How to Recover Lost Photos from a PC for Free

One wrong click can wipe out a whole folder of photos. You might empty the Recycle Bin, press Shift + Delete, or format the wrong drive. In most cases, though, Windows does not erase the photo right away.

When you delete a file, Windows marks its space as free. The photo stays on the drive until new data takes that spot. That is why photo recovery works, and why speed matters.

This guide covers free ways to recover lost photos back on a Windows PC. We start with built-in options like the Recycle Bin and File History. Then we move to photo recovery software for files that look gone for good. We also explain why photos on an SSD are much harder to recover, which most guides leave out.

First, Stop Saving Files to That Drive

Every new file you save can land on the space your lost photos still use. Once a photo gets overwritten, no tool can bring it back. So before you try any method, do this:

• Stop copying, downloading, or installing anything on the drive that held the photos.
• If the photos were on drive C, keep PC use light until you finish. Browsers and Windows updates write to drive C in the background.
• Install any recovery tool on a different drive or a USB stick, never on the drive you want to scan.
• Save recovered photos to another drive, not the one you are recovering from.

Method 1: Check the Recycle Bin

Photos you delete from your PC’s internal drive usually go to the Recycle Bin first. They stay there until you empty it.

1. Open the Recycle Bin from your desktop.
2. Click the Date Deleted column to put the newest files at the top.
3. To show only images, type kind:picture in the search box.
4. Select the photos you want, right-click, and choose Restore.

Windows puts the photos back in the folder they came from.

The Recycle Bin will not have your photos in some cases:

• You deleted them with Shift + Delete.
• They were on a USB drive, SD card, or network drive. Files deleted from these skips the Recycle Bin.
• The folder was too big for the Recycle Bin, so Windows deleted it for good.
• Storage Sense is on. It can empty the Recycle Bin on its own after 30 days.

If the bin is empty, move on to the next method.

Method 2: Restore from File History or Previous Versions

Windows has two built-in backup features that can bring back lost photos. Both only help if they were turned on before the photos went missing. It takes a minute to check, so it is worth a look.

Restore with File History

File History saves copies of your files to an external drive on a schedule.

1. Connect the drive you used for File History.
2. Press the Windows key, type Restore your files with File History, and open it.
3. Go to the folder that held your photos, such as Pictures.
4. Use the arrow buttons at the bottom to move back to a date before you lost them.
5. Select the photos and click the green Restore button.

To save the photos in a new place, right-click the Restore button and choose Restore to.

Restore Previous Versions of a Folder

If System Protection was on for that drive, Windows may keep older copies of your folders.

1. Open File Explorer and find the folder that held the photos.
2. Right-click the folder and choose Properties.
3. Open the Previous Versions tab.
4. Pick a version from before the photos were lost and click Open to look inside.
5. Copy the photos you need to a safe place, or click Restore.

If the list says there are no previous versions, neither feature was saving copies of that folder.

Method 3: Look in OneDrive and Other Cloud Backups

Many Windows 11 PCs back up the Pictures folder to OneDrive without the owner noticing. Phone photos also end up on PCs through Google Photos or iCloud. So your photos may still exist online.

OneDrive has its own recycle bin, separate from the one on your desktop. When you delete a photo from a synced folder on your PC, OneDrive deletes the online copy too and moves it to that bin.

1. Go to onedrive.com and sign in.
2. Click Recycle bin on the left.
3. Select the photos and click Restore.

Personal OneDrive accounts keep deleted files for 30 days, and work or school accounts keep them for 93 days. If the bin is full, OneDrive can remove the oldest items after only three days. Microsoft 365 subscribers can also use Restore your OneDrive to roll the whole account back to any point in the last 30 days.

Check these places too:

• Google Photos: open the Trash. Backed up photos stay there for 60 days.
• iCloud Photos: open the Recently Deleted album on icloud.com. Photos stay there for 30 days.
• Email and chat apps: search your sent emails, WhatsApp chats, or shared albums for the photos you sent to someone.

Suggested Read: Repair Corrupted MOV Files for Free

Method 4: Use Photo Recovery Software

If your photos are not in any bin or backup, photo recovery software is the next step. It scans the drive for photo data that Windows marked as deleted but has not overwritten yet. This works for emptied Recycle Bins, Shift + Delete, formatted drives, and SD cards.

Stellar Photo Recovery is a good fit for most people because it is easy to use and lets you test it for free. The free version recovers up to 10 photos, videos, or audio files, each up to 100 MB. If you only need a few important photos back, that may be all you need. If you need more, you can see your photos in the preview before you decide to buy a license.

A few other things it does well:

• Recovers common formats like JPEG, PNG, and TIFF, plus RAW files from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, and other cameras.
• Works with internal drives, external drives, USB sticks, and memory cards.
• Offers a Deep Scan for formatted drives or photos the first scan misses.
• Lets you pause a long scan and pick it up later.
• Runs on Windows 11, 10, 8.1, and 8.

How to Recover Photos with Stellar Photo Recovery

1. Download Stellar Photo Recovery and install it on a drive other than the one that held your photos.
2. Open the software and select the drive or folder where the photos were saved.
3. Click Scan. If your photos do not show up, run a Deep Scan. It takes longer but finds more.
4. Preview the photos it found. Use the Deleted List view to see only deleted files.
5. Select the photos you want and click Recover.
6. Save them to a different drive.

If you use the free version, recover your most important photos first, since it stops at 10 files.

Method 5: Try Windows File Recovery

Windows File Recovery is a free tool from Microsoft with no file limit. The catch is that it has no buttons or menus. You type commands, and you cannot preview photos before you recover them. If you are fine with that, it is worth a try.

1. Open the Microsoft Store, search for Windows File Recovery, and install it.
2. Press the Windows key, type Windows File Recovery, and open it. Click Yes when Windows asks for permission.
3. Type a command that tells the tool where to look and where to save. This example scans drive C for JPEG and PNG photos and saves them to drive E:

winfr C: E: /regular /n *.jpg /n *.png

1. Press Enter, then type Y to start.
2. When it finishes, open drive E. Your photos will be in a new folder named Recovery with the date and time.

Use regular mode for photos you deleted recently from your PC’s main drive. Use extensive mode if regular mode finds nothing, if the drive was formatted, or if the photos were on a USB stick or SD card. To switch, replace /regular with /extensive in the command.

The drive you save to must be different from the drive you scan. Windows File Recovery will not run otherwise.

Suggested Read: Top 5 Photo Recovery Software

How to Avoid Losing Photos Again

Recovery is never a sure thing, especially on an SSD. A simple backup habit means you will not need it. These steps take a few minutes to set up:

• Turn on File History. Plug in an external drive, open Settings, and search for File History. It saves copies of your photos every hour by default.
• Keep one copy outside your home. OneDrive, Google Photos, or iCloud protect you from theft, fire, or a dead drive.
• Know that sync is not backup. If you delete a photo from a synced folder, the cloud copy gets deleted too. Pair cloud sync with File History or an external drive.
• Make the Recycle Bin bigger. Right-click the Recycle Bin, choose Properties, and raise the custom size. Large folders will then go to the bin instead of being deleted for good.
• Check your Storage Sense settings. Open Settings, go to System, then Storage, then Storage Sense. Set the Recycle Bin cleanup to Never if you want deleted photos to stay longer.

A good rule to follow is to keep three copies of photos you care about. Keep two on different devices at home, and one in the cloud.

FAQs

Can I recover photos I deleted years ago?

It depends on the drive. On an older hard drive, photos can survive for years if nothing new was saved over them. On an SSD, they are almost always gone. Old cloud accounts and backup drives are often a better place to look.

Can I recover photos after formatting a drive?

Often, yes. A quick format only removes the list of files, so a deep scan can find the photos. A full format in Windows writes zeros over the whole drive, and nothing can be recovered after that.

Why do some recovered photos open gray or broken?

Part of the photo was overwritten, or its data was split across the drive and could not be put back together. You can try a photo repair tool on these files, but badly damaged photos may not be fixable.

Is free photo recovery software safe to use?

Yes, if you download it from the maker’s official website. Avoid cracked versions of paid tools. They often carry malware, and installing one can overwrite the photos you are trying to save.