What Is The “$RECYCLE.BIN Folder”? Is It A Virus Or Not - MiniTool (2024)

Some people said they accidentally saw the $RECYCLE.BIN folder in every drive on their computers; besides, others said they also found $RECYCLE.BIN on the external hard disk. What happened? What is the $RECYCLE.BIN folder? Is it a virus or not? How should you deal with it? MiniTool Solution will answer all those questions for you.

Is $RECYCLE.BIN Virus

What is the “$RECYCLE.BIN ” folder?

I recently got $RECYCLE.BIN folder in every drive. Is this virus? How to delete this? I tried to delete and I got a message like ‘the file desktop.ini is a system file. Windows or another program may no longer work correctly’. What shall I do? Plz suggest me.– asked m.srujana in the Microsoft Community

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What is $RECYCLE.BIN folder? Actually, the $RECYCLE.BIN refers to a hidden and system protected folder used to keep files and folders that you (and other users of the PC) have deleted. It’s the real Recycle Bin folder created by the system and hidden by default.

• The $RECYCLE.BIN folder is generally a normal system folder, not a virus.
• However, a virus can also be named $RECYCLE.BIN; you should check whether your computer is set to hide system protected files and don’t show hidden files & folders.

How to Deal with $RECYCLE.BIN

Can You Delete $RECYCLE.BIN

How to delete $RECYCLE.BIN:

1. Run your computer as administrator.
2. Navigate to the $RECYCLE.BINfolder.
3. Right click on it and choose Delete.
4. Click Yes to confirm.
5. Click Yes when you see the message – The file ‘desktop’ is a system file. If you remove it, Windows or another program may no longer work correctly.
6. Wait for the deletion to finish.

How to Remove RECYCLE.BIN

1. Run your computer as administrator.
2. Navigate to the $RECYCLE.BINfolder.
3. Right click on it and choose Cut (or Copy).
4. Navigate to another location on your computer.
5. Press Ctrl + V.
6. Click Continue when you see the Folder Access Denied prompt window.
7. Wait for the progress bar to go to 100%.

You Need Permission To Perform This Action: Solved!!!

More about Your Recycle Bin Folder

How to Recover Files from Recycle Bin

It’s very wise for Microsoft to name the unit as “Recycle Bin“, not the shredder or garbage can. By just looking at the name, you are easily aware of the fact that files & folders in the Recycle Bin can be used again as long as you haven’t emptied it. Those files here are “recyclable“.

And it’s indeed very easy to restore files from Windows Recycle Bin. You should do the following things to restore files from Recycle Bin:

1. Locate the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop.
2. Double click on it to open or right click on it & select Open.
3. Find the files and folders you need in Recycle Bin.
4. Select the files & folders and right click on the highlighted area.
5. Choose Restore from the pop-up menu. They will then be put back to the location where they used to be.

How to recover files deleted from Recycle Bin (recover permanently deleted files):

How to Customize Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin in Windows provides a second chance to correct your mistake after deleting wrong files. However, what if some people want to delete the files immediately from the computer, not sending them into the Recycle Bin? In this case, they don’t need to empty Recycle Bin.

They can press Shift + Delete at the same time to deleted items permanently. Also, they can change the settings of Recycle Binto make files deleted directly.

How toskip Recycle Bin in Windows:

1. Locate your Recycle Binicon.
2. Right click on it and choose Properties.
3. Choose the drive you’d like to make a change on under General.
4. Check Don’t move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted.
5. Click on the OK button to confirm the change.

Also, you can set a custom maximum size for the Recycle Bin of each drive.

All in all, the $RECYCLE.BIN folder is a normal system folder hidden by default. If you suddenly see it, you should first go to check the advanced view settings.