ICT Helpdesk: 0141 342 1570

Lost/Deleted Files

Lost/Deleted Files

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I’ve lost a file or folder, what can I do?

There are times where you look for a file or folder in the usual place and its not there. Has it been deleted? Has it been moved? How do I recover the file?

  • Check nearby folders.

Has it been dragged and dropped into another folder accidentally? Look in nearby folders. If you find it, drag it back to the correct location.

  • Search for the file/folder.

Complete a search using the instructions in the ‘File Explorer - Searching’ section.

  • Recently Used List.

If you’ve recently used a file but can’t remember where you saved it, check the ‘Recently Used Files’ list:

  1. Recent file list in Microsoft wordOpen Word, Excel etc depending on what application you used to edit it.
  2. Click File.
  3. Check to see if the file appears in your recent list.  The location of the file will be listed at the bottom.  Depending on the length the end of the path may not be shown.
  4. Click to open it.

OR

  1. Hover the file name to see the full file pathHover over it to see the file location.

OR

  1. Right click. Open file location highlightedRight click and choose ‘Open File Location’ to go to the folder in which it is saved.

I’ve deleted a file, what can I do?

If you delete a file on your desktop or documents folder it will be sent to the ‘Recycle Bin’ where you can delete it permanently or restore it. If you delete a file from the network shares, these are not removed to the ‘Recycle Bin’.

If you have deleted or saved over a file by accident, email the ICT Helpdesk and ask for a copy to be restored from the backup providing the following information:

  • The folder, path and filename.

For example: Milngavie\Service User\Joe Bloggs\Support Plan.doc (See the ‘File Explorer - Address Bar’ section of this guide for details on how to copy the folder path easily).

  • The date of the backup to be used.

If you deleted the file on Friday 13th October, ask for the file to be restored from the Thursday 12th backup.

I’ve not saved a file, what can I do?

  • Recover Unsaved Files
  1. Open the Office application you used when working on it.
  2. Click File, Open
  3. Recovered Unsaved Workbook option in the file menu in ExcelClick the ‘Recover Unsaved Documents/Workbooks’ button.
  4. If any files are available for recovery, double click it to open, then save it immediately!

 

  • Check your recently saved files
  1. Check your recently used files list in the application used to created the file.  You may have saved it, but not even realised!