Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Cannot find my recycle bin NO MATTER WHAT I TRY!!!

Oct 5, 2014 11:37PM PDT

Like the title says, I have tried everything to find my recycle bin (for windows 7) but I cannot find it no matter what.
I have tried right-clicking the desktop> personalise>descktop icons> check recycle bin. I've tried resizing the desktop icons box etc etc. I also used a program that searches for issues and fixes them (FixWin utility). It really is making me fed up as I accidentally deleted some photos that I never intended too Sad

Can anyone help please? Sad

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
Please Follow These Steps
Oct 6, 2014 5:09AM PDT

First, make sure it's just not a problem with the screen resolution on your monitor.. Sometimes, if you've made the resolution so the icons are too large, some of them will disappear off the screen. To check, make sure you change the screen resolution to the default ideal resolution. If that doesn't fix the problem, then....

Occasionally, the registry gets fouled up regarding the recycle bin. Please click on the link below and read it. Midway through the information is a .reg file that you can download and it should fix the problem. (Download the "Restore Registry File" to your desktop, then RIGHT click on the file, choose "Merge" or simply double click on it.) Of course, afterwards, you may still have to "re-check" the Recycle Bin box in the "Desktop Icons" section you mentioned earlier, but this should help get you headed in the right direction.

http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-restore-recycle-bin-in-windows-7/

Hope this helps.

Grif

- Collapse -
Answer
(NT) tried the Search for Recycle?
Oct 6, 2014 7:05AM PDT
- Collapse -
Answer
Mising bin
Oct 16, 2014 3:31PM PDT

Try Tune up utilities,they can help you restore mising bin.I had same problem.It helped.Jiri

- Collapse -
Answer
Desktop Icons
Oct 17, 2014 12:10PM PDT

Go to the Windows Help screen. Type in Desktop Icons. This should bring you to the control panel area where this is addressed. Sometime Windows will lose this especially if you are not careful with some of the programs like CCleaner and you use the wrong settings.

Once you get to the proper screen, check the icons to see if your Trash Bin is checked. If not checked, check the box and exit this area. Go to the desktop and see if it is there. If not, try to restart your computer and check again.

This has happened to me several times with various Windows versions. It usually is easy to get back on the desktop.

- Collapse -
Answer
If you just want to find your pictures, try Recuva
Oct 17, 2014 12:30PM PDT

I frequently delete files accidentally, and have had good results with a program called Recuva, made by Piriform, the people who make Ccleaner. You can configure it to search for specific file types or all file types, search in specific (i.e: "last known") places, and it then presents you with a list of what it's found, with icons indicating the degree of damage, or lack of damage, the particular files have suffered. The damage, of course, would be caused by whether and how many times the file has been overwritten by other activities. Ideally, once you realize you've deleted a file you meant to keep, immediately stop using that directory so nothing gets written to it that would overwrite your lost files, launch Recuva and tell it where the files were before you deleted them.
You can find Recuva (free) here:

http://www.piriform.com/recuva

This will (hopefully) help recover your photos, but finding the recycle bin is another matter.
FYI: I usually disable my recycle bin, just a personal preference, but even without it, Recuva does a good job of restoring any accidental deletions if I catch my mistake soon enough. Of course the longer one waits, and uses the machine, the more chance of the files being overwritten and rendered non-recoverable.

Good luck!

- Collapse -
Answer
Hidding in another folder
Oct 17, 2014 7:38PM PDT

Just a thought. I wonder if your Recycle bin has accidentally been moved into another folder on your desktop.If you have been to Personalize/desktop icons and checked the recycle bin then this is a good possibility.

Another thing you could try, is while checking the recycle bin is checked also check "Allow Themes to change icons" and then change your theme to see if it shows. failing that see if a system restore back a few weeks shows it up.

- Collapse -
Answer
SOLVED!
Oct 17, 2014 10:45PM PDT

Hello all - thank you all SOOOOO MUCH for your help and kindness. This issue has finally been solved but not in ANY of the ways mentioned above. In fact, it is really peculiar what has happened so I will try to explain.

My monitor is an Iiyama ProLite E2208HDS. It works fine except there is one reallllllly small problem with it - the screen stretches a couples of centimetres to the right. By that I mean, if I move the cursor to the left of the screen it will stop once it reaches the edge. But if I move it to the right, the cursor/pointer vanishes.
I found out the other day because my browser windows where flying up and to the right when opening from the shortcut on the taskbar - I tried blindly grabbing the hidden browser window by guessing where it might be hidden on the right. I got lucky and managed to pull it back. I then closed the browser window and checked to see if there was anything else there - lo and behold, I found a couple of folders and some shortcuts and.....

...my recycle bin!

But having said all that (and sorry for the wall of text!) - does anyone know why my monitor is like that? All drivers are up to date. The only other problem I have with the monitor is I have to start my PC with the monitor turned OFF otherwise it boots to a blackscreen (can still see the mouse pointer) rather than the login screen.

- Collapse -
yes, the resolution
Oct 17, 2014 11:11PM PDT

you are using for your monitor is incorrect. Older monitors are 3:4, newer are 16:9 and some use TV monitors which are 16:10

Discover which yours is and use the proper resolution for that aspect or ratio.

This can help.
http://www.displaywars.com/27-inch-4x3-vs-27-inch-16x9