Can I recover a permanently deleted folder?

Sarahx · 20 Jul 2018

Hi, I am new to the forums and I do not know where to post this.

About an hour ago I was clearing my documents out, and I deleted a folder by accident that contained a lot of important files. I had downloaded a couple of 'recovery' programs to see if they could be any help. One of the programs I downloaded was 'Wondershare Recover it'. Once the program finished its search, I could see all of my deleted files. When I clicked the recovery button, it said I had to purchase a package. I checked the responses to the program online but they were all negative.

Does anyone know any ways I can recover my files, or any safe and reliable program that can help me?

dalchina · 20 Jul 2018

You could try Recuva - free- very well known. Make sure you click the deep scan checkbox.

These programs usually have a quick scan mode (Recycle bins e.g.) and the deeper scan mode looks for files still present on the disk, but not part of the file system (deleted).

Note: You must NOT write more to the partition where the folder was.

For example, it is most at risk of being overwritten if it was on C:

Note: A Google search for
free data recovery programs
offers
Top 15 Best Free Data Recovery Software â€” 2018 Edition
The best free data recovery software 2018: rescue lost or deleted files | TechRadar

Sarahx · 20 Jul 2018

Just to say that I somehow have my document/files back, I checked my recycle bin and then I see the big document with all my stuff in it. I had several recovery programs running including the one posted above. I don't know which program solved this, if one of them did.

Berton · 20 Jul 2018

By default deleted files and folders go to the Recycle Bin first then the Bin can be emptied for a permanent deletion. There is a way to bypass the Bin but not safe.

pokeefe0001 · 20 Jul 2018

If your files are still in the Recycle bin then you should be able to open the Recycle bin, right click on a file, and select Restore.

If you have successfully deleted (rather than just recycled) your files and free can't recover them, try Active@File Recovery Professional or Ultimate. It costs, but it can recover files that some of the free programs cannot. I know anecdotal stories don't count for much, but ... . I deleted a directory (folder) with hundreds of sub-directories and many thousands of files. A couple free programs could find (most of) the files but recovered them all into one directory. Rebuilding the directory structure would have taken ages. Active@File Recovery found all but a handful of the files and rebuilt the directory structure.