How to Recover a Deleted Folder in Windows 10 FREE

How to Recover a Deleted Folder in Windows 10 FREE

“Oops! I delete a folder that contains many important files, including documents, images, videos, etc. Is there any way to bring the folder back? I’m really in urgent need!”

— A Windows user

I believe many of you have suffered from the panic of data loss. Various reasons can cause a folder loss or deletion from your computer, like power failure, misoperation, virus attack, software conflict, hard drive corruption, and accidental formatting. Sometimes the lost folder is easy to find and restore. But you may also encounter worse situations where the folder is permanently deleted.

If you are looking for reliable ways on how to recover a deleted folder in Windows 10/11 or other versions, you are on the right page. This post shares three free and easy ways that enable you to bring back your folder and minimize data loss effortlessly. The three easy and free solutions include a free third-party data recovery tool WorkinTool Data Recovery and two built-in features in Windows.

How to Recover a Deleted Folder with Software

To be honest, a professional data recovery program is practical enough and able to make comprehensive scanning on your computer and external hard drives. In addition, compared with other data recovery techniques, a one-stop service provider is easier to operate for individuals.

Based on users’ experience and official recommendations, I put WorkinTool Data Recovery as the top pick. WorkinTool Data Recovery is a freeware designed for Windows users. It wins users’ like and stands ahead of its competitors for its straightforward interface, multiple usage scenarios, reliable features, fast processing, and high-level security.

Recover a Permanently Deleted Folder via WorkinTool

It only takes a few seconds to complete a quick scan and get your folders back (You can go further with the deep scan mode for a more precise result). Here are the detailed steps of how to recover a deleted folder with WorkinTool. This method is also suitable for recovering deleted PowerPoint and restoring Word documents.

1. Select the scanning place

Launch WorkinTool Data Recovery software. You will see six sections, including Deletion Recovery, Format Recovery, USB/Memory Card Recovery, Recycle Bin Recovery, Disk Partition Recovery, and Deep Recovery. It provides optional scenes that enable you to restore folders from different storage places such as formatted hard drives, external storage devices, Recycle Bin, and disk partitions. Select one that suits your situation.

2. Start scanning

Take Deletion Recovery as an example. Click on this scene and select an area where stored your folder. Then press Scan Now to start the scanning process.

3. Filter or search the folder

Waiting for a while, you will see an interface showing File Type, File Directory, and Deleted Files. You can find manually find the deleted folder in their drop-down menu. Or search the folder by modification date, name, size, or type using the filter feature or the search box in the upper right corner. Then press the blue Recover button to bring the folder back.

Restore Folders with Built-in Tools in Windows 10

Restoring recently lost or deleted folders from Recycle Bin should be the first option for many people. But this method only works when the content in Recycle Bin is not emptied. Otherwise, the file data will be permanently deleted. You can only try other solutions like the data recovery software mentioned above or the two methods below to recover deleted folders not in Recycle Bin in Windows.

How to Recover a Deleted Folder from Backup

To restore folders or files from a backup, you should make you have created a backup in OneDrive or to another drive (If you created a backup using the Windows 7 Backup and Restore tool, it’ll still work in Windows 10). And make sure the File History option is turned on. If so, follow these steps:

• Type restore files in the search box on the Windows taskbar. Then select Restore your files with File History.
• Search for the folder or file you want to restore and click on the arrows to see its history versions.
• When you find the correct version, click Restore to get it back to the original place. Or you can right-click on Restore > Restore to and save it to a different location.

How to Get back a Lost Folder from Previous Versions

You can also restore permanently deleted folders in Windows 10 from the previous versions. This operation can bring a file or a folder to its previous state.

• Navigate to the parent folder that contains the deleted folder, right-click it and select Restore previous versions.
• You’ll see a list showing the folder versions and modification dates. Select the correct version, click the arrow icon next to Restore > Restore to, and save it to a different location.
• Once the directory is confirmed, press OK to restore the previous version.

Final Thoughts

Recovering permanently deleted folders or files in Windows 10 or other versions seems a little complicated. But it is not rocket science and does not need any sophisticated skills if you employ the right solutions. You can use multiple methods, third-party tools like WorkinTool Data Recovery, and built-in features on your version of Windows to bring back lost data in seconds.

How to recover a deleted folder in Windows? Hope it is just a piece of cake for you after reading this post. Just start the recovery process as soon as possible!