Ever wondered how painful it is to lose important photos from your PC? If you lost your photos due to accidental deletion, formatting, virus or malware attacks, etc., don’t lose hope. There are several photo recovery methods available that you can try to restore lost photos.
This article explains several DIY methods to help you learn how to recover deleted photos from your PC. Keep reading this article to know more!
Can I Recover Lost Photos on My PC?
Many of you must be wondering if it is possible to recover lost pictures on your device. The only answer is YES! You can restore your lost photos by using proper photo recovery tools and techniques. When any picture is deleted on Windows devices, it moves to the Recycle Bin and remains there for some specific days. After that, the deleted pictures will be permanently removed from your device.
When you delete any picture, either accidentally or intentionally, it won’t disappear from your device immediately. The space it was occupying will be made available for new files. However, if any new file is overwritten in that storage space, the recovery process might become a little complicated.
What Causes Deletion of Photos from PC?
Before you proceed with methods to recover deleted photos, it is important to find the exact cause for their deletion. This will help you to prevent such data loss issues in the future. Some important reasons:
- Accidental Deletion
- Emptying the Recycle Bin
- Formatting the Storage Drives
- Virus or Malware Attacks
- Disk Errors or Corruption
- Software Glitches or Bugs
Quick Methods to Restore Lost Photos on Windows PC
Now that you are familiar with the causes for the deletion of pictures on your PC, it’s time to apply proper DIY methods for deleted photo recovery. Here are some commonly used methods to recover deleted photos:
Method 01: Recover Photos from Recycle Bin
As mentioned above, every deleted file on a Windows PC goes to the Recycle Bin before getting permanently removed from it. Before diving into advanced methods to recover lost photos, it’s important to check the Recycle Bin. Go through the following steps to restore lost photos from the Recycle Bin:
- Double-click on the Recycle Bin icon located on your desktop.
- Look for the deleted photos that you need to restore.
- When you find them, right-click and select the “Restore” option to save selected files back to their original location.
Method 02: Recover Lost Photos Using Backup
If you have a habit of creating regular backups of your important files, then you can use these backups to restore lost data. Windows OS provides a built-in Backup and Restore utility that can help you create backups and restore deleted data if data loss occurs. If you have enabled this backup option on your device, go through the following steps to restore lost data:
- Type CP in the search box located on the taskbar and launch the Control Panel.
- Now, go to System and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7).
- Tap the “Restore my files” button and go through the on-screen instructions to restore lost photos.
Additional Tip: How to Enable Backup and Restore feature on Windows?
To enable the Windows’ Backup and Restore option on your device, you need to follow the below-given simple steps:
- Go to Control Panel > System and Security.
- Tap “Backup and Restore (Windows 7)” and click the “Set up backup” option on the screen.
- Now, choose the drive where you need to store the automatic backups. You can also let Windows or yourself select the data you want to back up.
- After that, select the items that you want to backup and finally click the “Save settings and run backup” to save the changes.
Method 03: Recover Deleted Photos via File History Backup
Another best alternative to recover deleted photos via backup is by using the File History backup utility. This option also allows you to automatically backup your files. If File History is enabled, go through the following steps to restore deleted photos using it:
- Type Restore Files in the Windows search box and click the “Restore your files with File History” option.
- Go to the deleted picture or open the folder where your picture was stored before deletion.
- Lastly, click the green Restore button to save selected files to their original locations.
Method 04: Restore Deleted Photos Using Photo Recovery Software
If all the above-mentioned methods fail to restore your precious memories, then you can use a professional photo recovery software. Among several such recovery tools available, Stellar Photo Recovery is the best tool to restore deleted photos simply. This all-in-one photo recovery software supports the recovery of other media files, as well. You can recover your lost audio and video files of multiple formats using this software.
The Stellar Photo Recovery software supports recovery of your files deleted due to multiple reasons, including accidental deletion, storage formatting, virus or malware attacks, etc. It can recover lost files from multiple internal and external storage devices, such as Hard Drives, SSDs, USBs, and many more.
How to Recover Deleted Photos from PC Using Stellar Photo Recovery?
Step 1: Download, install and launch the Stellar Photo Recovery tool on your device. Select the storage location from where you need to restore deleted pictures and click the Scan button.
Step 2: Wait till the scanning process is completed. After that, preview the recoverable files and select the files you need.
Step 3: Click the Recover button to save selected files back to your device.
Take Proper Preventive Measures to Avoid Sudden Photo Deletion
While it is easy to restore deleted photos on PC, you must consider taking proper preventive measures to avoid such data loss issues. Consider the following tips to avoid deletion of photos:
- Regular Backups: Enable automatic backups to an external storage location or cloud storage to ensure the safety of your files.
- Recycle Bin Awareness: Double-check the content of the Recycle Bin before you empty it. Avoid deletion of files using the Shift + Del keys unless you want their permanent deletion.
- Use Reliable Antivirus Software: Install an up-to-date version of Antivirus software on your device to protect it from malicious programs, like malware and viruses.
Wrapping Up
Accidentally deleting photos from your PC can be a frustrating issue, but with the above photo recovery methods you can restore your lost pictures. Start by checking the Recycle Bin folder and then check available Windows built-in backups. If these DIY methods fail, try using professional photo recovery software, like Stellar Photo Recovery to restore your lost images in a few simple clicks. Remember to act quickly and avoid saving new files on the storage from where your picture was deleted to avoid overwriting.