The recycle bin temporarily stores the deleted files and folders till they are permanently deleted. If you accidentally deleted the recycle bin, and its icon or shortcut are not showing on your desktop, here’s what you need to do.
All your deleted files and folders find a way into the recycle bin. Its icon is located in the Windows desktop. These files and folders remain till they are permanently deleted. Emptying the recycle bin helps free the disk space.
If we unknowingly delete photos, music, and other files we might still need, we can go to the recycle bin to retrieve them. If you end up deleting the icon itself, your computer cannot keep track of those files, and the only way you could access them would be through a data recovery software.
This problem mostly arises when we ignore the confirmation pop-ups that come up on the screen when we are deleting files or folders. Here’s what you need to do when you accidentally delete the recycle bin itself.
In case of Windows XP, you could right click on any empty area of your desktop, select ‘properties’ and then click on the ‘Desktop’ tab. Click on ‘customize’ button and then, click “restore default”. Exit all windows and then restart your computer.
Getting the Icon Back
To get the icon back, all you need to do is go to the control panel and click on the personalization options. Look to the left, and you will find “Change desktop icons”, when you click on that, you will see another dialog box about desktop icon settings.
Click on the recycle bin check box and then click on OK. The icon would reappear on your desktop. If you have deleted the shortcut, you can right click on the bin icon and select the create shortcut option. The shortcut would appear on the desktop.
Restore Deleted Files
There is another thing you need to know. When you accidentally delete files from the recycle bin, the files never get actually deleted. The operating system removes the allocation information and location details from the hard drive and the space occupied by the files become available.
If the location details of the files are unavailable, operating system overwrites these files if it needs space for new files. So, if you are trying to retrieve deleted files, don’t try downloading or installing any programs. Another important tip for file recovery is that you must never boot the system. Booting the system involves creation of many files.
As some files are updated, recovering those deleted files would be difficult. The deleted files might be under the risk of being overwritten by the OS. So, put your plans of downloading or installing any new program on hold and get your hands on a file recovery software. Once the file recovery software is installed, you could restore your deleted files.
So, now you don’t need to worry if you delete the recycle bin by mistake. Be careful about the confirmation pop-ups and make sure you don’t end up deleting important stuff.