- [Instructor] At some point,
you'll probably want to delete some files
or folders that you don't want anymore.
Using the shortcuts on the left,
I'll go to my documents folder
and I have some things here that I'm ready to delete,
like this photos folder.
I've already used everything I need
from that folder and I'm ready to delete it.
One easy option is to drag it
to the recycle bin on the desktop so I can drag it
to the recycle bin and let go
and now I can see that that folder is gone.
Next, I'll go to my client projects folder
where I have this folder called Explore California.
This project was canceled,
so I'm ready to delete this folder.
So one option is to right click on that folder
and then click on the trashcan button here in that menu,
or you can select a file or folder
and click the trashcan button up in the toolbar.
And once again, that folder will be gone.
Okay, so both of those folders are gone, right?
Well, no, not completely.
Think of the real world.
If you put something in the trash can
or recycling bin, then change your mind,
you can walk over to the trash can and pull it out.
So what if I realized that throwing one
of those folders away was a mistake?
Well, I could double click on the recycle bin to open it,
and then I'll see the contents of the recycle bin.
And from here, I could select one of the items
in the recycle bin and I can right click on it
and choose restore, which would just move it back
to the location it was before I put it in the recycle bin.
Or I could move these windows side by side
and I could drag something from the recycle bin back
to the original location
or really to any location on my storage drive
and that will pull it out
of the recycle bin and move it there.
Now eventually you probably should empty the trash
because it's just sitting there taking up space,
or maybe you want to ensure
that something is completely gone.
So let's reset here, so I'll close these windows
and what you could do is go to the recycle bin,
right click on it and choose empty recycle bin
or you could double click on it to open it up,
see the contents, and then click the button here
to empty the recycle bin.
Now if you click that, it's going to ask if you are sure.
Just keep in mind, I am 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.
So let's see it.
I'll click yes, it empties the recycle bin,
and now the files that I've deleted are completely gone.
Now later, if you realize that that was a mistake
and you need to get those files back,
well then you would have a big problem.
There are data recovery services out there
that can take your storage drive
and charge you lots of money
and can maybe recover your files
and 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.