Deleted doesn’t always mean what you think it does in Windows

If you have ever accidentally hit delete or removed a file in Windows, it doesn’t actually mean it is gone forever. A couple of quick checks can tell you whether the file is still present and can be recovered. If all else fails, your friendly computer repair team at Dave’s Computers in New Jersey are data recovery experts. If you cannot recover the file, we may be able to do it for you!

Here are a few simple checks you can do at home to see if your file is recoverable.

Open the Recycle Bin

When you press Delete on a Windows computer, you recycle the file. This is a temporary state where the file is removed from Windows Explorer and placed in the Recycle Bin until it is deleted for good. If you accidentally delete a file, this is the first place to look.

The Recycle Bin is the trash can icon on your desktop and will open with a double click. Open the Recycle Bin, select the file you just deleted, right click and select Restore. If you go back to where you deleted the file from, you should see it has returned there once more.

File History

Windows 10 File History is a neat feature introduced in Windows 8 that keeps old versions of files for later use. When used as part of a wider backup system it provides an extra level of security in case you accidentally delete something. It has finite space so may not keep things for long but it is well worth checking just in case.

  1. Right click the Windows Start button and select Settings.
  2. Select Update & Security and then Backup.
  3. Select More options to see what folders you back up.

If the folder you deleted the file from is included in File History, you may be able to recover it. You can scroll down the page to ‘Restore files from a current backup’ to restore the file you deleted.

System Restore

System Restore is the final ‘easy’ way to recover deleted files from within Windows. As long as you have System Restore enabled and have a recent Restore Point, you should be able to bring the file back. All you need to do is right click within the folder you deleted the file from and select Restore previous versions. You will be taken to System Restore and you can follow the wizard from there.

If all else fails, bring your drive or computer to the computer repair guys at Dave’s Computers in New Jersey. Our data recovery experts can work their magic and hopefully recover your data for you!