Microsoft’s recovery software is not particularly user-friendly. Use free software instead, such as Recuva and Glarysoft File Recovery Free. Your computer’s hardware and software are useless if you have no data to process. Thousands or even millions of files and folders can be found on a standard hard drive, and this data is frequently vulnerable to loss or damage.

Small- and medium-sized business owners need a file recovery strategy in place in order to protect their assets from being lost or destroyed in an emergency. This includes having the appropriate equipment on hand in case of an emergency, as well as having a file recovery plan in place.

Steps to recover deleted files in Windows 10 or 11

Recover Deleted Files from a Recycle Bin in Windows 11

You can restore recently deleted items without using any additional software by using the updated Recycle Bin included with Windows 11. This bin contains helpful tools that make it easy to restore deleted files and folders.

Step 2: On the left pane, click on the “Recycle Bin” icon. Step 3: On the right pane, click on the “New Folder” button. Step 4: In the New Folder dialog, name your new folder " recycle ." Step 5: Click on the “Create Folder” button. Step 6: In the New Folder dialog, click on the “Add Files” button. Step 7: In the Add Files dialog, browse to and select the file you want to recycle . Step 8: Click on the “Create Folder” button and confirm your selection.

Step 3: Choose the recovery method you want to use. Step 4: Follow the instructions to recover your files.

Step 3: Right-click any of the selected files and choose the Restore option.

Drag and drop the selected files to a location of your choice. ..

Recover Files using Undo Delete

Undo can be helpful when you accidentally delete a file or when you make a mistake while working on your computer. To undo an action, use the Windows 11 Undo tool. ..

Step 2: Choose a photo to start with. Step 3: Drag and drop the photo into the folder. Step 4: Click on the photo to open it in a new window or tab.

Step 2: Use the keyboard shortcut to zoom in on the image.

Step 3: Alternatively, you can right-click anywhere in the folder and choose the Undo Delete option.

Restore Files Using the File History Feature

To use File History on your Windows 11 computer, you first need to create a new account and sign in. Then, under the “File History” tab, you can select which drive to back up your files to. If you have multiple drives, you can choose which one to back up first. After choosing the drive, you can click the “Back Up Now” button.

Step 2: Click on the Сontrol panel. Step 3: Click on the Сontrol button. Step 4: In the Сontrol panel, click on the Рeject button.

Step 3: In the “Control Panel” app, click on the “Security” tab. Step 4: In the Security section, click on the “Firewall” button. Step 5: In the Firewall section, click on the “VPN” button. Step 6: In the VPN section, click on the “Configure VPN” button. Step 7: In the Configure VPN section, enter your desired VPN settings.

Step 3: Navigate to System and Security > File History.

Step 5: In the new window that opens, click on the Restore files button. Step 6: In the resulting window, you will be asked to enter your name and password. Step 7: After entering these two pieces of information, you will be able to click on the Restore files button.

To recover files from a backup that is more than 30 days old:

  1. Choose the date of the backup you want to recover files from.
  2. In the Backup History window, click on the date you want to go back in time.
  3. In the Time Travel window, click on Start Time and then select a day on which to begin your recovery.
  4. Click on End Time and then select a day on which to finish your recovery.
  5. If you want to save your recovered files before finishing your time travel, click on Save Files Now before clicking on Finish Time Traveling. ..

Step 6: Choose your files.

If you have a backup of your data, clicking the green “recover” button will restore your files from that backup. ..

Recover Permanently Deleted Files from an Older Backup

  1. Choose the Backup and Restore option from the Windows 11 main menu.
  2. Choose the type of backup you want to create: a hard drive image, a virtual hard drive, or a network share.
  3. Choose the location of your machine’s hard drive: on your local computer, on a remote server, or in multiple locations.
  4. Choose the time range you want to restore data from: before or after an event such as an upgrade, a system crash, or a power outage.

Step 2: Tap on the “Privacy” tab. Step 3: Scroll down and tap on the “Location Services” section. Step 4: Toggle off the “Location Services” option.

Step 2: Navigate to System > Recovery.

If you have not already done so, restart your computer by clicking the “Restart now” button.

Advanced options in the troubleshooting screen of the System Image Recovery utility allow you to see more recovery options, including restoring from a backup or restoring from a different computer.

Back up your computer’s system image to a safe location. ..

Use Third-Party Data Recovery Software

  1. Choose the type of file you want to recover: pictures, videos, music, or documents.
  2. Choose the location where you want to store the recovered files: on your computer’s hard drive, on a USB drive, or on a cloud storage service like iCloud.
  3. Click the Recover button to start recovering files.
  4. After recovery is complete, click the Close button to finish recovering files.

Step 2: Create a new partition on your hard drive. Step 3: Copy the contents of the “C:\Users<username>\AppData\Roaming\Disk Drill” folder to the new partition. Step 4: Start Disk Drill and create a new partition.

Launch the software and complete the initial setup. ..

Step 3: Select your storage device and click Search for lost data.

  1. Choose which files you want to preview.
  2. Click the “Preview” button to view your selected files in a new window.
  3. If you want to keep the files open, click the “Keep Previewing” button.
  4. To close the preview window and return to your original file list, click the “Close Preview Window” button. ..

Disk Drill will recover the selected files from your hard drive.

Final Words

If you delete a file or folder on your computer, Windows 10 or 11 may not immediately remove it from your hard drive. This is because Windows 10 and 11 use a file system called NTFS. NTFS stores files and folders in clusters, which means that deleted files and folders are not immediately removed from the disk but instead are stored in a hidden folder called the Recycle Bin. If you want to permanently remove a file or folder from your hard drive, you need to delete it using the Windows 10 or 11 File Explorer. ..