Chapter 2: The Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin: What Is It?

This is your computer’s version of a trash can. It’s main purpose is to collect the stuff you don’t need or want anymore, the same as your trash can at home. But it also has a secondary function. You have a trash can at home to help keep you organized. It’s designed to collect stuff over a period of time that you then take out to the curb for somebody else to pick up and take to the dump. In reality, your computer doesn’t need those extra steps. The computer could be set up to simply delete everything permanently from your hard drive. The Recycle Bin is there to catch the mistakes that you make as you use your computer on a daily basis. It’s a safe guard, a protection system put in place to make sure you don’t accidentally lose those important documents, pictures and videos. The Recycle Bin is no more than a file folder with a fancy icon and a special purpose.

Is your Recycle Bin missing from your Desktop? In some of the newer versions of Windows the Recycle Bin is missing from the Desktop along many of the other older default icons that used to be there. Do you want to put your Recycle bin back? Here’s how:

1. Right click on your Desktop. Make sure to stay off of any shortcuts, icons, or files that are on your Desktop.

1. Left click on Personalize.
2. The Control Panel will pop up. Now look at the left side of that box. You’ll see it says “Change Desktop Icons”. Click on that one.

1. Now check off the Desktop icons you want to put back. You can use any or all of them, there is no right or wrong answer here.

1. When you’re done click “Apply” and then “Okay”.

Recovering Accidentally Deleted Files

The Recycle Bin is doing it’s job when it traps and holds things you accidentally delete. But how do you get them out of there once they are in there? It’s not as hard as you might think. The Recycle Bin is just a fancy folder after all. Right-click on the Recycle Bin and select “Open” from the menu. Once you do that a file box will open up and you’ll see the contents of your Recycle Bin.

It looks just like any other folder you might open. Go and find the file you want to recover, right-click on it and select “Restore” from the menu. The file will go back to the same spot it was deleted from. So if you deleted it from Documents, that’s where it will be restored to. If you deleted it from your Desktop, that’s where you’ll find it. You can restore as many or as few files and folders from your Recycle Bin as you want to.

Important Note

The Recycle Bin won’t catch files that are too big. For example if you try to delete a massive 10 gigabyte file, the Recycle Bin won’t catch it, it will be permanently deleted. There is a safeguard in place though. Instead of going to the Recycle Bin, an extra warning pops up telling you that you are about to permanently delete the file. It’s your job to read the dialogue box when it opens up!

Emptying Your Recycle Bin

Okay, so this may seem a little obvious. Kind of like your trash can at home you actually have to empty your Recycle Bin from time to time. It really isn’t designed for storage and it’s really easy to do. You will have noticed with the Recycle Bin icon I created, that there was stuff in my Recycle Bin. How can you tell? The trash can appears as full. That’s how you know there’s something in it. When your Recycle Bin is empty the trash can icon will change to an empty bin. So to empty the bin just right-click on the trash and this time instead of opening the bin go ahead and click “Empty Recycle Bin”. Everything in there will now disappear permanently. Feel free to double check your Recycle Bin before you empty it to make sure you’re comfortable with what’s being deleted.

Summary

The Recycle Bin is designed as a way to keep you from permanently deleting things you actually need. It’s handy to keep on your Desktop and it’s important to empty it regularly. It’s not storage space! Keep it clean!