My recycling bin has disappeared and I cannot find it.

Anonymous
2010-04-16T13:55:29+00:00

My brother went on my laptop and after he was finished, he said he 'deleted' my recycling bin. I'm not sure if that is what happened, but I cannot find it. I have searched for it, and it isn't showing up.

Help greatly appreciated.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2010-04-16T15:33:05+00:00

Hi,

Just for general info first: Your brother may be right. It actually is possible to delete the recycling bin, or more specifically the recycling bin shortcut. If you right click on the recycle bin icon two options are of interest here "Empty recycle bin" and "Delete". If you click recycle bin you win, the recycle bin is emptied. If you hit delete, which it sounds like your brother did, it deletes the icon itself.  So that's why it's gone...

So getting the recycling bin back, here's how. This solution works for Vista and Windows 7:

Right click on a blank area of the desktop. You will see the option for "personalize", and mouse over and select this. On the left hand pane under the personalization menu you will see "Change desktop icons". Click on this.  From here a tab will come up showing a check-box for major desktop icons. One of those icons is Recycle bin. Go ahead and check the checkbox. Click ok and the recycle bin will re-appear on the desktop.

Hope this helps,

Steve <> Microsoft Partner

Was this answer helpful?

40+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2010-04-16T15:42:20+00:00

Right click your desktop, select Personalize. On the left pan, select Change desktop icons. Put a check on the Recycle Bin, and press Ok.

Your recycle bin icon will be back!

--

Dustin Harper

*** Email address is removed for privacy ***

http://www.mstechpages.com  Microsoft News, support, FAQ's and much more!

"Martin.992" wrote in message news:de2b7b40-6711-44d2-af33-7786b3f2e8cd...

My brother went on my laptop and after he was finished, he said he 'deleted' my recycling bin. I'm not sure if that is what happened, but I cannot find it. I have searched for it, and it isn't showing up.

Help greatly appreciated.

Dustin Harper *** Email address is removed for privacy *** http://www.mstechpages.com --- Windows Help and Support Page

Was this answer helpful?

20+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

47 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2010-04-20T16:08:13+00:00

    This solution didn't work for me.  I have Windows Vista Service Pack 2 with all updates installed. 

    Pat in Plano

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2010-04-21T21:24:41+00:00

    Hi Fiesty,

    Could you clarify what you mean by the solution not working? Both Dustin and I provided the same TS steps using different words, but the question is what happened when you tried the Troubleshooting steps? Did you not see the recycle bin as an option there ? Did you have trouble navigating there ?

    If you don't see the recycle bin under "change desktop icons" something seems seriously off as this is basic OS functionality... so we really will need more information if this fix didn't work. Please let us know.

    Thanks,

    Steve <> Microsoft Partner

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2010-05-12T10:03:28+00:00

    thanks alot i have tried looking for the recycling bin for quite some time and then i stumble upon this topic and "poof" 10 seconds later and the recycling bin is back!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments