How to Recover Permanently Deleted PPT Files?

Can I recover a permanently deleted PowerPoint file?

Microsoft PowerPoint app, a prevalent presentation program, is frequently used in people’s everyday life. Businessmen, officers, students, etc. use PowerPoint to do duty reports and presentations in their study and work.

As is dominant in people’s study & work life, tons of PPT files will be generated every single day.

But, what a shame that so many users have reported that they accidentally lost/deleted PPT files and don’t know how to recover.

Examples like this are not rare among PowerPoint users. Many Word users are seeking help to recover deleted Word documents.

Some users managed to recover their PowerPoint files, but some else have had their files permanently deleted and got nowhere to find them.

Have you ever permanently deleted a PPT file? Generally, when it comes to “permanently deleting” a file, we are talking about these methods to delete them:

Actually, if a file is larger than 8998 MB, it won’t be removed to the Recycle Bin but will bypass it and get directly wiped from your computer. But PowerPoint files are seldom that large usually.

If you haven’t deleted your PPT files from the trash can, you can still recover items from the Recycle Bin. But, if you delete your PPT files in these means mentioned above, then they are permanently deleted.

Well, can you recover PowerPoint file which is permanently removed? Don’t worry, of course, you can. As long as you haven’t done any more read and write operations after deletion to the drive which has lost PPT files.

Once you delete a file, it is logically deleted from your drive, but not truly removed. After deleting, it will create a free space for new files to overwrite.

That is to say, further operations on the drive can cause overwriting to the space after deletion. And then, the files are gone for good.

Now, therefore, how to recover deleted PowerPoint files even if they were permanently wiped?

How to recover permanently deleted PPT files?

In this section, methods to recover PowerPoint files after permanent deletion will be given to help you get them back.

Actually, you can successfully restore deleted data or files when you have a backup. If you are familiar with Command Prompt, you could also try to recover data from hard drive using CMD when files are just hidden.

But to deal with a permanently deleted file, it is recommended to utilize professional tools. Windows File Recovery can be of some help.

As an official app provided by dependable Microsoft, it states that it can recover lost files from healthy/corrupted/formatted hard disks, even if they are not in Recycle Bin.

Though it is pretty difficult for ordinary users, it is worth a try. To get more detailed instructions about recovery modes and switches, please refer to "How to use Windows File Recovery to recover deleted files".

Notes:✎...

When choosing a destination, it cannot be the same with the drive that has lost files. 

Please avoid using the data-loss drive after deletion to prevent overwriting. 

If the error “Windows File Recovery failed to create destination folder”, please get help.

Step 1. Get Windows File Recovery in Microsoft Store.

Step 2. Go to This PC > choose the drive where your PPT files are lost > right-click on it > Properties > check the file system.

Step 3. Select a recovery mode relevant to the file system and data loss situation.

Step 4. Switches can help you target the file path/name/type if you can recall.

Step 5. Input the file recovery command according to your specific situation. Please mind the syntax, or you may receive the error "Windows File Recovery there was an error parsing your command".

Command format: winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches]

If you can recall the file name/path, wildcard “*” can be of great help. For example:

winfr C: D: /extensive /n *presentation*

By using this command, you can recover a PPT file named “presentation” from C: drive to D: drive. If you forgot the file name, you could use “*” with the file type “ppt/pptx”. Then the command goes like this:

winfr C: D: /extensive /n * .ppt

 Using this, you could recover all PPT files from the hard drive, and then you could navigate to the exact one you need in the recovery folder.

If Windows File Recovery stuck at 99%, please get help.

How to recover permanently deleted PPT files with filename/path/format kept in Windows 11/10/8/7?

Windows File Recovery is not designed for ordinary users who are not familiar with commands. For the sake of convenience, they must be eager to find a data recovery tool that is easy and efficient.

While Windows File Recovery offers no graphical user interface, MyRecover can be of great help.

Not only PPT files, but it can also help you recover deleted ZIP files. Now, follow the steps to get deleted PPT files back easily.

Step 1. Install and run MyRecover > hover the mouse over the drive, and click Scan.

Step 2. Scanning curation depends on the data size of the partition, please wait patiently for the complete scanning result, or you could directly restore the files you need.

Step 3. Then all your files will be shown in the list box. Select the files you want to recover > click Recover x files to get them back.

In this way, you could recover PowerPoint files easily and efficiently. What's more, you could utilize it to recover data from formatted partition. 

Further reading: how to prevent PPT file loss in the future?

To so some precautions before disasters come is always better than struggling in the dilemma. It is highly suggested for all users do something to prevent any file loss in the future.

If you use PowerPoint a lot and rely so much on the PPT files, it is suggested to back them up regularly. Backing up them to an external hard drive is preferable.

What’s more, sometimes due to power drainage or accidental shutdowns, users may close their PPT files without saving. And here an in-built AutoSave feature can help you.

Step 1. Run PowerPoint > click “File” on the upper-left corner of the window > “Options”.

Step 2. “Save” > tick “Save AutoRecover information every _ minutes” > tick “Keep the last AutoRecovered version if I close without saving”. You could customize the AutoSave frequency according to your needs.

This tutorial aims at helping users solve the problem “How to recover permanently deleted PPT files”.

To recover PowerPoint files, the official tool Windows File Recovery and an efficient & easy application MyRecover could help you out.