Bring Your Deleted Files Back from the Dead with Windows File Recovery

Step 1Stop Using Your Computer Right Now

Stop using your computer as soon as you notice an important file is gone. When you delete a file, Windows marks that storage space as empty. It does not erase the data right away. Downloading ⬇️ files, installing 💿 programs, or even browsing the web can write to that exact spot and destroy the file for good.

1. Close any apps that are downloading ⬇️ or saving files.
2. Do not install anything on the drive that held the file. That includes the recovery tool itself if you can avoid it. If the file was on your C drive, the install in the next step is a small risk, but it is far smaller than carrying on with normal use.
3. Get an external USB drive or a second internal drive ready. You will need it later as the destination for the recovered files.

SSDs use a feature called TRIM that clears deleted data in the background, sometimes within minutes. Acting quickly matters most there.

Step 2Install the Recovery App From the Microsoft Store

Install Windows File Recovery from the Microsoft Store. It is a small download and does not need a restart.

1. Open the Microsoft Store app from the Start menu.
2. Click the search box at the top and type Windows File Recovery, then press Enter.
3. Open the result published by Microsoft Corporation. Make sure it is the official one.
4. Click Install (the button may say Get). You should see a progress indicator, and the button changes to Open when the install finishes.

If the Store does not show the app, check that you run Windows 10 version 2004 or later, or Windows 11. Older builds are not supported. The tool works on Home and Pro alike.

Step 3Launch the Command Prompt With Administrator Rights (Admin Required)

The tool needs administrator rights to read deep into your drives. Without them, the commands will fail.

1. Click the Start button and type Windows File Recovery.
2. Right-click the app in the results and select Run as administrator.
3. When User Account Control asks whether you want to allow the app to make changes, click Yes. If you are on a standard account, you will be asked for an administrator password.
4. You should now see a black Command Prompt window with "Administrator" in the title bar. This is where you type every command from here on.

If the window does not say Administrator in its title, close it and start again. The recovery commands will not work correctly without elevated rights.

Step 4Pick Your Recovery Mode Based on Your Situation

Pick a recovery mode based on how long ago you lost the file and what kind of drive it was on. The wrong mode is the most common reason a recovery comes back empty.

• Regular Mode: Perfect for everyday accidental deletions on healthy hard drives. Use it first for recently deleted files on an NTFS drive, which is the default format for Windows system drives.
• Extensive Mode: Ideal for deeply buried, formatted, or older file losses. It is also the mode to use for drives formatted as FAT, exFAT, or ReFS, and for drives that are corrupted. It scans much more of the drive, so it takes longer.

If you are not sure which file system a drive uses, open File Explorer, right-click the drive, choose Properties, and look at File system on the General tab. A common approach is to try regular mode first. If it finds nothing, run the extensive mode scan.

Step 5Write Your Recovery Command

Now write the recovery command in the Command Prompt window. It tells the tool where to search and where to save the files. The basic structure is winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches]. The source is the drive that held the deleted file. The destination must always be a separate storage device.

1. Work out the source drive letter. This is the drive where the file used to be, such as C.
2. Work out the destination drive letter. Use an external USB drive or a second internal drive, such as E.
3. Type the command in the window. Do not press Enter yet if you want to check it first.

Warning: If you get an error stating that the source and destination cannot refer to the same physical partition, plug in an external USB drive to use as your destination. Saving recovered files to the source drive could overwrite the very data you are trying to rescue, so the tool refuses to do it.

Step 6Target Specific Folders or File Types

Targeting a specific folder or file type is much faster than scanning the whole drive. It also gives you a shorter, cleaner list of results.

For example, typing winfr C: E: /regular /n \Users\YourName\Documents\ recovers your entire Documents folder from your C drive over to your external E drive. Replace YourName with your actual Windows user folder name, and change the drive letters to match your setup. The /n switch sets the filter. It can point to a folder, as here, or to a file name.

Tip: If a folder name contains a space, wrap the entire path in quotation marks like this: \Users\<username>\Documents\.

Note: Windows automatically creates a new folder on your destination drive named with the current date and time so you can easily find your rescued files. Your originals are never written back to their old location.

Step 7Confirm the Operation and Wait for Results

Run the command once you have checked it.

1. Read your typed command one more time. Check the colons, the spaces, and that the destination is a different drive from the source.
2. Press Enter. The tool shows the source, the destination, and asks whether you want to continue.
3. Type Y and press Enter if the details are right. The scan starts, and you will see a progress count in the window.
4. Wait for it to finish. The scan takes anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours depending on the drive size and the mode. Extensive mode on a large drive can take a long time.

Leave the computer on and do not close the window while the scan runs. If you need to stop it, press Ctrl+C, but you will lose the scan's progress.

Step 8Check Your Destination Folder

When Command Prompt finishes, check your destination drive to find your rescued items.

1. Open File Explorer and go to the destination drive.
2. Open the new folder named with the date and time of the recovery.
3. Browse the contents and open a few files to confirm they work. Document and photo files are the easiest to check.
4. Copy the files you want back to your main drive, then keep the recovery folder until you are sure everything is intact.

Keep in mind that extensive mode might create extra files with strange names because it digs through raw data blocks. Sort through them by file type or date, and delete the ones you do not need. If the folder is empty, the data was probably already overwritten, or the drive's TRIM feature cleared it. Try the other mode before giving up.

References:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows/Experience/Backup-Recovery/windows-file-recovery

Summary

To recover deleted files safely, act fast, stop saving new data, and use the official Microsoft Store tool. Run Command Prompt as administrator, choose the right mode for your drive, and always save to a separate drive. Following those steps gives your lost data the best chance of coming back. For files you cannot afford to lose again, set up regular backups, because no recovery tool can promise results.