How to Recover a Deleted Folder in Windows 10 Without Software

How can I recover a deleted folder in Windows 10

Deleting a folder accidentally is common and painful. And some users claim that they didn’t find the folder in Recycle Bin and completely have no idea about it. In general, if you delete your folder with the shortcut “Shift + Delete”, then the folder will be permanently deleted. However, just because you can’t restore a deleted folder from Recycle Bin of Windows 10, it doesn’t mean you have no chance to recover them.  

4 ways to recover a deleted folder in Windows 10 without software

Here are several ways how to recover a deleted folder in Windows 10 without software. Follow the steps below and take them into practice.

Way 1. Recover a deleted folder via File History

File History is a feature originating from Windows 8 that allows you how to recover a deleted folder in Windows 10. If you have previously enabled the feature, the recovery will be easier and smoother.

☞Pay attention: First of all, you could go to “Control Panel” > “System Security” > “File History” to check". If it is shown as “Turn off”, the File History is been activated before. And you could give the following operations.

Step 1. Click “File History” first, then click “Restore your files with File History”.

Step 2. Click “Restore personal files”.

Step 3. Browse all the contents or input the file name of this folder, then you can locate your needed folders.

Step 4. You can restore your recovered folders to the original location by clicking the Recycle icon.

Way 2. Recover a deleted folder through Windows Backup

Backup is becoming increasingly important nowadays, no matter on your iPhone or PC. There is a Windows built-in feature-- Windows Backup that can automatically backup the files, folders, videos, documents, photos, etc. And you may recover a deleted folder from it.

However, pay attention that it just backs up the files in C Drive automatically. If the folder didn’t save on C Drive before the deletion or you didn't choose the specific Drive to back up, then this method may not suit you very well. And you can act this way in many Windows versions, like Windows 11, 10, and 8,7.

Step 1. Press the Start button, and select “Control Panel” > “System and Security”.

Step 2. After the next window pops up, click “Restore my files”.

Step 3. Please select “Browse for folders” and choose the permanent folder you want to retrieve.

Step 4. After that, you can save your recovered folders in your original location or in your destination place as your preference.

Way 3. Restore a deleted folder by using CMD

If your folder is located in another Drive and you didn't find them, then you can run CMD to restore the hidden folder. What’s more, some files are hidden in some cases, we can find them in the “CMD” way.

Step 1. In the search box, type “CMD” and then select “Run as administrator”.

Step 2. Input chkdsk G: /f in Command Prompt and then hit Enter. Replace G with your hard drive letter.

Step 3. And then input G: , and then type "attrib -h -r -s /s /d *.*". Replace D with your hard drive letter. After commands are executed and you could check whether the hidden files are recovered.

Note: If this way is not working for you, keep reading the next method to know how to recover deleted folder on Windows 10.

Way 4. Retrieve a deleted folder with Windows File Recovery

Apart from the above ways, we can use Windows File Recovery, a tool that can be accessed in Microsoft Store in order to recover deleted lost files or folders on the hard drive for free.

Notes:✎...

The operation is a little bit complicated for someone who is not very familiar with the computer.

 The tool is only working with Windows 10 versions 2004 and later.

Step 1. Download and install Windows File Recovery from Microsoft Store.

Step 2. Check the File System of disks, right-click on the source drive saving your lost documents before the deletion. Then click “Properties”. 

Step 3. When the installation and the check are completed, search “cmd” in the search box and then click on “Run as administrator” to open it.

Step 4. The basic command format for data recovery on Windows File Recovery is winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches]

Step 5. Run a search in regular mode. Suppose your deleted documents are called “FileRecovery”, and you want to recover the specific document from C: drive to E: drive, then you could run the following command (replace “users” with your username on PC):

winfr C: E: /n \Users\Documents\ FileRecovery.docx

Step 6. After that, input “Y” when you are asking to view the files.

Step 7. Now go to the “E” Drive to see your deleted documents.

Note: If you don’t want to be restricted by the complicated command line or be afraid not all your documents come back, you could use WinfrGUI to help you achieve the goal.

100% Get back your deleted folder--- MyRecover

How can I recover a deleted folder in Windows 10? In the above part, we provide 4 ways to help you achieve the goal without software. However, if you didn’t backup before and the CMD, Windows File Recovery seems too complicated for you, choosing a professional tool for recovery is not a bad idea for you, which can make your recovery less time and energy-consuming. MyRecover might be your best choice.

★Tips:

 Supported by a strong team, it allows you to recover your data at a high speed and high-security rate.

 With a few simple clicks, you could recover your folder efficiently and effortlessly, even though you are new to a computer.

 It is compatible with multiple Windows versions, like Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 and Windows Server.

 It enables you to recover different data types, including Word, PPT, Excel, Photos, Videos, Audios, Emails, Web pages, Compressed files, and other lost files from HDD/SSD partitions. 

Now follow me to know how to recover a deleted folder in Windows 10 with MyRecover and enjoy it.

Step 1. Install MyRecover on your Windows computer and choose the partition where the deleted folder was stored before. Hover the mouse over the drive and click Scan to scan.

Step 2. The scanning process will start with a quick scan and then a deep scan to find more missing files. You could perform data recovery during the scanning and you don't need to stop the scan.

Step 3. Tick the deleted folder and click the button "Recover files" to save the recovered folder. 

Conclusion

In this post, we list 4 ways how to recover a deleted folder in Windows 10, such as using File History, Windows Backup, CMD and Windows File Recovery. However, if you encounter some problems or you want to get a quick fix to retrieve your folder, AOMEI Data Recovery can be a nice choice.

Moreover, data plays an important role in our life and it has a large effect on our work, study, and so on. Therefore, back up computers to avoid data loss is kind of necessary. However, we know that Windows Backup only savethe files in C Drive, which makes the backup more restricted. Considering the limitations, it’s strongly recommended to use AOMEI Backupper to help you back up your Windows easily.