Summary:
There may be situations where you end up losing your important files permanently due to uncertain reasons. The following write-up guides you to recover permanently deleted files from any Windows computers.
We all know, once the file is deleted and moved to Recycle Bin. What if you have cleared the Recycle Bin? Or deleted the file using Shift + Delete keys? In such cases restoring permanently deleted files could be challenging.
Is it possible to recover permanently deleted files or files deleted from Recycle Bin? Well, stick to the article to know the most efficient ways to restore permanently deleted files from all Windows versions including 10/ 8 / XP/ Vista and other versions.
Can I recover permanently deleted files from my PC?
Yes, you can recover permanently deleted files from your computer. Be it Windows or Mac, when files are deleted from the drive, they are not permanently deleted from the drive. Instead the pointers holding the address of the files will be deleted. Therefore, you will be not able to find the file. However, with the help of some simple solutions provided here, you can easily get back these files.
Important Note: It is recommended to avoid using the system until you recover data from the drive. Using the system after a data loss will overwrite the existing files and make recovery difficult.
How to Recover Permanently Deleted Files?
Following are the 3 simple methods to recover permanently deleted files:
- Recover Deleted Files using File History Feature
- Recover Deleted files using System Restore
- Recover permanently deleted files from Windows 11/10 and other versions
Note: There are certain limitations to restore files from the above-mentioned two methods.
In the first case, the File History option should be enabled even before files were deleted or lost from the drive.
In the second case, restore points should have been created before the files were permanently deleted from the system.
If both these criteria do not match then both the solutions mentioned above might not be of much use. You will need software to recover permanently deleted files.
You can directly move to recover the permanently deleted files or files deleted using Shift + Deleted keys quickly with a trusted recovery tool.
Recover Permanently Deleted Files using File History
The File History feature is an added benefit in Windows computers when it comes to backing up your personal files and folders.
To restore your files using File History:
- Click on the Start menu and type Restore your files
- From the search results, select Restore files using File History
- Here, you can search for particular files giving specific file names or you can look for the files by scrolling left and right
Select the file you want to restore and click Restore to restore the permanently deleted file
Recover Permanently Deleted Files using System Restore
System Restore allows the state of the computer to revert back to that previous point in time that was created before deleting the files permanently.
This feature built-in Windows can be used to recover data lost or deleted when a system goes wrong or other problems such as errors or bad sectors on the hard drive.
To restore your system from an earlier point, follow the steps below
- Click on the Start menu and type Restore
- Click on Create a restore point from the search results
- Click System Restore in the System Properties window that opens and Enter the Next button
- Now, all the restore points available will be displayed. Choose the most recent restore point, so you don’t face a huge data loss.
- Click Scan for affected programs to see all the programs and drivers that might get affected by performing this System Restore. And then choose the restore point.
- Click on Finish to confirm the system restore and restore your system
Note: This method works only for storing System files and files saved on the desktop. You can only recover data that was saved before creating a System Restore Point. Changes done after the System Restore Point cannot be recovered.
As mentioned earlier the above-mentioned methods work only if you have created a restore point earlier. With the help of SFWare Deleted file recovery software, you can easily recover permanently deleted files.
Be it any file format such as Word files, Excel, PDFs, images, videos, audio files, etc. can be recovered by the tool. The SFWare Deleted File Recovery tool is designed with the expert scan algorithm that reaches each sector of the hard drive to get back files that you have lost.
Recover Permanently Deleted Files using SFWare
Download and run the SFWare Deleted File Recovery Software
Step 1: Select Recover Deleted Files option in the main screen
Step 2: Next, select the drive from where you want to recover permanently deleted files. And click the Next button.
Step 3: Now, a list of recoverable files will be displayed on the screen in Data type View or File Type.
Step 4: Select the required files and save them in any preferred location.
Being a highly compatible tool, SFWare software supports file recovery not only retrieves data from your computers, but also from other storage devices like external hard drives, USB’s, SD cards, iPods, etc.