Recycle Bin Corrupted? Repair it now!

Are you facing the “Recycle Bin is corrupted. Do you want to empty the Recycle Bin for this drive?” error message which looks similar as the image above? You must be very annoyed since you can’t neither access the recycle bin nor see any files you’ve deleted due to the error.

There’s no need to panic. In this article, we’ll walk you through 3 tried and true fixes for the Recycle Bin corrupted error. Read on and know more…

Try these fixes:

You might probably repair your corrupted Recycle Bin through just one or several fixes of the followings. That is to say, you might not need have to try them all; just work your way from the top.

Before we start…

The following solutions may erase all the files in your Recycle Bin. If you want to restore any file in your Recycle bin, please back up you files before performing any following solution. Since you can’t access your Recycle Bin or at least can’t view the files in it, you can choose a trusted third party data recover tool to help you recover your any files.

1. Repair your corrupted Recycle Bin through resetting your Recycle Bin folder(s)
2. Repair your corrupted Recycle Bin through Windows Explorer
3. Reinstall your Recycle Bin

All the images below are from Windows 10, but the fixes also apply to other version of Windows system.

Fix 1: Repair your corrupted Recycle Bin through resetting your Recycle Bin folder(s)

In Windows system, each partition has a hidden and protected system folder: $RECYCLE.BIN. If any of theses folders is corrupted, you may receive the Recycle Bin corrupted error. Reset your Recycle Bin folder(s) to fix the problem through these following steps:

1) Type cmd in the search box from the Start menu, then right-click Command Prompt or cmd to select Run as administrator.

2) Type the following command and press Enter after each.

diskpart

list volume

exit

This helps you figure out all the partitions on your computer.

3) Type the following command and press Enter.

rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.bin

Here C is the partition number, which you figure out from last step, if you have more than one partitions on your computer, like you have partition C and partition E, then run the commands one by one:

rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.bin

rd /s /q E:\$Recycle.bin

As for my computer, I have just one partition, so I need to run: rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.bin:

4) Restart your computer and try to open Recycle Bin to see if it goes fine.

Fix 2: Repair your corrupted Recycle Bin through Windows Explorer

If you’re seeing the Recycle Bin corrupted error, you can also fix it through deleting the current $Recycle.Bin folders. To do so, follow these steps:

1) On your keyboard, hold down the Windows logo key  and press the E key to open Windows Explorer.

2) Click View > Options > Change folder and search options.

3) On the pop-up window, click View, and then tick the box right before Hide protected operating system files (Recommended). This item is checked by default, you need to tick the box to uncheck it.

4) Click Yes when the Warning window shows up.

5) Click Apply > OK.

6) The Windows Explorer window shows to you again, click View, and make sure the box right before Hidden items is ticked.

6) Go to your drive to find and delete the $Recycle.Bin folder.

7) Repeat the step 6.

If you have more than one drive, make sure you delete the $Recycle.Bin folder in each of your drives.

8) Restart your computer and try to open Recycle Bin to see if it goes fine.

Fix 3: Reinstall your Recycle Bin

If unluckily, neither Fix 1 nor Fix 2 helps you fix the problem, it might be time for reinstalling your Recycle Bin. To reinstall Recycle bin, go with these steps:

1) Right-click at the blank area on your desktop to select Personalize.

2) Click Theme > Desktop icon settings.

3) Check Recycle Bin, then Apply > OK.

4) Restart your computer and try to open Recycle Bin to see if it goes fine.

That’s all there is to it. Hope you’ve repaired your corrupted Recycle Bin. Feel free to leave your comments for any questions.

By April Cai

April, a Microsoft Certified Professional(MCP), aims to make readers' tech life easy and enjoyable. She's passionate about helping people solve their computer, phone & app woes. That's not giving you a lot of detail, is it? So read more from the following articles.

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