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.

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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

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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

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47 additional answers

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-06-13T14:54:33+00:00

    It sounds like your issue may be slightly different but did you try the instructions in my January 2 post (as mentioned in the post immediately above yours)? - R. 

    I followed that procedure several times.  no changes occur.  The recycle bin does NOT come back

    It may be (1) when you dropped the pdf, it didn't quite get into the recycle bin. It (2) pushed the recycle bin icon down and "off the screen". This can happen depending on your screen resolution. My suggestion is to right click on your desktop and select screen resolution. Make sure you are set to the highest resolution (move slider to the top).  If you already are at the highest resolution, then click on "make text larger or smaller".  Make your text smaller. This will move more desktop items onto the viewable area of the screen.  Once you've done all of this, if you want to go back to the original settings, when you change back to the earlier settings, the recycle bin should stay viewable.  Post back and let us know if this works.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-07-23T22:29:48+00:00

    On my Windows 7 Professional laptop, I followed the instructions to Change desktop icons.  When I remove the check by recycle bin, apply, and then replace the check by the recycle bin and hit apply again, the recycle bin appears on the desktop.

    However, after about 2 seconds it disappears again.

    Any ideas why it would do that?

    I did follow the instruction about creating a new shortcut on the desktop, and that worked (except that it has the shortcut link icon instead of the real recycle bin icon that changes based upon if the bin is empty or full).

    Thanks!

    Corbin

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-01-07T11:10:27+00:00

    Russell,

    So what happens when you go to

    Desktop, right-click, Personalize, Change desktop icons

    Absolute nothing no recycling bin appears in my desk top

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