Lost an archive file containing several important documents, images, and other files? Needn’t lose hope, here are ways to recover deleted ZIP/ RAR files.
It is quite common to compress files in RAR or ZIP before you email them as it helps reduce storage space as well as facilitates fast transfer. To extract such files, you can take the help of a file extractor software. But, what if you lost one of these files? Is it possible to recover deleted ZIP files?
Yes, the recovery of ZIP files on Windows is possible and in this post, we are going to discuss a few such ways.
Please note: If you realize that you have lost ZIP/ RAR files, it is important that you immediately stop using the drive where the files were kept.
Best Ways To Recover Deleted ZIP/ RAR Files On Windows 11/10
Solution 1 – From The Recycle Bin
Before opting for any advanced measures, the first place you can look for deleted archive files is the Recycle Bin. It is quite likely that you have deleted ZIP/ RAR files by right-clicking on the file and then clicking on Delete, instead of Shift + delete operation. In that case, recovery of ZIP/ RAR files is possible. To do that –
Step 1 – Open Recycle Bin.
Step 2 – Search for any deleted RAR or ZIP files that you want to recover.
Step 3 – If you find them, right-click on the selected items and click on Restore.
In case you have emptied the Recycle Bin or if it has become corrupted, a file recovery tool is probably the best bet that can help you recover lost files.
Solution 2 – Recover Deleted RAR/ ZIP Files With A File Recovery Tool
As we said, a file recovery tool increases your chances of recovering lost data. Advanced File recovery, for instance, is one of the best file recovery utilities for Windows 11/10 that makes recovery of ZIP files on Windows possible.
To know more about this wonderful data recovery tool, check out our review of Advanced File Recovery, where we have discussed its features, pricing, and various other aspects.
To recover ZIP/ RAR files on Windows using Advanced File Recovery, here are the steps –
Step 1 – Download, install and run Advanced File Recovery.
Step 2 – Select the drive from where you have lost ZIP/ RAR files. You can even recover ZIP files from an external drive – pen drive, SD card, etc.
Step 3 – Click on Next to scan the drive for lost files.
Step 4 – From the next screen i.e. Select What To Recover screen, click on Scan Compressed Files. Advanced File Recovery will now scan your drive only for deleted ZIP, RAR, or 7Z files or any files that fall under this format.
Step 5 – Click on the Start Scan button.
Step 6 – From the left-hand side, you can click on the dropdown next to a folder to see the files and from the right, you can even Preview them if the preview is available.
Step 7 – From the right-hand side, click on Recover Now from the bottom right.
Step 8 (Important) – To choose a location to save the recovered file, select a drive other than the one from where the files were lost originally. This will prevent overwriting of data.
Solution 3 – Recover from Backup (File History)
File History is a pretty helpful feature that lets you back up important files and folders to an external drive. Provided you have enabled this feature, you can recover RAR and ZIP files that you may have deleted on Windows. We have already discussed this feature in this post. To use this feature –
Step 1 – Open Control Panel by searching for it in the Windows search bar and then clicking on Open from the right-hand side.
Step 2 – Go to System & Security and then click on File History.
Step 3 – From the left, click on Restore Personal Files.
Step 4 – From the backed-up items, locate archived files and choose the ones that you want to recover
Final Thoughts – Data Once Gone Isn’t Gone Forever
Regardless of what kind of archive or compressed files you aim to recover – .zip, 7z, .rar, .cpt, .cab, or any other format, the other ways can help you recover all kinds of files. In our opinion, the best option is to use a file recovery program like Advanced File Recovery, which makes it easy to recover files. If this post helped you in the recovery of ZIP files on your Windows PC, do let us know in the comments section below. We’d also urge you to share this post with someone who might be looking for ways to recover ZIP/RAR files.
For more useful information and other software/app-related content – troubleshooting guides, listicles, and other thought-provoking content keep reading WeTheGeek.