How To Recover Permanently Deleted Files from Windows PC for Free | 2024, by Website Learners on YouTube. 7 min 40 s.
- Video length
- 7 min 40 s
- Time to do it
- 20 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Open the Recycle Bin from your desktop. Look through the list for the file you deleted and check the Date deleted column to find it faster.
Right click the file and choose Restore. Windows puts it back in the folder it came from.
If the file is not in the Recycle Bin, it was deleted permanently. Stop using that drive now so new data does not overwrite the file.
Download the free version of Disk Drill from its official site and install it on your PC.
For a USB drive or memory card, plug it into the PC first. Then open Disk Drill.
Select the drive where the file was and click Search for lost data. Wait while Disk Drill scans the storage.
Click Review found items to see the recoverable files. Use the eye icon to preview a file before you restore it.
Tick the file you want and click Recover. Choose a save location on a different drive, then let the recovery finish.
Open the folder you picked and check that the recovered file opens correctly.
Tips and common mistakes
Recover files to a different drive than the one you scanned, or you may overwrite the data you are trying to save.
Act fast after a permanent delete, since every new file written to that drive lowers your chance of recovery.
The free version of Disk Drill limits how much data you can recover at once, so restore your most important files first.
Emptying the Recycle Bin or using Shift+Delete skips the bin, so check there first before running any software.
Questions
Can I recover files after emptying the Recycle Bin?
Yes, in many cases. Recovery software scans the drive for traces of the deleted file. Success depends on whether the space has been overwritten since the delete.
Does this work on a USB drive or SD card?
Yes. Plug the drive into your PC, select it in Disk Drill, and run the scan. Save the recovered files to your PC, not back to the same card.
Is the free version enough?
It lets you scan and preview files for free. The free tier caps how much you can actually recover, so you may need the paid version for large files.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
