Recycle Bin

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What Does Recycle Bin Mean?

In Windows, the Recycle Bin is a folder or directory where deleted items are temporarily stored. Deleted files are not permanently removed from the hard drive but are sent instead to the Recycle Bin, unless they are too large. The files in the Recycle Bin can be restored to their original location. They cannot be used directly while they are in the Recycle Bin.

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The Recycle Bin is available in all versions of Windows starting with Windows 95.

Techopedia Explains Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin comes in handy when an item has been accidentally deleted. When a file is deleted, the system does not actually remove it from the system; it sends it instead to the Recycle Bin where it can be restored if necessary. If a file is deleted from the Recycle Bin, it is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. Moreover, if a file in Windows is deleted through the DOS Command Prompt, it is also deleted permanently rather than sent to the Recycle Bin. Users can configure their settings such that a deleted file or folder is not sent to the Recycle Bin once deleted.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.