Finding your recently deleted files, photos, or other data can be important if you accidentally removed something that you still need. Thankfully, most modern operating systems include tools to help you recover deleted items, at least for a certain period of time.
Checking the Recycle Bin or Trash
The first place to check for recently deleted files is the Recycle Bin on Windows or the Trash on Mac and Linux. These special folders hold deleted data for a certain number of days before it is permanently removed from your computer. Any files that have been deleted from your hard drive in the past 30 days on Windows or 60 days on a Mac will likely be found here.
To access the Recycle Bin in Windows, look for the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop or open File Explorer and click on “Recycle Bin” in the left sidebar. You can search through the contents, restore files by right clicking and selecting “Restore”, or empty the Recycle Bin entirely. Remember that emptying the Recycle Bin will permanently delete any files stored there.
On a Mac, open the Trash by clicking the Trash icon in your Dock or by going to Finder > Trash. You can look through the files, restore them by dragging them out of the Trash back to their original location, or choose to permanently erase the Trash contents.
Using Version History and File Recovery Tools
If a file has been deleted long enough ago that it’s no longer in the Recycle Bin or Trash, you may still be able to recover it using version history or file recovery tools included in your operating system:
- File History on Windows 10 allows you to go back to previous versions of files as they existed at an earlier date. You can restore the missing file to its state from before it was deleted.
- Time Machine on Mac lets you go back in time to recover lost files, photos, or documents if you’ve been regularly backing up to an external drive.
- Some Linux distributions include default file recovery tools you can use to scan for deleted files that may still be recoverable from your hard drive or SSD.
Using backup software is another way to protect against accidental file deletion. Services like iCloud, Google Drive, and Dropbox preserve previous versions of files which you may be able to restore later on.
Trying Data Recovery Software
If the above options do not help you recover your lost data, your next step is to try dedicated third party data recovery software. These advanced tools can scan your storage device and pull even very old deleted files out of unallocated disk space if they have not yet been fully overwritten.
Popular choices for data recovery software include:
- Recuva – Free Windows recovery tool from Piriform for recovering permanently deleted files.
- Stellar Data Recovery – Cross-platform recovery app for Windows, Mac, and Linux to restore lost files and photos.
- EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard – Rated highly for hard drive and SSD file recovery on Windows.
- Disk Drill – Mac-focused data recovery software with quick and deep scan options.
- R-Studio – Provides RAID recovery and advanced file undelete features for tech-savvy users.
The best recovery software lets you preview found files before deciding to restore them, performs deep scans for maximum recoverability, and maintains the original file names/paths for easy organization.
Enabling Frequent File History Snapshots
One of the best ways to protect yourself from data loss due to deletion is to enable more frequent file history snapshots on your computer. This will give you plenty of previous versions to turn to in case you need to recover an important deleted document, photo, or other file.
Windows File History
The built-in File History tool on Windows lets you automatically backup copies of changed files to an external drive. To turn it on or modify settings:
- Go to Settings > Update & Security > Backup.
- Under “Back up using File History”, click “Add a drive” and choose an external drive to store file history versions.
- Click “More options” to change how often File History runs. The default is once per hour which can be modified to as frequent as every 10 minutes.
Mac Time Machine
Time Machine on Mac lets you backup everything on your internal drive to an external hard drive. Toggle it on and adjust frequency by:
- Opening System Preferences > Time Machine.
- Clicking “Select Backup Disk” and choosing your external drive.
- Selecting “Back Up Automatically” to turn on auto backups.
- Choosing “Hourly” or “30 Minutes” instead of “Daily” to make versions more frequent.
Third Party Backup Software
Alternatively, apps like Duplicati (Windows), ChronoSync (Mac), and LuckyBackup (Linux) give you advanced options to take frequent snapshots of important folders or the entire file system for easy data recovery.
Conclusion
Having quick access to your deleted files is crucial in case you need to restore something important that was accidentally removed. Enable frequent file history versions, maintain backups, and learn how to cleanly recover data from the Recycle Bin and Trash. With the right tools and techniques, you can minimize both minor and catastrophic data loss due to deletion.