How to Recover Deleted Files on Windows 11 and Windows 10

You deleted a file in Windows and need it back. Windows has more built-in safety nets than most people use, and most people who need to recover deleted files on Windows 11 or Windows 10 find them in one of the first few places below. The steps are almost identical on both versions. Work through them in order, fastest first, and don’t install anything new on the drive until you’ve checked them all.

Step 1: Restore from the Recycle Bin

Files you delete in File Explorer normally go to the Recycle Bin first.

1. Double-click Recycle Bin on the desktop (or type “Recycle Bin” in the File Explorer address bar).
2. Find your file. Use the search box, or switch to Details view and sort by Date Deleted.
3. Right-click the file and choose Restore. It goes back to its original folder.

To restore several files, select them all and click Restore the selected items in the toolbar.

Some deletions skip the Recycle Bin entirely:

• Files deleted with Shift+Delete.
• Files deleted from USB flash drives, SD cards and most network drives. See recovering deleted files from a USB drive or SD card.
• Files too large for the Recycle Bin (Windows warns that they’ll be permanently deleted).
• Files deleted from the command line or by some apps.

Step 2: Undo, if it just happened

If you deleted the file moments ago in File Explorer, press Ctrl+Z (or right-click an empty area of the folder and choose Undo Delete). This only reverses recent actions in the current session, but it’s instant when it works.

Step 3: Check OneDrive’s recycle bin

Many Windows PCs back up the Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders to OneDrive automatically. If yours does, files deleted on the PC are also deleted from OneDrive, but they go to OneDrive’s own recycle bin for OneDrive deleted files recovery.

1. Sign in at onedrive.com with your Microsoft account.
2. Click Recycle bin in the left pane.
3. Select the files and click Restore.

For personal accounts, OneDrive typically keeps deleted items for 30 days. Work and school accounts follow your organization’s settings, so check with your IT team. Microsoft 365 subscribers can also restore their entire OneDrive to an earlier point in time from OneDrive’s settings, which helps after mass deletions or ransomware.

Step 4: Restore with File History or Previous Versions

File History

File History is Windows’ built-in backup to an external or network drive. It only helps if it was turned on before the deletion, but it’s worth checking.

1. Connect the drive you used for File History.
2. Open Control Panel → System and Security → File History (or search the Start menu for “Restore your files with File History”).
3. Click Restore personal files.
4. Use the arrows at the bottom to go back to a date when the file existed.
5. Select it and click the green Restore button. To save it somewhere else, right-click the button and choose Restore to.

On Windows 11, File History settings no longer appear in the Settings app, but the Control Panel route above still works.

Previous Versions

1. In File Explorer, right-click the folder that contained the deleted file.
2. Choose Properties and open the Previous Versions tab.
3. Pick a version from before the deletion and click Open to browse it, then copy out what you need.

This tab only lists versions if File History or System Protection (restore points) was enabled for that drive. On many PCs it’s empty, and that’s normal.

Step 5: Try Windows File Recovery

If the file isn’t in any of those places, Microsoft offers a free command-line tool called Windows File Recovery (winfr), available from the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 version 2004 and later and Windows 11.

Before you install it, two rules:

• The destination must be a different drive from the one you’re recovering. Recovering onto the same drive can overwrite the very files you’re trying to save. A USB drive works well as a destination.
• Every minute of normal use reduces your odds. If the files are critical, see “The SSD problem” below first.

After installing, open Windows File Recovery from the Start menu and approve the admin prompt. A basic command to recover your Documents folder from drive C: to drive E: looks like this:

winfr C: E: /regular /n \Users\<username>\Documents\

To look for a file type instead, use a wildcard filter:

winfr C: E: /regular /n *.docx

Use /regular for recently deleted files on a healthy NTFS drive, and /extensive for files deleted longer ago, formatted drives, or FAT and exFAT drives. Recovered files land in a Recovery_ folder on the destination drive. The tool’s switches have changed between releases, so check Microsoft’s support page for Windows File Recovery for current options before you rely on anything advanced.

Prefer a graphical tool? Third-party undelete programs exist too. Read is data recovery software safe? before you choose one.

Shift+Delete and permanently deleted files

If you used Shift+Delete or emptied the Recycle Bin, the file system has marked that space as free, but the data may still be on the disk. Steps 3 through 5 still apply: check OneDrive, check File History, then try Windows File Recovery. Our general deleted file recovery guide explains why stopping use of the drive matters so much.

The SSD problem: why some deleted files can’t come back

Most modern Windows PCs boot from an SSD, and Windows sends TRIM commands to SSDs. When you empty the Recycle Bin or Shift+Delete a file, Windows tells the SSD those blocks are no longer needed, and the drive typically erases them in the background, often within minutes.

What that means in practice:

• On an SSD system drive, permanently deleted files are often unrecoverable, by software or by a lab, once TRIM has done its work.
• On a traditional hard drive, deleted data usually stays until it’s overwritten, so the odds are much better. Stop using the PC and recover from another computer if the data is critical.
• External USB drives may or may not receive TRIM, depending on the drive and enclosure. Treat them as time-sensitive.

Not sure what your PC has? Open Task Manager → Performance and click your disk; it’s labeled SSD or HDD.

The bottom line

To recover deleted files on Windows 11 or 10, check the Recycle Bin, try Ctrl+Z, check OneDrive’s recycle bin, then File History and Previous Versions. If none of those have it, try Windows File Recovery with the results saved to a different drive. On an SSD, act quickly and accept that some deleted files are gone for good, which is exactly why the 3-2-1 backup rule exists.

Deleted-file recovery on a healthy drive is usually a software job. If the drive itself is failing, clicking, not detected, or making Windows freeze, that’s a different problem: our hard drive recovery service handles it for one flat $1,200 price for a single device, with free prepaid shipping, and you pay nothing unless the recovery succeeds.