How to Recover Deleted Files in Windows 10 Without Any Additional Software?

Losing your precious data is so frustrating and quite a nightmare but choosing the best line of action can recover and save your time and money. There are a few ways to recover deleted files in Windows 10 without using any additional software, we are going to read about some quick ways to do so without spending a single quid, of course, there are lots of commercial paid and also freeware but in the following lines we will be using native Windows Software, so let's dive in.

Recycle Bin

The first place to check for deleted files is the Recycle Bin. If the files were recently deleted, they may still be in the Recycle Bin and can be easily restored. Simply open the Recycle Bin, locate the deleted files, and select "Restore" to retrieve them.

Previous Versions

Windows 10 has a built-in feature called "Previous Versions" that allows users to restore previous versions of files. Right-click on the deleted file's folder and select Properties. Next, click on the "Previous Versions" tab and select a previous version of the file to restore.

Command Prompt

If the above methods don't work, you can try using the Command Prompt to recover the deleted files.

Command Based Recovery using Command Prompt

We start with the Command Prompt and a series of very specific commands. If you can successfully use this method, we’re convinced that you won’t have a problem with any other method described in this article.

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Type "cmd", right-click on the top match, and select "Run as administrator" to run the Command Prompt with an administrator privilege.
3. Type "chkdsk X: /f" and hit Enter on your keyboard. Replace "X" with the letter of your hard drive.
4. Type "ATTRIB -H -R -S /S /D X:*.*" and hit Enter. Again, replace "X" with the letter of your hard drive.

The recovery process may take a while to finish, so be patient and don’t interrupt it. If possible, don’t do anything at all on your computer while the recovery process is running because you could overwrite the deleted files and make recovery impossible.

Cloud Backup

If you have a cloud backup service such as OneDrive or Google Drive, and you have turned on the feature of "Files On-Demand" then you can easily restore the deleted files from there.

Use the Windows File Recovery Tool

Microsoft has released its own data recovery tool, called Windows File Recovery, and you can use it to recover some deleted files even if they are no longer present in the Recycle Bin.

Windows File Recovery is a command-line tool, so it’s not nearly as intuitive as Disk Drill and other graphical data recovery tools. At least you can download it for free directly from the Microsoft Store—at least if you have Windows 10 build 19041 or later.

Here is a link to download the tool,

You can find more information about the available recovery modes and switches on the official support page. Here’s an example of how the latest version of the Windows File Recovery tool can be used to recover PDF files from C: drive to E: drive: