Many of us use the ZIP file format to compress many files across various formats into one single file. It might happen that due to various reasons you might lose ZIP files. For example, you may lose your precious ZIP files while sharing, while uploading, because of file corruption, or data corruption, or for any other reason.
This doesn’t mean that once deleted you can’t recover ZIP files. After all, when in an emergency you can’t give the excuse that the important ZIP files are lost, right? In this post, we’ll discuss the various ways in which you can recover deleted ZIP files on your Windows computer.
Let’s first quickly have a look at some of the probable reasons why someone might lose ZIP files -
● Accidentally deleted the ZIP file.
● You have mistakenly overwritten the ZIP file.
● Forgot to save the file once it was downloaded.
● Your antivirus mistakenly flagged it off as malware and removed the ZIP file.
● The ZIP file got corrupted while you were transferring it to another device, or for some other reason.
● The ZIP file was deleted while you were formatting your computer.
● Lost ZIP file while syncing cloud storage.
How To Restore Deleted ZIP Files On Windows Computer?
Here we will discuss, how you can recover an accidentally deleted ZIP file with or without using a file recovery software -
Solution No. 1 - Check The Recycle Bin
If you haven’t deleted your ZIP files permanently using the Shift + Delete operation, ZIP recovery is possible. You can find the deleted ZIP files in your computer’s Recycle Bin and you can recover it from there. To recover a ZIP file from Recycle Bin, go to the Recycle Bin, right-click on the ZIP files you want to recover, and click on Restore.
Solution No. 2 - Use A Third-Party Software
Another way you can recover deleted ZIP files is by using a dedicated file recovery software. Advanced File Recovery is one such software that can help you recover deleted, lost, formatted, or even corrupt ZIP files with ease. Apart from its ability to recover files, here’s why you can trust Advanced File Recovery -
● Recover all kinds of files.
● Preview files before recovering them.
● Offers quick and deep scan modes to recover files.
● Multiple filters to find the exact files you wish to recover.
● You can even recover files from an external hard drive.
How To Use Advanced File Recovery To Recover Lost ZIP Files?
Step 1 - Download Advanced File Recovery, and run the installation file.
Step 2 - Select the location from where you lost the ZIP files.
Step 3 - Choose a mode of scan. We recommend that you opt for Deep Scan mode because the mode helps look for ZIP files in all possible locations on your computer.
Step 4 - Click on Next from the bottom right corner of the screen.
Step 5 - Choose Scan Data, and Scan Media. Since we are discussing ways to recover deleted ZIP files, we’ll choose Scan Compressed Files in Scan Data, and let's select all options for Scan Media.
Step 6 - Click on the Start Scan button from the bottom right corner of the screen. Let the scan process complete. The time may vary depending on the file and the scan mode you have chosen. For instance, the Deep Scan mode will conduct a more indepth scan but will take more time as compared to Quick Scan mode.
Step 7 - Once the scan process completes, you can directly select the ZIP files that are deleted from your computer. Or, you can use the filter options to find the ZIP files.
Step 8 - To select the ZIP file, click on the checkbox next to the ZIP file name.
Step 9 - From the bottom-right, select the Recover Now option, and follow the on-screen options to recover the lost or deleted ZIP files.
Solution No. 3 - Recover ZIP File From A Backup
It is always advisable to back up data from time to time. This measure helps you restore files in the event that they have become corrupted, lost, or deleted. There are several mediums you can use to back up your data. For instance, File History (Which we’ll discuss in the next solution). You can also use a cloud storage medium to backup important files, or use a backup software to backup important files. This way, under any circumstance, you’ll have a copy of your data that you can restore in an emergency.
Solution No. 4 - Use File History
Talking of backup. Do you know that your Windows 11 computer has a feature called File History? If you are scared that you may lose important files, you can always back them up using this feature. Follow the steps below to enable it. Don’t wait for the time when you might actually lose an important ZIP file.
Let’s quickly see how you can enable the File History feature so that if in the future you lose an important ZIP file, you’ll be able to promptly recover it using this feature -
Note - A prerequisite for using the File History feature is that you should have an external hard drive or a network location attached to your computer. So before using the feature, attach an external hard drive, or use a network location.
Step 1 - In the Windows search bar, type File History, and click on Open from the right-hand side.
Step 2 - Once the File History opens, and once you have attached either an external hard drive, or a network storage location, click on Turn On from the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.
Step 3 - If you have already enabled File History in the past, all you have to do is select the ZIP file you want to restore, and click on the Restore button.
Solution No. 5 - Windows Backup
Windows 11 also has a feature called Windows Backup. With this, you can back up files, documents, pictures, and other data to OneDrive. Not just files, but also installed apps, settings, and other credentials. This implies that if you have already set this functionality, you might be able to recover deleted ZIP files as well.
Step 1 - Start by logging into OneDrive using your Microsoft account.
Step 2 - Once you have logged in to OneDrive, search for Windows Backup in the Windows search bar, and click on Open from the right-hand side.
Step 3 - Click on the Back up button that you can see at the bottom right-hand side corner of the screen. Follow the on-screen instructions.
Once you have backed up all your data on OneDrive, you can later head to your OneDrive account, and recover lost ZIP files from there.
Wrapping Up
It might seem impossible to recover deleted ZIP files at first, however, with the right steps you can easily restore files safely. For starters, you can check your Recycle Bin. If that doesn’t work out you can use third-party software like Advanced File Recovery to recover deleted ZIP files. You can also restore ZIP files from a backup for which again you can use a third-party backup software, use from one of the cloud storage mediums, or use Windows’s native File History or Windows Backup feature. Do let us know in the comments section if you found value in this post.