How Do I Recover My Recycle Bin to My Desktop in Windows 10/11

Why can't I see my Recycle Bin on my desktop?

Recycle Bin, first introduced in Windows 95, is a system folder that is used to store and delete unwanted files. Generally, deleted files from computer will be temporarily saved in the Recycle Bin so that you can recover deleted files when needed or remove them completely from computer.

By default, there is a Recycle Bin icon on the Windows desktop, but this icon may disappear from the desktop due to erroneous deletion, system corruption, configuration changes, and other various reasons. How do I recover my Recycle Bin to my desktop? Don’t worry, this guide covers everything you need to know about restoring the Recycle Bin to desktop.

How do I recover my Recycle Bin to my desktop?

We have listed some possible causes above. Now, let’s get down to several workable solutions to accidentally deleted Recycle Bin on Windows 10 and Recycle Bin suddenly disappeared from desktop.

Way 1. Add Recycle Bin icon to desktop

If all the other system icons on the desktop are there, but the Recycle Bin is nowhere to be found,  it is possible that the Recycle Bin icon has been disabled. You can add Recycle Bin to the desktop by following the beneath steps:

Step 1. Right-click on an empty space on the desktop and select the “Personalize” item from the pop-up menu.

Step 2. In the Personalization window, select the “Themes” option. Click on Desktop icon settings on the right.

Step 3. Tick the checkbox next to Recycle Bin, then click OK.

Way 2. Create Recycle Bin shortcut

What if you selected the checkbox, and the Recycle Bin is still not displayed on this desktop? This means that the icon may not be disabled but be hidden. How do I get my Recycle Bin back on my desktop from hidden on Windows 10 and other systems? Below is what to do:

Step 1. Open (Windows) File Explorer using the Win + E keyboard shortcut and select View.

Step 2. Tap on Options and go to the View tab in the Folder Options box.

Step 3. Tick Show hidden files, folders and drives and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended). Then, click Apply and OK.

Step 4. Go back to File Explorer, double-click C: drive and locate the $Recycle.Bin folder.

Step 5. Open it and right-click on the Recycle Bin option, then choose Desktop (create shortcut) on the Send To pop-up menu.

Way 3. Recover Recycle Bin via Registry

Another method about how do I restore my Recycle Bin in Windows 10 is by modifying Registry. But the caveat is that incorrect Registry modifications may result in serious problems and affect the proper functioning of Windows. Please make sure you perform these steps carefully. Additionally, you can back up the Registry before modifying it for added protection.

Step 1. Press Windows + R keys to open the Run box and type “regedit” to click OK.

Step 2. On the Registry Editor window, expand HKEY-CURRENT-USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer > Desktop > Name Space in turn.

Step 3. Right-click on a blank space, click New > Key, and input "{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}".

Step 4. And then, close the Registry Editor and restart your computer to see if the Recycle Bin icon has returned to the desktop.

Way 4. Repair corrupted Recycle Bin

Another reason for the Recycle Bin disappearing from the Windows desktop is damaged system files, which can result in desktop suddenly empty. In this case, you can fix Recycle Bin missing from desktop in Windows 10 and other versions via the SFC command. It can help you to troubleshoot a buggy Windows system by scanning for and fixing system files that are corrupt, missing or changed.

How do I get the Recycle Bin off my desktop using the SFC command is guided as follows:

Step 1. Type “cmd” in the Windows search box and select Run as administrator to open it.

Step 2. Type the “sfc / scannow” command and press Enter.

Step 3. Wait for the commands to finish and reboot your Windows PC to check if the Recycle Bin is recovered to the desktop.

How to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin

After figuring out how do I recover my Recycle Bin to my desktop, do you want to know how can you recover deleted files from Recycle Bin. The following is a simple instruction:

Step 1. Double-click on the Recycle Bin icon on desktop.

Step 2. Find the files or folders you need to recover, right-click them, and select Restore.

How to restore permanently deleted files not in Recycle Bin

Restoring files from Recycle Bin is easy. But what if deleted files are not in Recycle Bin or the Recycle Bin has been emptied? We all know that when files removed from Recycle Bin, they are completely erased from the computer. But this does not mean that they cannot be recovered anymore.

MyRecover is a file recovery tool that enables you to recover permanently deleted data from Recycle Bin. With effective scanning algorithms, it can scan your lost files/folders on a hard drive quickly and comprehensively and recover them in minutes. With this recovery tool, you can:

Step 1. Run MyRecover. Hover the mouse over the drive saved deleted files before, and click Scan.

Step 2. This utility will scan to find your lost data. You can recover items during the scanning process.

★Tip:

You can click "Filter" and "Search for files and folders" on the top right to find the items you need quickly.

Step 3. Click on the Recycle Bin option on the left, locate the folder where your lost/deleted files are located, and tick the wanted for recovery. Tap on the Recover x files button in the lower right corner. Then, select a path to save the recovered files.

Conclusion

With these methods we offered in this guide, we believe that you are so clear about how do I recover my Recycle Bin to my desktop now.

Considering that data loss can happen anytime and anywhere, we also highly recommend you use free backup software like AOMEI Backupper to backup Windows data to cloud drives, local disks, external hard drives, and other various data storage devices for protection.