{"id":28159,"date":"2020-04-08T00:58:45","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T00:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/?p=28159"},"modified":"2026-08-12T14:35:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:35:03","slug":"how-to-recover-deleted-files-from-the-recycle-bin-after-empty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/recover-files-from-recycle-bin-after-empty.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Recover Deleted Files from the Recycle Bin After Empty"},"content":{"rendered":"

What if you sent the wrong files to the Recycle Bin, meant to restore them later, but emptied the bin instead? Or deleted something, moved on, and only realized days later that you need to recover files from Recycle Bin after empty?\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

✅ The recovery process is obviously not as simple as emptying the bin. But. It is often doable. And today, we\u2019ll show you how to do it in 5 steps.<\/div>\r\n

<\/span>Can You Restore the Recycle Bin After Emptying It?<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

Yes, it\u2019s possible to restore emptied Recycle Bin, but it helps to understand what actually happens first.<\/p>\r\n

When you delete a file normally, Windows does not move the file\u2019s contents into some separate \u201cRecycle Bin storage area.\u201d It changes how the file is referenced by the file system and shows it inside the Recycle Bin, so you can restore it if needed.<\/p>\r\n

\"emptying<\/p>\r\n

When you finally empty the Recycle Bin in Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and older, the storage space that was occupied by the files gets marked as available, which means that other applications can use it to store data. However, until some application uses the freed storage space, the original files are still there intact, which is why it\u2019s possible to recover files from Recycle Bin after empty. That is why new activity on the same drive matters so much; some of that new data may be written over the deleted files. Once that happens, recovery becomes much harder or impossible.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

If you use Shift + Delete<\/a>, the file skips the Recycle Bin completely. In that case, there is no simple Restore button, but the recovery logic is similar: the file data may still exist on the drive until Windows reuses that space.\u00a0<\/div>\r\n

Set your expectations before you start. Your recovery chances depend mostly on two things: how much the original drive was used after deletion, and what type of drive the files were stored on.<\/p>\r\n

If the files were on an HDD, recovery is often possible as long as new data has not overwritten them. If they were on an SSD, the chances would be lower because TRIM <\/a>may have already cleared deleted data in the background. Either way, stop using the drive as soon as you notice the loss and go through the steps below. The only way to know for sure if something is still recoverable is to scan the drive and check the results for yourself.<\/p>\r\n

<\/span>How to Restore Deleted Files After Emptying the Recycle Bin<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

Technically, there are several ways how to recover deleted files<\/a>, but realistically, in most cases, you are going to need data recovery software. So we\u2019ll start there and use Disk Drill<\/a> for our walkthrough. It can scan the drive where the files were stored before deletion, find recoverable data, and help you save those files back to a location of your choice.<\/p>\r\n

Disk Drill for Windows is a professional-grade data recovery solution that runs on Windows 11 and Windows 10 in the latest version, with older<\/a> Disk Drill versions available for Windows 7, Windows 8\/8.1, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.
\r\nEven though Disk Drill is designed with regular home users in mind, it is not a basic tool under the hood. It supports a wide range of file formats<\/a> and combines multiple scan methods to find deleted or lost files.<\/div>\r\n

Disk Drill for Windows is available in Free<\/a>, Pro, and Enterprise. The Free version provides up to 100 MB of recovery<\/b> across all methods, so you can validate results on real files from the emptied Recycle Bin before upgrading.<\/p>\r\n

<\/span>Step 1:<\/span> Download Disk Drill and Install It on Your PC<\/span><\/h3>\r\n
Warning<\/b>: If the files were stored on your system drive before you moved them to the Recycle Bin, do not install Disk Drill there if you can avoid it. Deleted files remain in the same physical area of the drive where they were before deletion, and Windows simply marks that space as available. The safer option is to install Disk Drill on another drive, such as an external drive or a separate internal disk. For example, if the lost files were on C:, install Disk Drill somewhere other than C: if possible.<\/div>\r\n

Download the free version of Disk Drill<\/a> from its website and install it just like you would any other Windows application. All modern versions of Windows are supported, and there\u2019s also a separate version of Disk Drill available for computers running macOS.<\/a><\/p>\r\n

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\r\n \"Disk \r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n download-block-title<\/b>
\r\n download-block-text \r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/svg>\r\ndownload-block-button-text\r\n<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n

<\/span>Step 2:<\/span> Launch Disk Drill and Select the Drive That Contained the Deleted Files<\/span><\/h3>\r\n

Next, you need to launch Disk Drill and tell it to analyze the storage device where the files were located before you deleted them by clicking on the Search for lost data<\/b> button next to it. In most cases, the system drive, which is the drive that contains the operating system and all related system files, is marked with the letter C, while other storage devices are marked with letters D, E, F, G, and so on.<\/p>\r\n

\"can<\/p>\r\n

If Disk Drill shows a window asking you to choose a scan mode, select Universal Scan<\/b>. The name says it all: this mode is the best starting point for most Recycle Bin recovery cases.<\/p>\r\n

<\/span>Step 3:<\/span> Select the Files You Want to Restore from the Recycle Bin<\/span><\/h3>\r\n

Depending on the size and condition of your drive, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to much longer. You do not have to wait for it to finish, though. Disk Drill starts showing found files while the scan is still running, so you can see the results right away.<\/p>\r\n

\"how<\/p>\r\n

Click Review found items<\/b> at the top to open the full results view (or if you need to recover deleted photos from Recycle Bin after empty, open the Pictures<\/b> category). Here, you\u2019ll see all files found so far, organized into subcategories.<\/p>\r\n

\"The<\/p>\r\n

For a Recycle Bin recovery case, start with Deleted or lost<\/b>. This is usually where files deleted from the Recycle Bin are most likely to appear. You may also see a Reconstructed<\/b> section. These are files Disk Drill found by their file signatures rather than original file system records.<\/p>\r\n

\"Check<\/p>\r\n

When you click a file, check the preview pane on the right. Disk Drill can preview many file formats, though preview support also depends on what Windows can open and which third-party viewers are installed on your system.<\/p>\r\n

If you see a correct preview, that is an excellent sign. It means the file survived and should recover properly. But the opposite is not always true: if there is no preview, the file may still be recoverable. Recover it and open manually to check.<\/p>\r\n

Tip<\/b>: Use Disk Drill\u2019s filters to narrow the results faster. You can filter by file type, modification date, file size, recovery chances. If you remember part of the file name or the extension, use the search field too. For example, you can search for a partial name like invoice or an extension like \u2018jpg or \u2018docx\u2019.<\/div>\r\n

Select the files you want to restore by marking the checkboxes next to them.<\/p>\r\n

<\/span>Step 4:<\/span> Choose Where to Save the Recovered Files<\/span><\/h3>\r\n

When ready, click Recover<\/b>. Disk Drill allows you to choose where you want to restore the deleted files, and it\u2019s highly advisable to select a recovery directory that\u2019s not on the same storage device as the files you want to recover. The reason is the same as before: every new file written to that drive can overwrite deleted data that may still be recoverable.<\/p>\r\n

\"how<\/p>\r\n

<\/span>Step 5:<\/span> Finish the Recovery and Check Your Files<\/span><\/h3>\r\n

With your files selected and the recovery directory specified, all that is left is to click Next<\/b> and let Disk Drill restore the files. The actual recovery shouldn\u2019t take more than a few moments to complete.<\/p>\r\n

Once Disk Drill finishes, it will show a completion window with a Show recovered data in Explorer<\/b> button. Click it to open the folder where your files were saved, then check the files one by one to make sure they are fine.<\/p>\r\n

\"how<\/p>\r\n

Video Tutorial<\/b><\/p>\r\n

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