Again and again it can happen that a file is accidentally deleted under Windows 10. Usually the file can be restored through the recycle bin. But what to do if you have emptied the recycle bin as well?
The official Microsoft Store offers a freeware application that allows us to recover all deleted files. "Windows File Recovery" is a command line based app that can recover permanently deleted files. The application can also recover files from an external hard drive or USB stick. With Windows File Recovery you can recover JPEG, PDF, PNG, MPEG, DOCX, MP3 & MP4, ZIP files and more.
However, the application only runs on the latest Windows version 2004 from May 2020 or higher. So if you have not yet updated your Windows, you cannot use the Windows file recovery application yet.
Go to Microsoft Store and search for "Windows File Recovery". Then download the application.
The tool is now installed on your system as winfr.exe. At the command prompt, the file can now be restored using the following commands:
Restore Microsoft Word DOCX file
To restore all Microsoft Office files, type the following code at the command prompt and press Enter on your keyboard
You can change the path to the directory where the file was located. You must also enter the exact file name or at least the file format.
- winfr C:Z:/n\Users\(your username)\Documents\Filename.docx
The file will be restored to the recovery folder. In our example it is the Z drive. Select your drive.
Restore a photo in JPEG or PNG format
Here you only need to specify the file format instead of the full name, and the application will recover all deleted PNG or JPG files in the directory.
- winfr C:Z:/n\Users\(your username)\Pictures\*JPEG
- winfr C:Z:/n\Users\(your username)\Pictures\*PNG
The file(s) will be restored to the restore folder. In our example it is the Z drive. Select your drive.
Restore an entire folder
Enter the following command:
- winfr C: Z: /n \Users\(your username)\Documents\New folder
You now know the file recovery option and how to see it in Windows.
