How to recover missing, lost, or deleted files
Before reviewing the below recommendations and suggestions, verify that the files have been deleted. In some cases, the files may have been moved. You can search the hard drive for the files you believe to be missing by running find or search on the computer.
Restore from Recycling Bin or Trash
If you are running Apple macOS or Microsoft Windows and the file has been recently deleted, it may still be in the Trash or Recycle Bin.
If present within this area, it can be recovered by right-clicking on the file and selecting Restore in the menu.
Recovering a deleted file from the Windows Recycle Bin.
Recover file from backup
If the file has been backed up to floppy disk, CD, USB flash drive, or cloud storage it is recommended that the file be restored from that backup if the file cannot be found.
Download freeware program or purchase a program
When a file is deleted (even when removed from the Recycle Bin), the files are marked as deleted, however they are not immediately removed from the hard drive. Assuming no other file has overwritten the deleted file on the hard drive, a recovery program can be used to recover deleted files. Below is a list of freeware file recovery programs that can be used to recover lost data.
Tip: In Windows, if you are prompted to run a program as an administrator, such as Restoration, right-click on the executable file and choose the option to Run as administrator.
Note: If other programs have been installed or data has been moved on the hard drive since a file has been deleted it cannot be recovered using these programs.
There are also several companies who have created programs designed to recover your lost data. For example, PowerQuest makes the utility Drive Image that in some cases can be used to recover data from a hard drive.
Utilize a service from a company that specializes in recovering lost data
Utilize the service of a local data recovery company or an out-of-state data recovery company. One word of caution is that these services can sometimes be very expensive. It is only recommended they be used if the data is extremely important or data cannot be read from hard drive. Below is a listing for a few of the major data recovery companies.
There are also several companies that specialize in the service of recovering files or documents that are password protected. Below is a listing of some of the companies that provide this service.
Additional information
When I delete a file on my computer, where does it go?
Hard drive help and support.
See our data recovery definition for additional information on this term and related links.
Before reviewing the below recommendations and suggestions, verify that the files have been deleted. In some cases, the files may have been moved. You can search the hard drive for the files you believe to be missing by running find or search on the computer.
Restore from Recycling Bin or Trash
If you are running Apple macOS or Microsoft Windows and the file has been recently deleted, it may still be in the Trash or Recycle Bin.
If present within this area, it can be recovered by right-clicking on the file and selecting Restore in the menu.
Recovering a deleted file from the Windows Recycle Bin.
Recover file from backup
If the file has been backed up to floppy disk, CD, USB flash drive, or cloud storage it is recommended that the file be restored from that backup if the file cannot be found.
Download freeware program or purchase a program
When a file is deleted (even when removed from the Recycle Bin), the files are marked as deleted, however they are not immediately removed from the hard drive. Assuming no other file has overwritten the deleted file on the hard drive, a recovery program can be used to recover deleted files. Below is a list of freeware file recovery programs that can be used to recover lost data.
- Recuva
- Restoration
- Disk Drill - for Mac and Windows
- Undelete Plus
- FreeUndelete
- Photorec
- PC Inspector File Recover *Not compatible with Vista/7
Tip: In Windows, if you are prompted to run a program as an administrator, such as Restoration, right-click on the executable file and choose the option to Run as administrator.
Note: If other programs have been installed or data has been moved on the hard drive since a file has been deleted it cannot be recovered using these programs.
There are also several companies who have created programs designed to recover your lost data. For example, PowerQuest makes the utility Drive Image that in some cases can be used to recover data from a hard drive.
Utilize a service from a company that specializes in recovering lost data
Utilize the service of a local data recovery company or an out-of-state data recovery company. One word of caution is that these services can sometimes be very expensive. It is only recommended they be used if the data is extremely important or data cannot be read from hard drive. Below is a listing for a few of the major data recovery companies.
- Action Front Data Recovery
- CBL Data Recovery Technologies Inc.
- Doctor Byte
- DriveSavers Data Recovery
- Kroll Ontrack
- Lazarus Data Recovery
- Secure Data Recovery Services
- Stellar Data Recovery
- DataCent Professional Data Recovery
- Virtual Data Recovery
- Wondershare Data Recovery
There are also several companies that specialize in the service of recovering files or documents that are password protected. Below is a listing of some of the companies that provide this service.
- Passwordcrackers
- Password Recovery software
Additional information
When I delete a file on my computer, where does it go?
Hard drive help and support.
See our data recovery definition for additional information on this term and related links.
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