It has happened to all of us at some point: we access our PC, smartphone or tablet in search of a photo, a video or any other document, and we can't find it. Despite searching through all the folders we can think of, we come to the conclusion that the document no longer exists and that we probably deleted it by accident the last time we cleaned up the device.
In many cases, deleting a document does not affect us directly, since either germany phone number data we do not consider it important or we can access it through other means, such as a backup copy . However, there are other situations in which the document is unique and its loss is irreplaceable, so knowing how to recover it can save us more than one problem.
What happens when we delete a document?
In most systems, when we delete a document, it is not actually deleted from the storage medium where it was stored. What the system does is mark the space it occupied as “available”. This space can then be used by the system when necessary, replacing it with a new photo or a new document, for example. But even if this space is marked as free, the deleted document will still be stored on the drive where it was located, so using the appropriate tools it can be recovered. This operation will only be possible if the space it occupied has not been overwritten by another document, in which case recovering the deleted file could be impossible.
In the following image we show you how the sequence occurs from when a document is deleted from a hard drive until it is overwritten by another.
Process of deleting a file
How can we recover deleted files?
When we have deleted a document and want to recover it, we have several options to try.
Restore a backup
As long as we have a backup copy of the document we have deleted, we can restore it and thereby regain access to its content.
Depending on the operating system you have, restoring a backup will be done in one way or another. Below we show you how you can restore your backups on Android, iOS and Windows.
Restoring a backup on Android
Back up your iPhone, you will thank yourself more than once
If you made your copy of Windows, now we teach you how to restore it
In addition to the functions that the operating systems themselves have, there are applications that make automatic copies of the documents created, such as Google Photos, which allows you to store photos and videos in an unlimited manner.
Backing up my summer photos and videos to Google Photos and iCloud
Search in the trash Windows and Mac
In some operating systems such as Windows or Mac, when we delete a document, it is not erased; it is moved to a special folder called “Trash” or “Recycle Bin” where it remains stored until we empty it. When sending a document to the trash, the space it occupies on the hard drive is still marked as occupied, so we can access it without the need for any specific tool. When the trash is emptied, the space occupied by each document is marked as available and therefore we cannot access it with the tools provided by the operating system. Searching in the trash can get us out of more than one tight spot, since when the documents are stored there, we can recover them as long as we have not emptied it .
