Microsoft® Windows® XP Unleashed

The Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin is where items go when you delete them. Deleted items using GUI interfaces send files to the Recycle Bin instead of actually deleting them. However, you are still taking up disk space, since the files are not really erased until you empty the Recycle Bin. You can either retrieve things from the Recycle Bin or permanently delete them.

Caution

Keep in mind that if you delete a file or folder from the Command Prompt, a floppy disk, or a network file share, these do not get placed into the Recycle Bin. These files have been permanently removed.

Retrieving Files from the Recycle Bin

If you delete a file by mistake or change your mind later, you can open the Recycle Bin window in many different ways.

To restore a file, ...