Fixing A Corrupt Recycle Bin

by on Feb 24, 2009 | 5 comments

A strange problem that I ran into recently on a couple of our machines was what appeared to be a brokent recycle bin. Basically, you delete files to the recycle bin, but if you open it there are no files listed. When you try empty the recycle bin, it tells you that X number of files will be deleted so it knows files are there.

The fix I found was to create another recycle bin. Unfortunately, when you do this, the existing files cannot be recovered, but at least it gets you a functional ‘new’ recycle bin. I am still not exactly sure what caused this, but if it happens to you, at least you won’t have to do a repair or reinstall of Windows to fix it.

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  • Justin

    How I sometimes fix this is by right-clicking on the recycle bin choosing properties and adjusting the maximum size the recycle bin can hold.

    I take a look at the current number, then change it, then you can empty the bin, the adjust the size to what is was before.

    It has worked for me when there was stuff stuck in there.

    • http://www.darknet-fusion.co.cc Vertimyst

      I’ve had this problem before as well. I don’t recall how I fixed it, but I think I did something along the lines of what Justin described.

    • Jason Faulkner

      Wish I had known about this trick. Thanks for sharing.

  • Pingback: Enfrentando Problemas Com a Lixeira Do Windows | Blog KTecNet®

  • fluffgirl

    justin your a bloody genius you just fix my recycle bin and it was so simple why didn,t i think of that..unreal…thanks a lot hope you win the lottery

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