Performing a general cleaning of your computer and accidentally deleted the trash can icon in Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8? If the trash can icon is missing in Windows, there is an easy way to get it back without hacking into the registry or something similar.
So, without further ado, here’s how you will get your Windows Trash icon back if you deleted it or accidentally deleted it.
Windows Vista
First, right-click on the desktop and select Personalize. On the right side of the dialog, there should be an option to Change Desktop Icons.
In the Change Desktop Icons dialog box, select the Trash checkbox to add it back to your desktop. You will notice that there are Trash Full and Empty Trash icons.
If you click Apply, your icon should return to your desktop. However, some people may have an issue where the cart is constantly displayed full or empty and does not change depending on whether something is added or removed from the cart. It’s like how Windows Vista gets confused and just uses a single icon instead of toggling back and forth.
If you have an issue where the trash can icon does not change to display “full” and “empty” then you need to first check the trash can icon as shown above. Then go ahead and left click on the full recycle bin icon and click on Change Icon. Select the icon already highlighted, which should be the full recycle bin icon. Do the same with the empty trash can icon and click Apply.
The trash icon should now be on your desktop and should automatically update depending on whether the trash has data or not.
Windows 7 and 8
In Windows 7, the process for restoring the trash can is slightly different. Click Start first, and then type desktop icons. Go ahead and click Show or Hide Common Desktop Icons.
This will bring up the same dialog box as in Windows Vista where you can simply check the trash can to return it to the desktop. In Windows 8, you click the pseudo-start button and just start typing icons on the desktop. The charms bar appears to the right of the search results.
The same dialog will open as in Windows 7. There is nothing more to return the trash can, but there are a few tricks that I learned over time.
First, you can bypass the trash can simply by holding down the CTRL key while deleting a file in Windows. You should only use this option if you are absolutely sure that you will not need to restore the file later.
Second, you can right-click on the recycle bin, select Properties, and configure several options, such as the size of the recycle bin and whether the delete confirmation dialog box appears. If you have a small hard drive like an SSD, reducing the size of the basket can save you a lot of space.
If you have any other issues with recycle bin icon recovery, feel free to leave a comment and we will try to help. Enjoy!
–