Put files deleted over the network into a Windows trash can?

It's a shame that an easy and effective answer has been downvoted on here. Othniel Cressy's steps do solve the problem without needing any extra software. I don't have enough reputation to upvote him or comment on his post so I'm having to reply here instead but it's a great solution for people!

All you need to do is set the location of one of your Personal Folders to the root of the network drive and Windows automatically adds that location to the Recycle Bin. I use the "Contacts" folder as I have no other use for it, but you can use "My Music" or "My Games".

  1. Right click on the Personal Folder you don't use (e.g. Contacts) and choose Properties
  2. Find the Location tab
  3. Click Move... and set the new location to the root of the Network Drive
  4. I chose to not move existing files, there shouldn't be any anyway.

Done. Check your Recycle Bin locations and you should see your network drive on there! I found this a great tip so I hope it helps others.


A network recycle bin doesn't exist, there is two ways around it:

  • Use shadow copies or back-ups to prevent lost data.

    Locally the Recycle Bin is part of Windows Explorer -- and on the network you are NOT dealing with explorer on the server. Explorer locally isn't going to copy the file to the user's workstation just to put it into the recycle bin.

    You CAN implement Shadow Copy however, then users can undelete and compare versions.

    From: http://www.eggheadcafe.com/software/aspnet/30136686/network-drive-recycle-bin.aspx

  • Instead of pressing delete, move the file to the recycle bin.

    The provided link also suggests NetrBin as Revolter says,
    the big problem behind it is that every time you delete you transfer the file first.


I came across an utility when I was searching this issue

people, on the way, says Microsoft does not handle deletes over networks shares ! looks true. can't find more details yet...

NetrBin, (Network recycle bin), is for this purpose, it moves deleted files from network drives to the recycle bin for later backups. (i didn't test it) so you may want to try it.

alt text