Support for Windows 10 has ended on October 14, 2025 After October 14, 2025, Microsoft will no longer provide free software updates from Windows Update, technical assistance, or security fixes for Windows 10. Your PC will still work, but we recommend moving to Windows 11. If you can’t locate a lost file from your backup , then you can use Windows File Recovery, which is a command line app available from the Microsoft Store. Use this app to try to recover lost files that have been deleted from your local storage device (including internal drives, external drives, and USB devices) and can’t be restored from the Recycle Bin. Recovery on cloud storage and network file shares is not supported. If you want to increase your chances of recovering a file, minimize or avoid using your computer. In the Windows file system, the space used by a deleted file is marked as free space, which means the file data can still exist and be recovered. But any use of your computer can create files, which may over-write this free space at any time. If necessary, install the app from the Microsoft Store: Windows File Recovery If necessary, install the app from the Microsoft Store: Windows File Recovery Press the Windows key, enter Windows File Recovery in the search box, and then select Windows File Recovery . Press the Windows key, enter Windows File Recovery in the search box, and then select Windows File Recovery . When you are prompted to allow the app to make changes to your device, select Yes . When you are prompted to allow the app to make changes to your device, select Yes . In the Command Prompt window, enter the command in the following format: winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches] In the Command Prompt window, enter the command in the following format: winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches] There are 2 basic modes you can use to recover files: Regular and Extensive. Regular mode examples Recover your Documents folder from your C: drive to the recovery folder on an E: drive. Don’t forget the backslash (\) at the end of the folder. Winfr C: E: /regular /n \Users\<username>\Documents\ Recover PDF and Word files from your C: drive to the recovery folder on an E: drive. Winfr C: E: /regular /n *.pdf /n *.docx Extensive mode examples Recover any file with the string "invoice" in the filename by using wildcard characters. Winfr E: C: /extensive /n *invoice* Recover jpeg and png photos from your Pictures folder to the recovery folder on an E: drive. Winfr C: E: /extensive /n \Users\<username>\Pictures\*.JPEG /n\Users\<username>\Pictures\*.PNG The source and destination drives must be different. When recovering from the operating system drive (often C: ), use the /n <filter> switches to specify the user files or folder. Microsoft automatically creates a recovery folder for you called, Recovery_<date and time> on the destination drive. There are 2 basic modes you can use to recover files: Regular and Extensive. Regular mode examples Recover your Documents folder from your C: drive to the recovery folder on an E: drive. Don’t forget the backslash (\) at the end of the folder. Winfr C: E: /regular /n \Users\<username>\Documents\ Recover PDF and Word files from your C: drive to the recovery folder on an E: drive. Winfr C: E: /regular /n *.pdf /n *.docx Extensive mode examples Recover any file with the string "invoice" in the filename by using wildcard characters. Winfr E: C: /extensive /n *invoice* Recover jpeg and png photos from your Pictures folder to the recovery folder on an E: drive. Winfr C: E: /extensive /n \Users\<username>\Pictures\*.JPEG /n\Users\<username>\Pictures\*.PNG The source and destination drives must be different. When recovering from the operating system drive (often C: ), use the /n <filter> switches to specify the user files or folder. Microsoft automatically creates a recovery folder for you called, Recovery_<date and time> on the destination drive. When you are prompted for confirmation to continue, enter Y to start the recovery operation. Depending on the size of your source drive, this may take a while. To stop the recovery process, press Ctrl + C . When you are prompted for confirmation to continue, enter Y to start the recovery operation. Depending on the size of your source drive, this may take a while. To stop the recovery process, press Ctrl + C . About modes and file systems The following information can help you decide which file system you have and which mode to use. There are several file systems supported by Windows that vary depending on the storage device or operating system. Recovering files from non-NTFS file systems is only supported by extensive mode. To see which file system you have, right click a drive in File Explorer and select Properties . Deciding which mode to use Use the following table to help you decide which mode to use. If you are not sure, start with Regular mode. Command line syntax The following table summarizes what each advanced switch is used for. File name: /n myfile.docx File path: /n /users/<username>/Documents/

Wildcard: /n myfile.* Advanced syntax The following table summarizes what each advanced switch is used for. File extension filter list The following file types are filtered from results by default. Use the /e switch to disable this filter or the /e:<extension> filter to specify file types not to filter. _, adm, admx, appx, appx, ascx, asm, aspx, aux, ax, bin, browser, c, cab, cat cdf-ms, catalogItem, cdxm, cmake, cmd, coffee, config, cp, cpp, cs, cshtm, css, cur, dat, dll, et, evtx, exe, fon, gpd, h, hbakedcurve, htm, htm, ico, id, ildl, ilpdb, iltoc, iltocpdb, in, inf, inf_loc, ini, js, json, lib, lnk, log, man, manifest, map, metadata, mf, mof, msc, msi, mui, mui, mum, mun, nls, npmignore, nupkg, nuspec, obj, p7s, p7x, pak, pckdep, pdb, pf, pkgdef, plist, pnf, pp, pri, props, ps1, ps1xm, psd1, psm1, py, resjson, resw, resx, rl, rs, sha512, snippet, sq, sys, t4, targets, th, tlb, tmSnippet, toc, ts, tt, ttf, vb, vbhtm, vbs, vsdir, vsix, vsixlangpack, vsixmanifest, vstdir, vstemplate, vstman, winmd, xam, xbf, xm, xrm-ms, xs, xsd, ym Frequently asked questions Can you give some tips to help me use the correct syntax? Always use drive letters in the source and destination path, don’t forget the colon ( : ) after the drive letter, and make sure there is a space between the source and destination. When you specify just a folder name, such as /n \Myfolder\ , add a backslash ( \ ) at the end of it. If a file or folder name has spaces, surround it with quotes. For example: winfr C: E: /regular /n "\Users\<username>\Documents\Quarterly Statement.docx" What does <username> mean in the command examples? In the File Explorer address bar, enter C:\users to see a list of potential users on your computer. There may be several users on your computer, including you, the administrator, and the default account. When you see <username> in a file path, it is a placeholder for the current username on your computer. Why am I getting this message: "Source and Destination cannot refer to the same physical partition?" The source and destination drive or partition path should not be the same. If you only have one drive, use a USB or external hard drive as your destination path. Don’t create a partition after losing data, because this reduces the chance of a successful recovery. Why does the recovery operation take so long? Depending on the size of the disk, it may take some time to recover the file, especially if you are using Extensive mode. Why are additional files recovered from my operating system drive? Behind the scenes, Windows is constantly creating and deleting files. By default, Windows File Recovery filters out these files, but some slip through. To prevent this, use the /n <filter> as per examples in this article. What is the $Recycle.Bin folder? For NTFS and segment modes, you may also see lost files recovered from the Recycle Bin (files either in the recycle bin or that were permanently deleted) with the name $files.xxx and stored in a folder called $RECYCLE.BIN. What happens if the destination drive is full? If you see the following message: "Destination disk is full, please free up space before resuming: (R)esume, (S)kip file, or (A)bort," free up drive space on the destination drive, and then choose one of the options. I was not able to recover the file, now what? If you used Regular mode, try again in extensive mode if the file type is supported. It's possible that the free space was overwritten, especially on a solid-state drive (SSD). If you need help, contact your administrator. Thank you for your feedback!