There are situations where you need to reset the Recycle Bin store folder to fix problems such as Recycle Bin not showing the files that have been deleted, or you’re unable to completely empty the Recycle Bin. Each drive has a hidden and protected folder named $Recycle.bin, which is where the Recycle Bin stores files and folders that you (and other users in the PC) delete. Windows creates a fresh $Recycle.bin folder automatically after you reset it.
Fixing a corrupt Recycle Bin
IMPORTANT: The following procedure permanently deletes all files and folders which are already in the Recycle Bin (from all user accounts in the system) and cannot be recovered.
1. Open an elevated Command Prompt window. To open an elevated Command Prompt, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.
2. Type the following command and press ENTER:
(This clears out the $Recycle.bin folder for the C:\ drive. You may have to do this for each hard disk partition in your system.)
3. Type exit to close the Command Prompt window.
Editor’s note: The above method only fixes Recycle Bin folder corruption if any. Using the above method as an attempt to fix any cosmetic problems (eg. Recycle Bin showing incorrect icon) with the Recycle Bin does not help.
See Also
- Recycle Bin icon does not refresh automatically
- Hide the "Delete" command from Recycle Bin context menu
- Restore the Recycle bin icon that has been accidentally deleted
Related Posts
- How to Disable the Empty Recycle Bin Confirmation Box in Windows 7
- More on Overriding the “Delete” Command in the Recycle Bin Context Menu in Windows Vista
- Fix Recycle Bin Icon Does Not Refresh Correctly When Using Custom Icons in Windows 7
- How to Rename the Recycle Bin in Windows Vista
- Disable Empty Recycle Bin Confirmation in Windows XP and Vista
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Worked great thank you.(i had 9 files and 3 folders hidden in there).
p.s had to run as admin
for the “access denied” issue run the command prompt as an administrator
ie go to accesories and right click command promp and select run as administrator. Worked for me thanks :)
I solved it in a very simple way. I had the same problem with my external hard drive. I deleted large files (rar, iso) and ccleaner stopped in 18% (vista) and 24% w7. I have two laptops and i tried to solve this with both.
My solution:
I did a disk clean with windows on the hd. Then I deleted a small file (went to recycle bin) and run ccleaner again.
It worked!! It seems that the new small file on the recycle bin replaced the old big ones… This took me less than 2 minutes. I was trying to solve the problem two days!! Good luck!!
This worked for me (Win7 86 Pro). Thank you.
i did everything this guide said but when i hit enter i get an access denied message! what to do??
This worked for me with a corrupted recycle bin file. It had one item but would not show up and the external drive f: was showing it was corrupted and if I want to delete files even though nothing was in it. The command line does work but you need to have administrators rights to do it.
This did not help me. I typed the command correctly, but afterwards, the files in the bin show up and each one says “access denied” next to it.
Thanks very much, it help me with non working “Empty recycle bin” option.
thanks..fixed some problem with my portable HDD
super. Does anyone know why it would suddenly go corrupt?