Windows 10: Fix Corrupted Recycle Bin in Windows

How to: Fix Corrupted Recycle Bin in Windows

How to Fix Corrupted Recycle Bin in Windows


The Recycle Bin provides a safety net when deleting files or folders. When you delete any of these items from a hard disk, Windows places it in the Recycle Bin and the Recycle Bin icon changes from empty to full.

If you have multiple hard drives, partitions, or an external hard drive connected to your PC, each location will have its own $Recycle.Bin and Recycle Bin settings. Removable drives, such as USB flash drives and memory cards, will not have a Recycle Bin. Files deleted from removable drives are permanently deleted.

Items in the Recycle Bin still take up hard disk space and can be undeleted or restored back to their original location. When the Recycle Bin of a drive reaches its maximum storage size, Windows will automatically permanently delete (empty) older files in the Recycle Bin location to accommodate the most recently deleted files and folders.

When you manually empty the Recycle Bin, all files in the Recycle Bin deleted by your account will be permanently deleted to free up disk space.

If you are unable to empty the Recycle Bin or delete an item inside the Recycle Bin, then the Recycle Bin may be corrupted.

This tutorial will show you how to fix a corrupted Recycle Bin in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

You must be signed in as an administrator to perform the steps in this tutorial.

*Warning This will permanently delete all files currently in the Recycle Bin for all users on the PC.


Here's How:

1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Type the commands below one at a time into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter after each command.

*note If you got a The Recycle Bin on <drive letter> is corrupted. Do you want to empty the Recycle Bin for this drive? error message, then you can skip this step, and just do step 4 below for only this drive letter (ex: "E") instead.




*Arrow diskpart

*Arrow list volume

*Arrow exit
3. Make note of all the drive letters (ex: "C" and "E") in the Ltr column for Partition "Type" volumes. Ignore the drive letters (ex: "D") for Removable "Type" volumes. (see screenshot below)



4. Type the command below for each drive letter (ex: "C" and "E") from step 3 above into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter after each command. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow rd /s /q <drive letter>:\$Recycle.bin

*note Substitute <drive letter> in the command above with a drive letter from step 3 above.

For example with the drive letters "C" and "E":

rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.bin

rd /s /q E:\$Recycle.bin




5. Open the Recycle Bin to refresh it and confirm that it is now empty. (see screenshot below)



6. If you are still having an issue with the Recycle Bin, then run a sfc /scannow command in the elevated command prompt.


That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Empty Recycle Bin in Windows 10
• How to Add Empty Recycle Bin to Context Menu in Windows 10
• How to Set Recycle Bin to Permanently Delete Files Immediately in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Recycle Bin Delete Confirmation in Windows 10
• How to Change Maximum Storage Size for Recycle Bin in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove Recycle Bin in Navigation Pane of File Explorer in Windows 10
• How to Pin Recycle Bin to Taskbar in Windows 10
• How to Change the Default Recycle Bin Icon in Windows 10
• Add or Remove Empty Recycle Bin Context Menu for Recycle Bin in Windows

:)

 

D:/ Recycle Bin is Corrupted

Hello Robert,

The tutorial below can help show you step by step on how to fix the corrupted Recycle Bin on your "D" drive.

Fix Corrupted Recycle Bin in Windows

 

recycle bin

Hi George,

To prevent your files from being deleted from the Recycle Bin, we suggest increasing the maximum file size your Recycle Bin can keep by following the steps below:

• Right click on the Recycle Bin icon.
• Under the Settings for selected location, select Custom size.
• Fill up the box for your allotted maximum file size for your Recycle Bin.

Let us know if you need further assistance.

 

Recycle Bin Has Stopped working

The recycle bin may be corrupted. In this situation try to scan your system. If issue not fixed then perform below mentioned two steps:

1. Delete Recycle Bin
2. Re-install Recycle bin

But before deleting the recycle bin, remember the files in it will be erased permanently. After that, you have only one option and i.e. Data Recovery

Some important links:

How to fix a corrupted Recycle Bin in Windows 7?

Windows 10 corrupted Recycle bin

*moderated

 

Fix Corrupted Recycle Bin in Windows

Hello Brink,
Requested snap shots as follows:

 

Corrupted recycle bin


When I turn on the computer each day, I get a message "The Recycle Bin on G:\ is corrupted. Do you want to empty the Recycle Bin for this Drive\?" Drive G is where I have my Passport external drive for backup. Any suggestions on how to address and resolve this? Thanks.