[Free] How to Recover Deleted Files from Recycle Bin in Windows 8/8.1

How to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin on Windows 8? This article provides the most effective ways to help you get back your lost files, even after emptying the recycle bin.

By @Penny Last Updated November 13, 2024

Help! Need to recover deleted files on Windows 8

   
   
   
       

I have accidentally deleted some files from size: huge, size: large, size: medium, size: small. I am wondering if any of you guys know how to recover those files? I appreciate your help and sorry for the inconvenience.

- A user from Microsoft Community

Where do deleted files go on Windows 8 computers after accidental/intentional deletion?

As you can see, if you accidentally deleted files from Windows 8 like the above user, you can recover the deleted files from the Recycle Bin because the Recycle Bin is a temporary storage place for the recently deleted files.

However, the above user can’t restore the huge/large deleted files if the deleted files are too large or much bigger than the storage size of the Recycle Bin.

Similarly, there’s no way for you to restore permanently files from the Recycle Bin after executing the following operations.  

Emptied the Recycle Bin manually or using the elevated command prompt.
Pressed “Shift + Delete” to remove some files.

Please be calm! You still have a chance to restore deleted files in Windows 8 because your deleted/lost files might be on your PCs as long as they haven’t been overwritten by new data.

Therefore, please avoid adding new data to your computers after data loss.

How to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin in Windows 8

If you’re in this part, which suggests you deleted these files recently. Let’s perform how to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin Windows 8 computers directly.

Step 1. Open the Recycle Bin in Windows and locate the files you want to restore.

Step 2. Right-click on your selected files, and “Restore” them to the previously saved path.

How to restore permanently deleted files after emptying the Recycle Bin

After figuring out where permanently deleted files go on Windows 8 computers, you have no choice but to restore files from backups or use top-rated data recovery software for Windows to recover them.

▶ Solution 1. Recover permanently deleted files from Backup and Restore

Backup and Restore are good for backup. Released in Windows 7 OS, Backup and Restore could be the most compatible Windows feature. How to restore permanently deleted files in Windows 8 via it? Let’s show how it works.

Step 1. Open the Control Panel by searching it in the search bar. Then go to System and Security and click the “Backup and Restore (Windows 7)” button.

Step 2. Click the “Restore my files” button.

Step 3. Select the “Browse for files” option to locate and recover deleted files Windows 8.

Then you can restore them to the original location or to a new saved path.

▶ Solution 2. Recover permanently deleted files via File History

When it comes to Windows 8 computers, free File History is necessary to be mentioned because this feature first appeared in Windows 8.

If you’ve opened Control Panel > System and Security to activate File History before, you can restore the deleted, lost, or damaged original documents from backups.

Notes:✎...   
 After turning on File History, you can recover the latest version of a Word document by finding the previous version of Word documents.
 File History only can make copies of files in Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, Desktop folders, and OneDrive offline files stored on your PCs.
 After the backup process, you’re even allowed to save backups on the external hard drive or cloud drive.

Step 1. Search “Control Panel” in the search bar and open it. Then click the “System and Security” button.

Step 2. Locate File History and select the “Restore your files with File History” option.

Step 3. Click the “Restore personal files” button.

Step 4. Click the “Restore” button to retrieve your selected files to the original location.

If you want to change the saved path, you can right-click on “Restore” and select the “Restore to” option.

▶ Solution 3. Recover the deleted/lost files with MyRecover

How to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin Windows 8 computers with ease? Utilize data recovery software like MyRecover to address your issues.

This highly-praised tool benefits from rich industry experience, powerful features, and user-friendly design. Let’s get an overview of it.

★Tips:   
 Recover the deleted/lost files from HDD, USB, SD cards, and other storage devices.  
 Recover 200+ types of data: Word, Excel, PPT, Photos, Videos, Audio, Compressed files, and so on. 
 Keep the original path, filename, and format for the deleted files.
 During scanning, search your targeted files by typing their filenames in the search bar or wait to find all the deleted and other lost files on your computers after running Quick Scan and Deep Scan automatically.
 Support NTFS, exFAT, FAT32, and ReFS file systems in Windows 7, 8, 10, 11, and Windows Server.

Deep industry experience in the field of data recovery and advanced technology support provides a guarantee for hard disk data recovery. So why don’t you download it on your Windows 8 computers to check?  

Download SoftwareWin 11/10/8/7/Server
Secure Download

Step 1. After launching the utility on your PC. Hover the mouse over the drive and click Scan to scan.

Step 2. Search or wait to view all the deleted and other missing files.

Step 3. Go to the Deleted files folder > Recycle Bin. Then click “Recover x files” and save them in a new location.

Bonus tips: Recycle Bin shows empty but it is not!

Recycle Bin shows empty but it is not! How to fix it? Use the elevated command prompt to reset the Recycle Bin.

Type “cmd” in the search bar and select “Run as administrator” to open it. Then enter rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.bin” in the window and hit “Enter” to empty the deleted files of your selected drive in the Recycle Bin.

If your Recycle Bin icon is invisible to you, you can restore Recycle Bin icon.

If you can ensure your files were not deleted from this temporary storage device, try to show hidden files, folders, and drives or customize the storage size of it to view files in the Recycle Bin.

Wrapping up

This tutorial lists corresponding solutions on how to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin Windows 8 directly and how to restore permanently deleted files in Windows 8.

To avoid unnecessary steps, you’d better figure out where deleted files go in the first part. After that, you can recover deleted files on Windows 8 computers more efficiently.

If you need, the relevant tips about the Recycle Bin could give you a hand in the future. Moreover, it’s necessary for everyone to make regular backups using Windows features or free backup software, AOMEI Backupper