Have you ever accidentally deleted an important file from your computer that scared the living hell out of you? If you’re using Windows 10 for a long time, you must have done this at least once. And things get even scarier when you delete your files using the Shift + Delete combination. Because these files are now permanently deleted. Thankfully, there are multiple ways to recover files deleted with Shift + Delete. In this article, we are going to show you three methods to recover your shift deleted files with ease. So, without any further ado, let’s dive in.
What Does Shift + Delete Do?
Usually, when you delete a file from your computer, it goes to the recycle bin and stays there for a few days (30 days by default) before getting completely erased from your computer. Therefore, if you accidentally delete a file, you can easily recover it from your recycle bin.
However, that’s not the case when you delete your file with Shift + Delete. When you shift delete a file in your Windows 10 device, the file bypasses the Recycle bin and gets removed permanently from your computer. Therefore, you won’t find the file in recycle bin.
How to Recover Files Deleted with Shift + Delete?
Just because you have accidentally deleted your file with shift + delete doesn’t mean that its recovery is impossible. In fact, there are multiple ways available for you that will help you recover your file, even if it isn’t available in the recycle bin. In this section, we will show you three methods to recover the files that you have deleted using the Shift + Delete combination.
Use File History to Recover Files Deleted with Shift + Delete
File History is an amazing feature of Windows 10 that backs up new files, including folders, music, videos, or any other documents every single hour to a drive of your choice. So, even if you have accidentally deleted an important file, you can always restore them later using the File History feature. However, before using this feature to restore your files, you need to set up File History backup on your computer. Let’s see how to do it.
Creating A File History Backup
It’s quite easy to set up File History Backup on your computer, so it can automatically store new files to your drive every hour. Here’s how you can activate it:
- Press the “Windows + I” keys on your keyboard and open the “Settings” app.
- Now, click on the “Update & Security” option.
- Once the new menu opens, click on the “Backup” option in the left panel.
- Next, click on the “Add a drive” option on the right panel and select a drive of your choice if you have multiple drives to select from.
- Next, toggle on the “Automatically backup my files” option to make file history back up the new files every hour.
Once you follow the steps above, you will be able to set up File History successfully, and it will store a copy of your new files to the drive every single hour.
Restoring Deleted Files
If you have set up the File History Backup before the deletion of the file, you can easily restore it, even if you have deleted it with the Shift + Delete combination. Follow the steps below to recover your deleted files using File History:
- Type “Control Panel” on the “Windows Search Bar” and press “Enter” to open the Control Panel window.
- Next, click on the “System and Security” option.
- After that, click on the “File History” option and a new menu will open up.
- Now, on the left panel, click on the “Restore personal files” to see all the files saved in the drive of your choice.
- Browse the available files to look for the file you have accidentally deleted using Shift + Delete. Once you find it, select the file.
- Next, click on the green recover button and your selected file will restore back to your computer.
Please Note: This method will work only if you have set up the File History backup before the deletion of your files. If you have permanently deleted your file using the Shift + Delete combination before setting up the File History backup, you can’t recover your file using this method. Still, it’s a good idea to set up your file history backup as soon as possible. This way, you will be less likely to suffer from accidental deletion of your important files, as they will always be saved to the drive of your choice.
Use Data Recovery Software to Recover Files Deleted with Shift + Delete
Didn’t set up the File History Backup before the deletion of your file? No problem. You can still recover files deleted with Shift + Delete with ease with professional data recovery software. To use this method, you need to download and install professional data recovery software from a reputed company with good reviews. Since most of these data recovery software work in the same way, following the steps below will help you recover your files with data recovery software with ease:
- Launch the data recovery software on your computer.
- Now, select the disk location where your file was located before deletion. For example, if your file was in C drive before you deleted it using Shift + Delete, select the “C drive.”
- Next, click on the “Scan” option. The scanning process might take a while, so please be patient.
- Once the scan is complete, the software will show multiple deleted files. Find the files you want to recover, select the files, and then click on the “Recover” button.
- Next, the program will ask you to choose a location to download the file. Choose a location of your choice and click on the “Select Folder” button.
Once you go through all the steps above, you will be able to restore your file to your selected location.
Try Hiring A Professional Data Recovery Service Company
If you feel that you’re not a tech-savvy person and juggling with different software and features is not your thing, you can always use a professional data recovery service to recover your deleted files. However, before you jump to your phone and contact a data recovery company, there are a few things you need to keep in your mind.
First, a data recovery service can be quite expensive. In fact, most basic data recovery will cost between $100 and $700, depending on the type of your files and their quantity. And these services are only getting more and more expensive with every passing year.
Moreover, although the data recovery services claim to retrieve your data with a 95% success rate, there’s no guarantee that your data will be recovered successfully. Not to mention that your privacy is at risk too. After all, no one is stopping a worker from the company to take a sneak peek into your files.
Because of all these reasons, we recommend choosing a professional data recovery service only as your last resort. Since data recovery processes explained in this article are quite straightforward, you should try the methods above at least once before dialing the number of a data recovery service.
