How to Recover Permanently Deleted Files On Windows 10/11?

You may accidentally delete files, lose data, or be unable to locate a file. This situation could vary from a minor inconvenience to a disaster depending on the importance of the lost data. While permanently deleting files may seem unfixable, there are ways to reverse it.

What is a Permanently Deleted File?

A file is considered to be permanently deleted when it is discarded from the system's storage and is inaccessible.

You can permanently delete a file by using the Shift+Del shortcut or by emptying an already deleted file from the Recycle Bin.

Recovering Deleted Files from The Recycle Bin

Deleted files usually end up in the Recycle Bin. The default folder temporarily stores deleted files until the user permanently deletes the file or empties it from the Recycle Bin.

You can recover deleted files from the Recycle Bin (if it hasn't been emptied yet) by simply opening the folder, right-clicking on the deleted file, and selecting the restore option.


Note: You can also recover deleted files using Ctrl+Z to Undo the deletion. This of course only works immediately after deleting said file.

1. Recovering Permanently Deleted Files Without A Backup

If deleted or emptied from the Recycle Bin, a file is usually considered to be permanently deleted.

How is it possible to recover permanently deleted files from Windows?

The way deletion works is that the location where deleted data is stored is not erased, but is instead marked as empty and ready to be overwritten with new data.

By taking advantage of this deletion process, we can restore the deleted files using the right methods.

1.1) Recover Permanently Deleted Files in Windows 11 by Using a File Recovery Software

The next best thing to a professional data recovery service is great software. While there are several free software such as Recuva and Photorec, they are only compatible with mainstream file types and the user interface will take some getting used to.

On the other hand, tools like Remo File Recovery Software for Windows are compatible with over 500+ file types and are great at what they do. Combining both user-friendliness and effectiveness to allow anyone to easily recover permanently deleted files.

Here, we will show how you can easily recover deleted or lost files:

  1. Download, install, and launch Remo File Recovery Software for Windows.
  2. Select the drive that is used to store the deleted files and click on Scan.
  3. The software will carry out a Quick Scan followed by a thorough Deep Scan.
  4. During the scan, you can use the Dynamic Recovery View Option to view all the files recovered so far.
  5. Double-click to preview any file and click on the Recover Button.
  6. Select a destination location and click on OK to save the deleted file.

1.2) Recover Permanently Deleted Files Using Windows File Recovery

Windows File Recovery is a free tool that you can download from the Microsoft Store. While it can get the job done, you would need to work out the right command to feed as input. If you are comfortable putting in a little effort to understand the tool and how it works, Windows File Recovery will be a good fit.

2. Recovering Permanently Deleted Files Using Windows Backup Features

If you had taken precautions earlier to set up a backup, there is a great chance of restoring your deleted files.

2.1) Restore Deleted Files from Previous Versions of Windows

The previous version's feature allows users to regain access to an older version of a file or folder. They can be used in instances where you may have made errors on an Excel file or accidentally deleted a file from a folder.

Note: This will only work if the Previous version feature was set up before the files were deleted.

You can follow the steps below to restore your Deleted Files:

  1. Open Windows File Explorer and access the location where the deleted file used to be stored.
  2. Right-click anywhere.
  3. Select More Options and click on Properties.
  4. Go to the Previous Versions tab, select the version where your file hasn't been deleted, and click Restore.

2.2) Restore Files Using the File History

While version history stores multiple versions of the same file, File history captures your drive and usually creates a copy on an external drive. For this to work, you would need to have set up and updated the backup drive before the file in question was deleted.

  1. Connect the backup drive that stores your file history data.
  2. Open Windows Settings.
  3. Using the search box, search for and click on Restore your files with File History.
  4. Select and Restore your deleted files.

3. Recovering Permanently Deleted Files Using OneDrive

Cloud services store data on behalf of their users allowing them to store and access data anytime and anywhere provided they have an account and an internet connection. Cloud services can also be used to backup important data, so if you have stored a backup using a cloud service such as OneDrive, then you can easily recover it.

If your deleted file happened to be an Excel sheet, a PowerPoint, a Word Document, or any other file format of the Office Suite, there is a good chance that you may recover your data if the Office Suite is synced with OneDrive.

  1. Sign in to your OneDrive account with your Microsoft credentials.
  2. Once logged in, you will easily be able to locate the files you recently worked on. You can also locate your deleted file using the search option.
  3. Once located, right-click the file and select the Download option.

Conclusion

I hope you were able to safely recover your permanently deleted files on Windows. During such cases, a trusted third-party software is not only convenient but also has some of the highest success rates. To prevent such scenarios from repeating, creating and maintaining a backup is the best option.

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