How to Recover Deleted Files/Folders in Windows 11 [Ultimate Guide]
Deleting files is a common computer operation aimed at cleaning data and freeing up disk space. On Windows 11, you can delete a file in three ways.
- Right-click the file, choose Delete from the context menu
- Choose the file, press the Delete key on your keyboard
- To delete a file from your computer permanently, select the file, and then press the Shift+Delete keys simultaneously. This will remove the file from your computer, making it unrecoverable.
Where do deleted files go on Windows 11?
When you delete files, you're not actually erasing them, but rather removing the entry from the system, leaving the files themselves still present on the device. This means that the files remain accessible until they're overwritten by new data.
If you need to undelete files, stop using your hard drive to avoid data overwriting. Then, take any of the following methods to recover deleted files on Windows 11.
Recover Deleted Files from Recycle Bin in Windows 11
When you delete files or folders, they are actually moved to a folder called $recycle.bin, allowing you to restore them later if needed.
Each drive on a local disk or external disk has a $recycle.bin folder that stores temporarily deleted files, allowing for easy restoration until the Recycle Bin is emptied.
Steps to undelete files on Windows 11 from Recycle Bin
Step 1. Find the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop.
Step 2. Right-click Recycle Bin and select "Open".
Step 3. To restore files from the Recycle Bin, start by locating the files you want to recover. If there are numerous items in the Recycle Bin, you can search for a specific file or folder to streamline the process. Once you've identified the files you need, you can proceed with the restoration process.
Step 4. Right-click the file and choose "Restore" to recover the deleted file to its original location.
If you need to restore multiple files, you can click Manage on the top toolbar and choose "Restore the selected items" or "Restore all items".
Restore Files or Folders in Windows 11 Using File History
Windows offers a free backup utility called File History to help users back up files to a local drive, an externally connected drive, or a network drive.
File History only backs up files from certain system folders, including Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, and Desktop folders, as well as OneDrive files available offline. To back up files from other locations, add them to one of these folders.
Once you enable File History, over time, you'll have a complete backup of your files, allowing you to restore them if accidentally deleted or corrupted.
Step 1. Search for File History and select "Restore your files from File history".
Step 2.After enabling File History, all backup files and folders will appear in the File History window, allowing you to view and switch between different backup versions. If multiple backups are available, you can navigate through them by clicking the left and right arrows at the bottom of the window, selecting the version that contains the desired files.
Step 3. After previewing the selected file, click the green arrow to restore it. To save the file to a safe place, go to the upper right corner, click the gear icon, and select "Restore to".
Undelete Files on Windows 11 with Data Recovery Software
Many users face the frustrating situation of losing deleted files without them being in the Recycle Bin or having backup files available for recovery. However, don't be discouraged as there are still options available to retrieve your files, including using a professional data recovery tool.
Deep Data Recovery is a safe and reliable tool for undeleting files on Windows and Mac computers, and can recover deleted files from various storage devices, including hard drives, solid state drives, USB drives, and more.
Deep Data Recovery
- Recover deleted or permanently deleted files on Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
- Restore deleted files at a recovery rate up to 99.7 percent
- Undelete 1000 types of files, including documents, photos, audios, videos, emails, and more, with a reliable file recovery software that can handle various file formats and types.
- Repair corrupted files during data recovery
To recover deleted files on Windows 11, download Qiling's free data recovery software, which allows for easy file recovery in just three steps.
Step 1. Run Deep Data Recovery. Select the desired file types and click "Next" to initiate the recovery process.
Step 2. To proceed, select the specific file location you want to scan and click the "Scan" button to initiate the scanning process.
Step 3. After the process, select the "Deleted Files" and "Other Lost Files" folders in the left panel, then apply the "Filter" feature or click the "Search files or folders" button to find the deleted files.
Step 4. After the recovery process, click the "Recover" button and save the restored files in a location that is different from the original one to avoid overwriting any existing data.
Windows 11 Deleted Files Recovery FAQs
If you have any other questions about undeleting files on Windows 11, check out the following frequently asked questions, which provide additional information on this topic.
Are deleted files gone forever?
When you delete a file, it isn't gone forever. The deleted files typically go to the Recycle Bin, but can still be recovered using a secure file recovery program even if the Recycle Bin is emptied. They remain on the hard drive until overwritten by new data, making them recoverable.
How to recover permanently delete files in Windows 11?
You can restore permanently deleted files in Windows 11 using the File History feature, which automatically saves a copy of your files to an external drive or network location. Alternatively, you can use the Windows Recovery Environment to scan for and recover deleted files from the Recycle Bin or other locations on your computer.
- Restore from backups that come from File History
- Retrieve permanently lost files or folders by using data recovery software
Check the above step-by-step tutorial.
How to recover deleted files without backup?
To recover deleted files without a backup, using a data recovery program like Qiling can be the most efficient way. This allows you to retrieve lost files due to various reasons such as accidental deletion, hard drive formatting or corruption, partition loss, virus attack, or OS crash.
Conclusion
In Windows 11, you can recover deleted files using three practical solutions. If you simply delete a file, it will go to the Recycle Bin, where you can easily restore it. Alternatively, if the data is no longer in the Recycle Bin but you've created backups beforehand, you can use Windows backup to restore deleted files.
Qiling data recovery software allows you to recover deleted files without a backup, making it a reliable tool for retrieving lost data. It's user-friendly, requiring no technical expertise, and can be used in various scenarios, including accidental deletions, making it a valuable asset for data recovery.
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