Is the recycle bin deleted from your desktop? Follow these simple steps to unhide or restore recycle bin icon on the desktop in Windows.
Whenever you delete something in Windows, it is moved to the Recycle Bin. You can think of recycle bin as a holding area for all the deleted files and folders. If you change your mind about deleting a file or folder, you can recover those from the recycle bin.
Generally, the recycle bin icon is located on your desktop and allows quick and easy access to all your deleted files and folders.
However, at times, the recycle bin icon may become deleted, missing, or disappear from the desktop. Alternatively, maybe you’ve hidden the recycle bin icon on the desktop. Hiding the recycle bin icon is pretty helpful to keep your desktop minimal, clean, and distraction-free.
If you want the recycle bin icon back on the desktop, you do that pretty easily. In this article, I will discuss the steps to restore the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop in Windows, so that you can access it easily and restore files when necessary.
The steps below work the same in Windows 10 and 11.
How to restore recycle bin icon on the desktop
To restore the recycle bin icon on the Windows desktop, all you have to do is select the Recycle Bin checkbox in the Desktop Icons window. Let me show you where to find and modify the option.
Here’s how to restore recycle bin icon on the desktop:
- Right-click on the desktop.
- Select the “Personalization” option.
- Click on the “Themes” option.
- Click on the “Desktop Icon Settings” option.
- Select the “Recycle Bin” checkbox under “Desktop Icons.”
- Click the “Ok” button.
- Close the Settings app.
- With that, you’ve restored the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop.
Steps with more details:
First, we must open the Personalization page in Settings. To do that, right-click on the desktop and select the “Personalize” option.
Alternatively, open the PC Settings app by searching for it in the start menu or using the “Windows logo key + I” keyboard shortcut. Alternatively, you can also press the Win + I keyboard shortcut. In the Settings app, go to the “Personalization” page. This is where you will find various options to customize the look and feel of Windows.
Once you are on the Personalization page, click on the “Themes” option. On the right panel, click on the “Desktop icon settings” option.
The above action opens the Desktop Icon Settings window. Here, select the “Recycle Bin” checkbox under the “Desktop Icons” section and click on the “Apply” and “Ok” buttons to save changes.
That is all. The changes are instantaneous. You should see the recycle bin icon appear back on the desktop. Generally, it will be placed on the leftmost side of the screen. Of course, the icon placement will depend on the Desktop Icon View settings.
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That is all. It is that simple to unhide and restore recycle bin icon on the desktop in Windows 10 and 11.
I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.
If you are stuck or need help, send an email, and I will try to help as much as possible.
If you like this article, check out how to automatically empty recycle bin in Windows to save or regain hard drive space.
