Can’t Find Recently Deleted Folder: Recover Now [3 Options]

Help! "I can’t find recently deleted folder in Recycle Bin"

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:

In this guide, we'll walk you through Why are deleted files not in Recycle Bin, how to find recently deleted folder on Windows, and 3 effective methods to recover deleted folders on Windows. Can’t find recently deleted folder on iPhone can also be solved.

How to find recently deleted folder on Windows

Before assuming that a folder is gone forever, make sure you didn’t just misplace it. Here are 2 quick ways to search for a missing folder:

1. Use the Windows Search Bar

In Windows 11, the taskbar search function is a quick way to locate folders, even if you can't remember their exact location.

Step 1. Simply type the folder name into the search bar, and Windows will display real-time results.

Step 2. To filter out other file types and only show folders, click on the "More" option at the top and select "Folders".

2. Search Using File Explorer

If you prefer a more detailed search, use File Explorer:

Step 1. Press Win + E to open File Explorer. In the left sidebar, select This PC or Computer.

Step 2. Type the folder name into the search bar at the top right. To narrow the results to only folders, click on Search options > Kind > Folders.

If you don’t find the folder in the usual places, it might have been deleted, and you'll need to recover it using one of the methods below.

3 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 deleted folder via free data recovery software

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.

Main Features of MyRecover：

● Recover Data in Various Scenarios: Support recovery from system crashes, accidental deletions, virus attacks, disk formatting, and more.
● Recover 1000+ file formats: photos (JPG, PNG, DNG, TIFF, etc.), videos (MP4, MOV,AVI, etc.), MS Office and WPS files, folders, compressed files, websites, etc.
● Combined scanning method: Automatically run Quick Scan and Deep Scan to search all the recoverable files.
● Easy-to-find: During scanning, you can filter and preview your needed files according to filename, file format, saved path, storage size, deleted date, etc.
● Highly-Compatible. Supports NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, ReFS in Windows 11/10/8/7/Server. (Compatible with 64-bit and 32-bit OS.)

🔥Bonus: You can recover up to 500MB of data for free, and the software is user-friendly with an intuitive interface. Download MyRecover and follow the steps to easily recover deleted folders.

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. Recover recently deleted folder with  Backup and Restore

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.

Option 3. Restore recently deleted folders from 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 MyRecover for iOS. It allows you to recover photos, videos, notes, voice memos, etc., without any effort.

Step 1. Download, install and launch MyRecover 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.

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.

Conclusion

This post mainly introduces how to find recently deleted folder on Windows, and 3 effective methods to recover deleted folders on Windows/iPhone. 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.

It is recommended to use MyRecover to easily recover deleted folders on Windows. This powerful data recovery software can also recover folders disappeared from the desktop.