Recover Permanently Deleted Files on Windows 11 – 5+ Methods

Accidentally losing a file (or a whole folder) can feel like a catastrophe. But in Windows, fortunately, “permanently” deleting a file by how-to-recover-files-which-are-lost-after-using-chkdsk-command Shift+Delete or emptying the Recycle Bin doesn’t actually erase the data immediately. Instead, what Windows does is it simply removes the file’s index entry and marks its disk space as free.

In reality, the actual file data remains on the drive until overwritten by new files. This quirk normally means that deleted files can often be undeleted, provided that you act quickly. But it also implies that many users are caught off-guard when they realize a crucial document is gone… only to find that recovery might still be possible.

The importance of understanding this cannot be overstated. Backups aside, just knowing what triggers such a kind of file loss and how Windows handles deletions can mean the difference between a simple restore and permanent data loss.

Common Scenarios for Permanent File Deletion in Windows 11

Windows users lose files in several typical ways. Each has different technical implications:

• Shift + Delete or Emptying Recycle Bin
• Deleting or Formatting a Drive
• Disk Errors or Corruption
• Virus or Malware
• BitLocker or Encryption

Deleting on an HDD leaves your data bits behind (for now). But heavy drive usage, format operations, or SSD TRIM can greatly reduce or eliminate recovery chances. Time matters: the sooner you try to restore files after deletion, the better your odds.

Below is a quick reference table for common deletion situations and the likelihood of recovery. The probabilities assume the drive has not been heavily used after deletion.

 

Deletion Scenario	Recovery Likelihood	Notes
File in Recycle Bin (not yet emptied)	Very High	File is still in Windows’ bin. Simply restore via right-click.
Shadow copy (Previous Versions) available	Very High	If enabled, can restore past versions even after deletion.
Immediately after permanent delete (NTFS)	High	On NTFS, file entry still exists. Recoverable until overwritten.
Quick format of NTFS drive	Medium-High	Fast format clears the file table, but data blocks remain largely intact.
After light use (few writes)	Medium	Some new data may overwrite parts. Chances shrink with each write.
After heavy use (days/weeks)	Low	Most of the disk may be overwritten by now.
Quick format of FAT32 drive	Low	FAT formatting overwrote directory info, hurting recovery.
Full format or zero-fill	Very Low/None	Writes zeros to disk and essentially destroys data.
SSD (with TRIM)	Very Low/None	TRIM often immediately erases freed blocks.

Note: These are general chances. Backup snapshots (File History) or restore points are not included above, as they can provide full recovery even in tough cases.

Methods to Retrieve Permanently Deleted Files on Windows 11

If you prefer built-in options before trying any software, Windows offers a few approaches. They aren’t foolproof, but they’re worth a try. After you’re done trying to restore those deleted items from your Recycle Bin, let’s briefly go through each method, with step-by-step instructions:

Method 1: Use Command Line Tools (attrib and chkdsk)

Using the Command Prompt, you can sometimes recover hidden or corrupted files.  In such a case, you might think that you have deleted those files but in reality, they are just lying around. You just have to bring them back. This method is mostly for cases where files are hidden/system-flagged by a virus or error. It won’t undelete files removed from the Recycle Bin, but it can restore missing files that are still present on the disk.

• Click Start, type cmd, then right-click and choose Run as Administrator.

• Identify the drive letter of the affected partition (e.g. E:).
• Run attrib -h -r -s /s /d E:\*.*

This removes the Hidden (-h), Read-only (-r), and System (-s) attributes from all files in drive E, including subfolders (/s) and directories (/d).

• Press Enter. Windows will scan and remove flags on any hidden files.
• Check the drive in File Explorer. Any previously hidden files should now appear.
• Still in the admin Command Prompt, you can also try fixing disk errors by running
  chkdsk E: /f /r.

Here, /f fixes file system errors, /r locates bad sectors and recovers readable information.

• Wait for CHKDSK to finish. When done, see if your lost files have returned. CHKDSK often creates a folder like found.000 with recovered file fragments.

Note: These CMD tricks work best when files are hidden or the drive has minor errors. They cannot recover files permanently deleted from the file table. In those cases, move on to other methods below.

Command prompt recovery usingattrib and chkdsk is a quick fix for certain problems (hidden files, corruption). If those don’t restore your data, you’ll need backups or recovery software to dig deeper.

Suggested Read: How to Recover Files lost after using the CHKDSK Command?

Method 2: Use the File History Feature

File History is Windows’ background backup feature (on Windows 8/10/11). If you had it set up to an external drive or network location before deletion, you can restore copies of your document. In such copies, you might also see some snapshots marked ‘(System)’. These are system protection copies and won’t recover your files, so ignore them. Here are the steps:

• Connect the File History drive. Make sure the external drive or network folder used for backups is attached and recognized by Windows.
• Open File Explorer and navigate to the folder that used to contain your deleted file or folder (for example, your Documents folder).
• Right-click the folder, choose Restore previous versions. This opens the Previous Versions tab (File History backups appear here).
• To Browse versions, select an earlier date (version) before your files disappeared. You can click Open to preview, or Restore to bring back everything.

• Recover individual files if you only need one file. For this, double-click a version to open it in File History. Then copy the needed file out.

File History recovers deleted files by retrieving them from your backup snapshots. It’s very effective if File History was enabled in advance. Without prior backups, it won’t help.

Method 3: Use System Restore

System Restore reverts Windows system files and settings to an earlier point. However, it is not designed for personal files. Thus, System Restore usually won’t recover a deleted document or photo.

Important Note: System Restore does not bring back user files like documents or photos.

However, for completeness:

• Open System Restore by typing “Create a restore point” in Start, and then click it. System Restore.

• Now, choose a restore point by picking a date/time before you deleted the file and click Next.

• Confirm and restore by following the prompts to revert. Your PC will reboot.

System Restore mainly affects Windows system files and installed programs. It rarely brings back user documents or media, so don’t expect deleted files to magically reappear. It’s more for fixing crashes than undeleting files.

Method 4: Backup & Restore (Windows 7)

Windows still includes the old “Backup and Restore (Windows 7)” feature (found in the Control Panel). If you used it to make a backup (full or incremental) before losing files, you can restore from that:

• Go to Control Panel > System and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

• To restore files, click “Restore my files” (or Restore all users’ files if multiple accounts).

• Now, follow the wizard. You can browse your backup by file/folder or date. Select the items to recover and pick a location to restore them.

This method only works if you had proactively set up a Windows Backup. It can restore entire file sets from the backup image. No backup? Then unfortunately, there’s nothing here to recover.

Suggested Read: How to Create an Effective Data Backup Strategy?

Method 5: Windows 11 Previous Versions (Shadow Copies)

Windows maintains shadow copies of files if System Protection is enabled. These appear as “Previous Versions” in file properties (similar to File History but powered by restore points):

• In File Explorer, find the folder or drive that held the deleted file.
• Right-click the folder > Properties > Previous Versions tab (Or right-click and pick “Restore previous versions” directly.)

• Select a version. The tab lists snapshots by date. Pick one from before the deletion.
• Click Restore (or Open to browse).

This is essentially the same interface as File History, but it pulls from system restore snapshots instead. It works only if System Protection was turned on for that drive before the file was lost. If no versions are listed, this method won’t help.

Each of these manual methods has its limits. If none succeed, or if time is of the essence, a dedicated recovery tool is the next step.

Recover Your Files Using a Professional Software

When built-in tricks fail, professional recovery software can make a huge difference. One standout is Stellar Data Recovery for Windows – it’s a user-friendly yet powerful tool built to handle data loss in many scenarios.

Why Use a Dedicated Tool?

Unlike manual methods, a professional Windows data recovery software to Recover Lost Data can scan deep into the disk sectors for traces of your files. These tools often let you filter by file type, perform quick or thorough scans, and preview recoverable items.

Consider these examples:

• Case 1: You emptied the Recycle Bin after deleting a critical document. A quick scan through the tool might locate it nearly instantly. In fact, tests show a quick scan can find recently deleted files in seconds and let you preview them.
• Case 2: You accidentally formatted a USB drive. A deep scan with the software can comb through the drive’s data structure to reconstruct lost files, often succeeding where built-in tools cannot.
• Case 3: You lost photos after a virus attack. An advanced tool’s file-type filtering (like selecting only images) focuses the search and speeds recovery.

An ideal data recovery software also handles tricky situations: it works on external drives, SD cards, and even optical media (CD/DVD). It supports non-bootable or encrypted drives, RAID arrays, and can repair certain corrupted files in higher editions.

Suggested Read: 7 Ways to Fix Corrupt SD Memory Cards & SD Card Recovery

How should the best file recovery software be?

Make sure that the software you choose stands out for these reasons:

• Powerful scanning engine: Quick scans are fast, and deep scans can uncover long-forgotten files.
• File filtering: You can narrow the search to specific file types (documents, images, audio, etc.), which speeds up scanning and helps manage results.
• Preview capability: Seeing your files before recovery means you won’t waste space restoring junk.
• Wide format support: It handles all file formats, from Office docs to RAW photos, even custom ones.
• Device compatibility: It recovers from internal/external HDDs, SSDs, USB sticks, memory cards, and CDs/DVDs. It can even recognize and recover from RAID arrays and virtual disks.
• Non-bootable drive recovery: If Windows won’t boot, its bootable media can scan and recover files from that system.

After comparing, we can conclude Stellar Data Recovery excels in making recovery both effective and user-friendly. As Tech Radar notes, Stellar Data Recovery is “one of the best data recovery tools” with highly customizable searches, a large file-type library, and deep-scan ability. In short, it’s designed exactly for situations where the free Windows options are inadequate. It’s especially recommended when time is short or when manual methods fail. If your data is valuable, running a specialized recovery like this is often the best bet.

What Not to Do After Deleting Files

After you realize data is missing, certain actions can eliminate any chance of recovery. Avoid these common mistakes:

• Stop using the affected drive: The single worst mistake is continuing to write new files or install software on the same disk. Every new file can overwrite the free space where your deleted file sits. In particular, avoid launching installers or downloading anything to that drive.
• Do not save recovered files back to the same drive: When you do recover something, save it to a different disk or USB stick. If you save it on the same drive, you risk overwriting the yet-to-be-recovered files.
• Avoid disk cleanup/defrag: Running Disk Cleanup, Defragmenter, or any system optimizer can overwrite deleted file spaces. These tools rewrite and consolidate disk data, which can permanently erase your lost file sectors.
• Don’t panic or shut down improperly: If the drive is external, remove it safely. If it’s an internal drive, simply stop using the computer except to run recovery. (Avoid “one-click” fix-all tools that promise instant recovery; they often install software that further writes to disk.)

Conclusion

Losing files can be distressing, but hey! Don’t give up hope immediately. Remember that permanently deleting files on Windows often means they can still be recovered, well at least until the disk space is overwritten. This article showed that understanding what deletion really does (pointer removed, data left behind) is key. We covered built-in recovery methods (CMD tricks, File History, System Restore, backup tools) as well as the powerful option of a professional Windows data recovery tool to retrieve permanently deleted files.

The bottom line: Stop using the drive, act fast, and try recovery. Start with free solutions or backups first. If those methods we listed don’t work, a professional tool like Stellar Data Recovery can go deep into that system of yours and resurrect files you thought were gone. Once your files are safe in your hands, remember that you must set up regular backups. A little prevention literally goes a long way in avoiding the next data loss disaster. Good luck and may your files return safely!