Simple tips to clean Recycle Bin on Windows 10

Everyone thinks that when they don't use any files anymore, they will delete the file and that's it. Few people are interested in emptying the Windows 10 recycle bin after a long time of use. Emptying the Windows 10 recycle bin is an important thing when using a computer, but most users ignore it.

1. How to increase or decrease the storage space in the Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin does not store your files forever. The Recycle Bin is automatically designed to have a certain percentage of its size to store files you delete while running Windows. Older files are automatically deleted when space runs out to make room for new files.

So don't assume that everything you ever delete can be restored when needed. If you're careful, you can increase (or decrease) the storage space available for deleted files by doing the following:

1. Step 1: Right-click on the Recycle Bin and select Properties. 
2. Step 2: Click on C drive and find Maximize size
3. Step 3: Select the amount of space you want the Recycle Bin to store in MB. Remember that 1 GB is equal to 1024 MB, so you'll need to do a bit of mental math if you want your Recycle Bin to store files in gigabytes.
4. Step 4: Once you are done, click OK to save and exit.

2. How to permanently delete files without deleting them in the Recycle Bin

If you are someone who never needs to recover deleted files, you can skip this step and directly set the file deletion mode directly. There are 2 ways to delete directly:

1. Use the Shift + Delete keyboard shortcut to delete files permanently without sending them to the Trash.
2. Change the Recycle Bin settings so that even if you delete files without a keyboard shortcut, the files are permanently deleted: Right-click on the Recycle Bin and select Properties => Select the Don't move files to Trash button. Remove files immediately when deleted (Don't move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted).

3. Enable confirmation message before deleting files

If you accidentally delete the wrong files when using your PC, you can turn on confirmation so you don't lose important files. This is especially necessary if you've changed your Recycle Bin settings so that files are permanently deleted without being put in the Recycle Bin anymore.

1. Step 1: Right-click on the Recycle Bin and select Properties
2. Step 2: Tick the box that says Show delete confirmation dialog (Display delete confirmation dialog)

Note that you can still permanently delete files with keyboard shortcuts whenever you need to.

4. How to periodically clean Recycle Bin on Windows 10

Windows 10 has a great feature called Storage Sense. It basically acts as an alternative to third-party tools like CCleaner.

If you're using Windows 10 or 11, you'll be able to use Storage Sense to automatically empty the Recycle Bin after certain days such as 1, 14, 30, or 60 days.

Days aren't counted for each file, and the file won't stay in the bin for 30 days if you've chosen to empty the bin every 30 days. For example, if the last automatic cleanup was 29 days ago, any files in the bucket the next day will be cleaned up, including those you deleted today.

You can set up Storage Sense from the Settings app. Press Win + I to launch Settings and navigate to System => Storage => Storage Sense.

Find the option called Delete files in my recycle bin if they have been there for too long (Delete files in my recycle bin if they have been there for over) and choose an arbitrary number of days.

The Windows 10 Recycle Bin is one of the most neglected pieces of Windows software. To keep the computer 'clean', lots of memory, don't forget to apply the ways to clean the Win 10 trash above!

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Marvin Fry

Update 21 April 2022