Windows 10: How to access the recycle bin on an external hard drive

Hi,Please could someone advise how I can gain access to the recycle bin on my external hard drive? I have followed the steps to make $RECYCLE visible and that worked, however, it's actually showing me the recycle bin on my laptop instead. I have searched the hard drive for other folders like "trash" and "bin" but no luck.It's a WD Elements 1TB. Any help would be really appreciated, I have had 3 years of photos and videos disappear despite being saved on 2 drives and the cloud. Either I'm extremely unlucky or I messed up somehow but I really need them back and I'm not optimistic that the scan I

:)

 

Managing a recycle bin on an external drive

Hi,

Your external hard drive has its own recycle bin folder where the deleted files from it are stored. In order to delete those deleted files, we need to access first the recycle bin folder of the external hard drive. Follow these steps:

• Open File Explorer.
• At the top menu, click View.
• On the right pane, click Options > Change folder and search options.
• In the Folder options window, click the View tab.
• Under the Advanced settings, tick or select Show hidden files, folders, and drives.
• Uncheck Hide protected operating system files.
• Click Apply, then OK.

Once saved, try to access your external hard drive. Its recycle bin should now be visible. You may then open the recycle bin folder and delete the files inside it.

Let us know if you need further help.

Regards.

 

Access recycle bin on old Hard Drive

Hi Oliver. II'm Greg, 10 years awarded Windows MVP, specializing in Installation, Performance, Troubleshooting and Activation, here to help you.

Here's how to access Recycle Bin on secondary or external drive:

https://itstillworks.com/access-recycle-bin-dri...

https://www.remosoftware.com/info/how-to-access...

Feel free to ask back any questions. Report back results for more steps if necessary.

______________________________________________

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Accessing the recycle bin on an old HDD

Hi,

It seems that you're still accessing the recycling bin of your laptop. Let's make sure that you open the recycle bin on your external hard disk drive. Please follow these steps:

• Open your File Explorer.
• Click the View menu and click Options.
• Click the View tab.
• Under the Advanced settings, check the Show hidden files, folders, and drives, and then uncheck the
  Hide protected operating system files.
• Click Apply, then OK.

Once done, try checking if you can now access the recycle bin folder on your external hard disk drive.

Should you need further assistance, feel free to let us know.

Regards.