Easily Fixed: Can’t Find Recently Deleted Folder [3 Options]

I can’t find recently deleted folder in Recycle Bin

“I have deleted a folder full of files that I thought were unimportant. But it turns out that some of them were the materials needed to apply for university. I tried to find them in the Recycle Bin and restore them, but they were not there. Why can’t I find a recently deleted folder in Recycle Bin? And how can I get them back?”

Why are deleted files not in Recycle Bin？

Normally, you are able to recover deleted files from the Recycle Bin. If you can’t find recently deleted folder in Recycle Bin, these are the possible reasons:

• The files were deleted by pressing Shift + Delete.
• Someone emptied the Recycle Bin.
• The files that were removed were on a flash drive.
• In the Recycle Bin settings use the option Don’t move files to the Recycle Bin.
• The Recycle Bin has become full or has become corrupted.
• The deleted files or folders have been hidden and are no longer accessible.

Three options to recover recently deleted folder on Windows

In this section, we’ll go over three methods for recovering a recently deleted folder when you can't find the recently deleted folder in the Recycle Bin.

Option 1. Recover recently deleted folder via the free data recovery tool

How can you recover recently deleted files not showing in Recycle Bin on Windows 7? Use professional data recovery software MyRecover to recover all kinds of data with a high success rate.

Step 1. On your computer, download, install, and run MyRecover.

Step 2. Select the drive that you used to store your recently deleted folder. Hover the mouse over the drive and click Scan to scan.

Step 3. The scanning process will then begin automatically. If you find the data you want to recover, you don’t have to wait for the process to finish.

Step 4. Select the folder you want to restore. Click Recover xx files.

Option 2. Use the Backup and Restore utility to recover recently deleted folder

Another option to recover deleted folder on Windows 10 not in Recycle Bin is to use the Backup and Restore utility provided by Microsoft. But the prerequisite is that you have this service enabled.

Step 1. Go to Control Panel > System and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

Step 2. Selectively recover permanently deleted files by clicking Restore my files. You can also select Restore all users’ files to recover all deleted files.

Step 3. Search for your deleted files by using the Browse for files or Browse for folders option.

Step 4. Choose a location to save the backup, select your files and click Restore to recover them.

Bonus tips: You can backup and restore files using the professional backup freeware AOMEI Backupper in addition to the Backup and Restore utility. It lets you back up your operating system, files and folders, partitions, and the entire disk to an internal or external hard drive, USB flash drive, network drive, or cloud drive.

Option 3. Restore recently deleted files from the backup copies of files with File History

If you have turned on File History to back up your files, then you can restore recently deleted files using this service.

Step 1. Input Control Panel in the Windows search bar, and start it.

Step 2. Click System and Security.

Step 3. Click File History.

Step 4. Click Restore personal files.

Step 5. Select the files you need to recover and then click the Restore button.

Bonus Tips: How to recover recently deleted files on iPhone

You can also recover recently deleted files on iPhone without backup, just use the professional iPhone data recovery tool AOMEI Data Recovery for iOS. It allows you to recover photos, videos, notes, voice memos, etc., without any effort.

Step 1. Download, install and launch AOMEI Data Recovery for iOS on your PC. Connect your iPhone to the computer properly.

Step 2. Then click Scan Now.

Step 3. All recoverable data will be listed in the left column. Select the types of data you need, for example, go to Notes, select the notes you want, then click Recover.

Conclusion

This post mainly introduces why can’t find recently deleted folder and how to recover recently deleted folder. Whether you choose to use the Windows built-in services or the third-party data recovery tool, these methods would help you to get back your deleted files.

FAQs

Q1: Where do deleted files go if they are not there in the Recycle bin?

Although files are physically deleted from the Recycle Bin, they remain on the hard drive. They stay until new data overwrites them. The only way to recover data that has been overwritten is to use backup storage media.

Q2: How many days does a deleted file stay in the Recycle Bin?

By default, there is no limit on time for the local Recycle Bin. Deleted items will remain there indefinitely unless you run out of space in Recycle Bin, oldest items will then be deleted first. But if you turn on Storage Sense then you can configure the time the deleted items stay in Recycle Bin before getting cleaned up. 

Choose Start > Settings > System > Storage. Turn on Storage Sense here. Set the time after which you want your computer to automatically delete files in the Recycle Bin by clicking Configure Storage Sense or run it now. The time limit is set to 30 days by default.

Q3: Where to find recently deleted files on Mac?

There are two ways to find recently deleted files on a Mac. To begin, look for files in the Bin. Second, you can search for them with Time Machine, which performs frequent backups. The steps below will show you how to use Time Machine.

Step 1. Open the window where you deleted files.

Step 2. Click the Launchpad icon in the Dock, find Time Machine, and click Enter Time Machine.

Step 3. Use the up and down arrows to locate the files you are looking for.

Step 4. Click Restore to recover the selected files, then your lost data will come back to the previous location.