How Do I Restore Missing Recycle Bin on Windows 11/10?

summary:

We all know Recycle Bin temporarily keeps deleted files and folders from users. If you have fortuitously deleted any files or folders, you can easily retrieve it Recycle Bin. What if you accidentally deleted Recycle Bin? Or cannot find Recycle Bin icon on Windows desktop? Do not worry, with the help of methods explained in this article, you will be able to restore missing Recycle Bin and recover files and folders from Recycle Bin.

Why Can’t I Find Recycle Bin on Windows?

There are different reasons why you can’t find Recycle Bin icon on your desktop. A few of the most common causes are listed below:

1. Any registry configurations settings change in the system could create conflict with Recycle Bin and make it disappear.

2. Corruption in system files can damage the system files as a result Recycle bin/ trash can go missing from the desktop.

3. Virus or malware intrusion can damage the system applications.

Sometimes, you might accidentally delete the Recycle Bin icon from the desktop

How to Restore Recycle Bin on Desktop?

Below mentioned are few methods, using which you can restore your lost Recycle Bin on your desktop on various Windows versions.

Recycle Bin Missing/ Not Showing Up on Windows 11/ 10

If you are missing Recycle Bin on windows 11 or any other older versions including Windows 10/8/7, here are few common ways to open it on your computer.

1. Go to the Windows 11 desktop >> Right click on the blank section
2. Select View from the context menu
3. Click Show desktop icons from the submenu to check it

Your desktop icons including Recycle Bin will appear.

View Recycle Bin icon via Settings

1. Open Windows 11 Settings by pressing Windows + I or type settings in your search bar
2. Select Personalization >> click Themes.
   
3. Locate Related settings section on right pane >> Click Desktop icon settings
   
   
4. Look for the Recycle Bin option in the opening window >> Click Apply and OK to confirm the change

Now, you will be able to see the Recycle Bin icon on Desktop on Windows 11 computer.

Access Missing Recycle Bin from File Explorer or Windows Explorer

You can easily find disappeared Recycle Bin in all the Windows version including Windows 11/10/8 using Fie Explorer. Follow the below steps to fix Recycle Bin is missing problem on the Windows versions you are using.

For Windows 11 Users

1. Open File Explorer >> Right click on any blank space in the left-side panel.
2. Select Show all folders from the context menu.
   
3. The Recycle Bin icon will then appear.

For Windows 10/8/7 Users

1. Open the classic Control Panel >> Click Appearance and Personalization
2. Under File Explorer options select the Show hidden files and folders
3. Select Show hidden files and folders under Advanced Settings
4. Uncheck the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) option
5. Click Apply and OK

Now Go to each drive to delete the $RECYCLE.BIN folders and the relevant permissions for them.

Note: The $RECYCLE.BIN refers to a hidden and system protected folder used to keep files and folders that you have deleted. Once you restore Recycle Bin, you can delete the folder $RECYCLE BIN.  It’s the real Recycle Bin folder created by the system and hidden by default.

Repair Damaged system File to Find Missing Recycle Bin

As one of the reasons behind missing Recycle Bin is damaged system file, repairing the corrupt system files will help you restore your Recycle Bin icon.

The SFC utility (System File Checker) in Windows scans for any system file errors and corruptions and automatically fixes it.

1. Open the Start menu and type command prompt
2. Run Command Prompt as administrator. Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator from the context menu
3. Enter the following command and hit Enter: sfc /scannow

By following any of the above-mentioned methods, you should be able to recover missing Recycle Bin. What if you cannot find your deleted items in Recycle Bin? How would you recover emptied Recycle Bin files?

Here is the best way to recover files from Recycle Bin. Using SFWare Deleted File Recovery Software, you can easily recover files from recycle bin. Be it permanently deleted or accidental, with SFWare you can get access back to the files stored on Recycle Bin. The tool helps you access data free from corruption without any hassle.

Recycle Bin Not Showing Deleted Items: Recover Files from Empty Recycle Bin

If you are wondering why Recycle Bin doesn’t show your deleted files, here are the reasons:

1. You might have used Shift+ Delete keys to delete files from your drive. Using Shift key to delete surpass the Recycle Bin. Therefore, avoid permanent deletion of files from drive.
2. Using Command Prompt to delete items from the drive could be another reason
3. If you have deleted files from USB, those files will not be stored in Recycle Bin.
4. you might have missed to configure Recycle Bin to store deleted files. You can change the configuration by changing the Recycle Bin’s properties by disabling don’t move files to Recycle Bin. Follow the below steps to disable the option.

• Right click on the Recycle Bin on your desktop >> Select Properties
• Select a drive under Recycle Bin Location >> Go to Settings for selected location
• Check the Custom size option instead of Don’t move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted
• Click Apply and OK to confirm

How to Retrieve Files from Emptied Recycle Bin?

To recover files from Recycle Bin, download and launch SFWare Data Recovery Software and follow these simple steps-

1. From the first screen, you can see three main options – Recover Files, Recover Photos and Recover Drives. Select Recover Files to Restore Files from Missing Recycle Bin
   
2. Pick either Deleted File Recovery or Lost File Recovery option based on the circumstance you’re confronting.
   
3. Next, select C drive as it is Recycle Bins’ default location. Once the scanning progress is completed, you can view files in Data View and File Type view
   
   
4. Select the files to restore and click on Next. You can Preview recovered files and save your Recycle Bins’ recovered data to your desired location.
   

Irrespective of the causes that lead to data loss, SFWare Data Recovery Software bring back files with almost no effort. This program is not only good for deleted or lost files from PCs and laptops but also recover deleted files from external drives, pen drives, digital devices like memory cards or any other storage devices. Also, it restores any file formats you have deleted or missed such as documents, videos, music, emails, etc.

Hopefully, the above mentioned helps you keep your Recycle Bin on your Desktop. If you happened to lose files from Recycle Bin, do not worry, you can always rely on SFWare Data Recovery software to restore files back without any damage.