Recover Deleted Photos from PC—7 Free Solutions

Where do Deleted Photos Go on PC?

When you accidentally delete a cherished photo from your PC, it's natural to feel a surge of panic. Those priceless memories seem to vanish into thin air, but have you ever wondered where exactly deleted photos go? Actually, when you delete a photo from your PC, it doesn’t immediately disappear forever. Instead, the photo is usually moved to a specific location, which depends on how the deletion was carried out.

In most cases, photos are either sent to the Recycle Bin or, in the case of permanent deletion, they are removed from the file system but might still be recoverable for some time before being overwritten by new data. Here’s a breakdown of where deleted photos typically go:

• Recycle Bin: When you delete (not using "Shift + Delete") a photo, it’s usually sent to the Recycle Bin. The file remains in the bin until you either restore it or empty the bin.
• Storage Space: When you delete a file permanently (for example, by using "Shift + Delete"), the file’s entry is removed from the system index, but the actual data may still be present on the hard drive for a period of time. This allows the possibility of recovery permanent deletion.
• Cloud Backup: If you are using a cloud storage service like OneDrive, Google Photos, or Dropbox, deleted photos might be stored in a trash or deleted folder for a period of time before being permanently erased.

How to Recover Deleted Photos from PC

When trying to recover deleted photos from your PC, you typically have two major categories of methods: with backup and without backup. Let’s go through each approach step by step to help you retrieve your precious photos for free.

With Backup

If you’ve been cautious and have taken steps to back up your photos or system using Windows built-in tools or cloud backup tools, recovery is often straightforward. Here are several methods to recover deleted photos from your PC when you have a backup.

✅Restore Previous Versions

With the Previous Versions feature, you can easily retrieve accidentally deleted or modified files and folders by restoring from system-generated restore points or automatic backups. This method becomes usable only if you enable File History and System Protection before data loss occurs. Otherwise, Windows will simply display that no previous versions are available.

Step 1. Navigate to the folder or drive where the deleted photos were stored.

Step 2. Select the folder or the drive and right-click to choose "Restore previous versions".

Step 3. Choose a version you want to recover from the available lists and click "Restore" to recover the deleted pictures on Windows.

✅Restore your Files with File History

File History is a handy feature that helps you automatically save copies of your files, so you can easily restore your personal files and folders in case of the photo deletion. However, this feature can work only when you have enabled File History on Windows before deleted photos.

Step 1. Enter "Restore your files with File History" in the Start menu and open it.

Step 2. Browse and select the folder containing deleted photos, then choose a version you want to recover sorted by backup time.

Step 3. Click the green "Restore" button at the bottom of the window to recover deleted photos.

✅Recover from Backup and Restore (Windows 7)

It is a legacy tool for creating full system backups or file backups and saves backup to an external drive or network location. Similar to Previous Versions and File History, you can restore deleted files from the created backup.

Step 1. Type "Backup settings" in the Start menu and open it.

Step 2. Click "Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7)" and then click "Select another backup to restore files from".

Step 3. Select a backup containing the deleted photos to restore files and click "Next".

Step 4. Choose the files you want to recover from the backup. You can click "Browse for files/folders" to choose specific files or folders for restoration.

Step 5. Select a safe location to restore the recovered files and click "Restore".

Once the process is finished, the message "Your files have been restored" will pop out. You can click "View restored files" to check them.

✅Recover from Cloud Backup

If you have been backup the deleted photos to cloud storage tools like Google Drive, OneDrive, or Google photos, it's a good chance to recover deleted photos from PC. These backup tools usually provide a trash or deleted items folder. Here take OneDrive as an example.

Step 1. Sign in to OneDrive with your account.

Step 2. Navigate to the Recycle bin section and select the photos you wish to recover.

Step 3. Click on "Restore" in the upper-left corner to retrieve the deleted photos.

Notes:✎...

All four methods mentioned above require advance backups before photo loss occurs; otherwise, they may not function. If you haven’t created a backup, please use the methods below.

Without Backup

If you don’t have a backup of your photos, don’t worry — there are still free ways to recover deleted photos on Windows10/11. These methods focus on recovering files from the system or from third-party software.

✅Check in Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin is the first place to check for deleted photos. If you just accidentally deleted your photos, they are likely still in the Recycle Bin waiting for you to restore them.

Step 1. Double click the Recycle Bin icon to open it.

Step 2. Browse for and select the deleted photos you wish to recover, then right click and choose "Restore" to recover them.

✅Run Windows File Recovery Command

Windows 10 and Windows 11 come with a powerful command-line tool called Windows File Recovery, which helps recover permanently deleted files from your PC, including photos. You can use Windows File Recovery command to recover deleted files.

Step 1. Download and install Windows File Recovery on your computer from the official Microsoft channel.

Step 2. Type "Windows File Recovery " in the Start menu and run it as administrator.

Step 3. Enter the command "winfr H: D: /extensive /n *.png" to recover deleted photos and hit "Enter". Then Winfr will search the drive for the deleted photos and attempt to recover them. Replace the drive letters "H" and "D" with your actual drive letters.

★Tips:

H: the source drive letter (where the photos were deleted).

D: the destination drive letter (must be on different drive).

Extensive: Deep scan for fragmented files. If you don't want to spend too much time on a deep scan, you can switch to "Regular" mode for a quick scan instead.

n *.png: Filters only PNG files.

Once the process is completed, you can press "y" to check the recovered photos in the destination folder.

✅Recover with Third-Party Tool—MyRecover

If you're not fond of command-line tools, try professional data recovery software like MyRecover. With its graphical user interface (GUI), MyRecover allows you to complete data recovery with simple icon clicks—even novice users can master it effortlessly.

Unlike traditional methods, MyRecover recovers files without requiring any backups. During the recovery process, MyRecover only reads data without writing to storage, preventing data overwriting that could cause recovery failures. This makes it a fully trustworthy data recovery tool.

4 steps to recover deleted photos from Windows PC

Step 1. Download and install MyRecover on your computer from secure channel, avoid installing it on the drive with lost files.

Step 2. Select the drive where the deleted photos were stored to scan and click "Scan".

Step 3. Choose the photos from the recoverable lists and click "Recover". If too many files are scanned and it's difficult to find the desired one, you can use the "Filter" function to locate the target file quickly.

Step 4. Select a safe location (not the original one) to save the recovered files.

Upon the completion of the recovery process, the message "Files have been recovered successfully" will pop out. You can click the path of recovered files to check them.

Conclusion

Following the methods outlined above, you now have a clear understanding of how to recover deleted photos from PC. It's evident that maintaining a backup habit—whether using Windows' built-in backup tools or cloud backup solutions—is crucial for successful data recovery.

On the other hand, if you don’t have a backup, third-party recovery tools like MyRecover provide alternatives for retrieving your files. MyRecover also offers the Professional and Technician Editions to meet users' advanced needs. These editions support unlimited data recovery quota, enable data recovery from crashed Windows, and provide a file preview function before completion of the recovery process.