What Happens to Deleted Files?
When you delete a file, it disappears from your desktop. That can be helpful to clear up clutter and give you a sense of accomplishment, or it can cause a panic spiral as you worry that you’ve lost a week’s worth of work. Either way, it may help to better understand what really happens when you've deleted a file.rnrnStart with the important part: deleting a file doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. This can be a relief when you’ve deleted it by accident, but it can also mean your data could be retrieved even if you thought you deleted it.rnrnDragging a file to the Recycle Bin or Trash leaves the file intact in case you made a mistake. When you empty the bin or trash, you remove the reference to that file from your operating system, which marks the space it was using on the file system table as available for reuse.rnrnNow, you can’t find that file if you search for it. As far as your file explorer is concerned, it doesn’t exist, but the file data still exists on your hard drive until it is overwritten.rnrnThat means someone could access deleted data using data recovery software. This software scans your hard drive to find data that hasn’t yet been overwritten. It can reassemble data marked as deleted and save it in a new location. It could recover a lot of data, which could put your privacy and security at risk.rn
What Deleted Data Can Be Recovered
rnTypically, you can regain access (or someone else can) to files and data:rn- rn
- deleted and found in the recycle bin or trash folder; rn
- formatted or erased from a hard drive or storage device; rn
- deleted from cloud storage or online accounts; rn
- deleted from a mobile device or tablet. rn