Accidentaly deleted all my files from my desktop using command promt

[youdontfeedair]

I was trying to remove a stubborn folder that wouldnt delete and used this command:

RMDIR /S /Q C:\Users\your name\Desktop

This then deleted everything off my desktop and I cant find it anywhere.

Is there any way to recover these files?

Would doing a system restore to a few days ago work if i copied all the files over to my external hdd then restored back to a restore point that I created today?

Cheers

 

[gardenman]

Hi, it looks like you forgot to add the folder name onto the end of that command... but I guess it's a little late for that. It should have been something like:
RMDIR /S /Q C:\Users\your name\Desktop\BadFolderThatICantDelete

System Restore only works with system files such as Windows DLL and EXE files. It ignores all other personal files such as things that would be on the desktop.

The first thing you should do when you accidentally delete files is shut the system off. Even consider just unplugging it rather than a shutdown. Why? Because with each additional write of the hard drive, the more likely those files will be overwritten. Deleted files are still there, just the index in the file system is removed. But if new data is written to the same area on the disk, then the files are overwritten and non-recoverable at that point. Files are written to the disk even when shutting down.

You could try [Recuva] or another type of file recovery software. Just keep in mind that the more the system is used or even just turned on, the less likely it is that you can recover the files. Even if there is no writing to the hard drive, recovering files is often an "iffy" thing. Might work, might not. Downloading Recuva and installing it on the system will be writing new files to the disk, possibly overwriting your deleted data.

Read this: https://www.softwarehow.com/free-data-recovery-tools/

There is always the other route, a professional file recovery company but it could be costly.

Either way, stop using the drive immediately until the files are recovered or you give up on them.