How to recover deleted files from a specific folder​？

Accidentally deleting files from a specific folder can be a nightmare, especially if the data is crucial. Whether you’re a professional dealing with important documents, a student losing months of research, or a photographer erasing precious photos, the problem is universal. Fortunately, there are various ways to recover deleted files from a specific folder.

1. File Deletion

Before diving into recovery methods, it’s important to understand what happens when you delete a file. Deleting a file usually does not mean it’s permanently gone from the system right away. Instead, the system marks the space the file occupies as available for new data, but the actual data remains until overwritten.

This means the sooner you attempt recovery, the better the chances of retrieving the files intact. Always stop any unnecessary activity that might overwrite the data, especially large file operations or downloads.

2. Quick Solutions: Recycle Bin and Trash

2.1 Windows: Recycle Bin

When you delete a file on Windows, it first moves to the Recycle Bin. The Recycle Bin acts as a buffer before files are permanently deleted, making it easy to recover them.

Steps:

Open the Recycle Bin by double-clicking its desktop icon.

Locate the folder or files you deleted.

Right-click the files or folder, then click Restore.

The files will return to their original location.

2.2 macOS: Trash

Similarly, on macOS, deleted files are moved to the Trash folder.

Steps:

Open Trash from the Dock.

Browse for the deleted files or folders.

Select the files and right-click, then choose Put Back.

Your files will be restored to their original folder.

Tip: If you don’t see your files in the Recycle Bin or Trash, they may have been permanently deleted or bypassed the bin, in which case more advanced methods are required.

3. Recovering Deleted Files Using File History (Windows)

If you’re using Windows 10 or 11. and File History is enabled, you can restore deleted files from previous versions of the specific folder.

3.1 Enabling File History

If you haven’t set it up yet, follow these steps:

Go to Control Panel → System and Security → File History.

Click Turn On to enable it and choose an external drive or network location as a backup.

3.2 Restoring Deleted Files from File History

Steps:

Navigate to the folder from which the files were deleted.

Right-click within the folder, then select Restore previous versions.

A list of available folder versions will appear, based on backups taken by File History.

Select the version that contains the deleted files and click Restore to recover them.

Tip: Regularly backing up your files with File History ensures a higher chance of recovering deleted data.

4. Using macOS Time Machine to Recover Deleted Files

Time Machine is macOS’s native backup feature. If enabled, it can restore previous versions of folders and files, even after deletion.

4.1 Enabling Time Machine

If you don’t have it set up, follow these steps:

Connect an external drive to your Mac.

Go to System Preferences → Time Machine → Select Backup Disk.

Choose the connected drive and start the backup process.

4.2 Restoring Deleted Files via Time Machine

Steps:

Open Finder and navigate to the folder where the deleted files were stored.

Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and select Enter Time Machine.

Use the timeline on the right side to navigate to a point before the files were deleted.

Locate the deleted files and click Restore.

Tip: Time Machine’s hourly, daily, and weekly backups provide several recovery points, making it more likely to retrieve the exact version of the deleted file.

5. Third-Party Recovery Software

When built-in recovery methods fail, third-party software comes to the rescue. These tools can scan the drive and recover files that the OS no longer tracks.

5.1 Recommended Tools:

Panda Assistant is a powerful and intuitive data recovery software designed to help users recover lost or deleted files from a wide range of devices. Whether you’ve accidentally deleted important documents, photos, or videos from your computer, external hard drive, USB stick, or SD card, Panda Assistant provides an easy solution to retrieve them. Its user-friendly interface makes the recovery process simple for both beginners and advanced users.

The software is equipped with advanced scanning algorithms that allow users to quickly find and restore data that has been deleted, formatted, or corrupted due to system crashes or virus attacks. Panda Assistant supports multiple file types and formats, ensuring that nearly any file type can be recovered. Additionally, it offers both quick and deep scan modes, allowing users to choose a faster scan for recently deleted files or a more thorough scan for complex data recovery needs.

5.2 General Recovery Process

Steps:

Download and install your preferred recovery software.

Launch the software and select the drive or specific folder where the files were located.

Run a Quick Scan or Deep Scan.

After the scan completes, preview the files.

Select the files you want to recover and click Restore.

Tip: Always recover files to a different location than the original, such as an external drive, to avoid overwriting data during recovery.

6. Recovering Files via Command-Line (Windows & macOS)

For more advanced users, the command line offers powerful tools to recover deleted files, especially on external drives or partitions.

6.1 Windows: Recover Using Command Prompt

Windows’ Command Prompt can use the ATTRIB command to recover hidden or deleted files in certain cases, especially from external storage devices.

Steps:

Press Win + X and choose Command Prompt (Admin).

Type chkdsk X: /f (replace X with your drive letter) and press Enter.

Type ATTRIB -H -R -S /S /D X:*.* and press Enter.

This will recover hidden files, especially on external devices like USB drives.

6.2 macOS: Recover Using Terminal

On macOS, the Terminal allows you to use Unix-based commands like rm to check for deleted or hidden files.

Steps:

Open Terminal.

Use the cd command to navigate to the folder where files were deleted (e.g., cd /Users/YourName/Documents).

Try the ls command to list files that might be hidden but not deleted.

Tip: Command-line tools are more advanced and should only be used by those comfortable with them to avoid accidental data loss.

7. Linux-Based Recovery Methods

Linux users have various recovery options like TestDisk and extundelete, which work with ext3 and ext4 filesystems.

7.1 Recovering Files with TestDisk

TestDisk is a robust open-source tool for file recovery.

Steps:

Install TestDisk via the command: sudo apt install testdisk.

Run it using: sudo testdisk.

Follow the guided interface to select the drive or partition for recovery.

Choose Analyze and select the Undelete option to recover lost files.

7.2 Using extundelete

extundelete can help if you’re using ext3/ext4 file systems.

Steps:

Install extundelete with: sudo apt install extundelete.

Run the following command: sudo extundelete /dev/sdX –restore-directory /path/to/folder (replace /dev/sdX with your partition and /path/to/folder with the directory path).

8. Cloud Storage Recovery Options

If you regularly back up your files to cloud storage, recovery can be as simple as restoring from your cloud provider. Services like Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox offer easy file recovery from their trash bins.

Steps for Google Drive:

Go to drive.google.com.

Navigate to Trash on the left sidebar.

Right-click the file or folder and choose Restore.

9. Preventative Tips for Future File Recovery

To avoid the stress of file recovery, consider these preventive measures:

Regularly back up important files using external drives or cloud storage.

Enable File History on Windows or Time Machine on macOS.

Use a recovery plan, keeping recovery software installed in case of emergencies.