How to Recover Accidentally Deleted Files on a Computer
When you delete files from your computer they don’t suddenly disappear, they are just marked so that the space they were in on the hard drive can be used again for other data. The more recently that the file was deleted, the more likely it is that you can recover a file that was deleted either by accident or on purpose. The longer it has been since you deleted the file, the less likely it is that you will be able to get the file back. If you accidentally deleted a file recently, though, there is a good chance that you can get the file back.
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Instructions
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Stop doing whatever you are doing. Close your programs and don’t save anything else unless you absolutely have to. It is unlikely the file you just deleted will be overwritten but it is possible.
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Open the Recycle Bin and look for the file there. Unless you emptied the Recycle Bin or held down the shift key while deleting the file, it will be in the Recycle Bin. One other exception is that very large files will not go in the Recycle Bin.
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Download recovery software such as Get Data Back, Uneraser or RecoverMyFiles which can scan your computer and recover files. Install the program and choose the drive to scan. The scan may take hours but will list the files that can be recovered. The program will make a list according to your computer's file structure showing where the files were.
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Purchase the program if you see the file you want. Recovery programs often let you use the program for free, but you must purchase the program to actually recover the file. Enter the license key in the program. Select the file you want and choose a location to save the file to.
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