- At some point, you will probably want to delete some files
or folders that you don't want anymore.
For example, if I go to my Documents folder,
I have some stuff that I can get rid of, like
this photos folder, I'm completely finished with it.
So one way to delete it would be to drag it
to the Recycle Bin, just point your mouse cursor at it,
hold the mouse button down, drag it to the Recycle Bin on
the desktop and let go.
And now that folder is gone.
Let's look at some other options.
Let me go into my client projects folder.
And let's say this project has been canceled,
I know that I don't need this folder
so I'm ready to delete it.
I could right click on it and choose Delete.
Or I could select it, go to the Home ribbon
and click the Delete button here.
And once again, that folder is gone.
Alright, so both folders are completely gone,
right? Well, no, not completely.
In the real world. If you put something in the trashcan
or recycling bin, then you change your mind,
you can go to the trashcan and pull it out.
So what if I realized that throwing
one of those folders away was a mistake?
Well, you can double click on the Recycle Bin
on the desktop.
And those folders are still there.
And if you wanted to, you could move this around
and grab one of these folders and drag it back
to its original location.
And that has restored that folder.
But eventually you should empty the trash because
it's just sitting there taking up space.
Or maybe you want to ensure that something really
is completely gone.
And the way we typically do that is to just right click on
the recycling bin on the desktop,
choose empty Recycle Bin.
And now it asked me if I'm sure, keep in mind,
I'm using demo files for this exercise.
When you deal with your real files,
you should be very careful.
Once you empty the Recycle Bin, those files are gone.
But let's do it.
Let's see what it looks like.
I'll click Yes.
And now I still have this window open showing me
the contents of the Recycle Bin.
It is now completely empty.
Now later, if you realize that that was a terrible mistake,
and you need those files back?
You've got a big problem.
There're data recovery services out there
that can take your storage drive?
And charge you lots of money?
And can maybe recover your files?
There's also some software that you can buy
that might be able to recover your files.
But those options are expensive
and there are no guarantees.
So please be careful.
Please do not delete something and empty your Recycle Bin
unless you are completely sure you want those files gone.