and select Properties.

Scans for files with specific file types. Separate multiple entries by using commas. For a list of extension groups and corresponding file types, see the table, "Signature mode extension groups and file types" in the section, "About modes and file systems".

Behind the scenes, Windows is constantly creating and deleting files. By default, Windows File Recovery filters out these files, but some slip through. To prevent this, use the /n switch in default and segment modes and the /y: switch in signature mode.

For default and segment modes, you may also see lost files recovered from the Recycle Bin (files either in the recycle bin or that were permanently deleted) with the name $files.xxx and stored in a folder called $RECYCLE.BIN.

Windows File Recovery can revive photos, documents, videos, and other types of files on a mechanical hard drive, SSD, USB drive, or memory card. The program supports FAT, NTFS, and exFAT file systems. FAT and exFAT are used for SD cards, flash drives, and USB drives with less than 4GB of storage. NTFS is typically used on mechanical drives, SSDs, external hard drives, flash drives, and USB drives larger than 4GB.

The initial version of Windows File Recovery released in the summer of 2020 offered three different recovery modes: Default, Segment, and Signature, each one geared for specific circumstances. The version launched during the winter of 2021 narrowed your options to two modes as a way to simplify the program:

Extensive mode is designed to recover files that were deleted a while ago, after the drive has been reformatted, or if the disk itself has been corrupted. Extensive mode supports NTFS, FAT, and exFAT partitions. This mode takes longer to scan your disk but stands a better chance of tracking down the deleted file.

After you type the command, the tool prompts you to continue. Type Y, and Windows File Recovery scans your drive for the deleted file. If the file is located, the app tries to recover it. If successful, the app places it in the Recovery_ folder on the destination drive. The command ends by asking if you want to view recovered files. Type Y.

The good news is that not all hope is lost when you select wrong files and accidentally delete them because there are many ways how to recover permanently deleted files on Windows 10 users should know about, and we describe them all in this article.

File History is a replacement for the Backup and Restore feature that was present in older version of the Windows operating system, allowing for simply Recycle Bin recovery Windows 10 as well as for the recovery of permanently deleted files. 2351a5e196

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