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25 August 2024  John Weaver  Senior Program Developer
 

Summary
The C:\$RECYCLE.BIN directory on Windows 10/11 serves as the master recycle bin for the operating system, containing subfolders that correspond to the recycle bins of individual user profiles, identified by their Security Identifiers (SIDs). These subdirectories exhibit peculiar behaviors when permissions or attributes are altered, temporarily changing their appearance but eventually reverting to their original state.



Table of contents

table iconWhat is C:\$RECYCLE.BIN?
table iconThe Behavior of Subdirectories
table iconPractical Usage
table iconSummary
When you access the C:\$RECYCLE.BIN directory on a Windows 10/11 system, you may notice it contains more than just a link to the Recycle Bin. It also includes other directories that might not be immediately accessible. These directories have peculiar behaviors, especially when you attempt to change their permissions or attributes.
recycle.bin folder 

What is C:$RECYCLE.BIN?

The C:\$RECYCLE.BIN folder acts as the master recycle bin for the Windows operating system. This folder contains subfolders that correspond to the recycle bins of individual user profiles on the local computer. Each subfolder is named after the user’s Security Identifier (SID). For example, the SID S-1-5-18 represents the built-in SYSTEM account.
If you want to recover the files deleted from Recycle bin, please refer to : How to Recover Files Permanently Deleted from Recycle Bin

The Behavior of Subdirectories

Upon taking ownership and granting full permissions to one of these subdirectories, you might notice that it no longer appears as S-1-5-18 but instead shows up as another “Recycle Bin.” This change is temporary and reverts back to S-1-5-18 once you restore the original settings and toggle the “read-only” attribute.
recycle.bin sub-folders 

Practical Usage

In a domain environment with shared computers, users often delete large files and leave them in their recycle bins, consuming significant disk space. If a computer’s hard drive runs low on space, you can reclaim storage by clearing out the $RECYCLE.BIN folder. To do this, open an elevated command prompt and execute the following command: rd /s /q c:\$Recycle.Bin After running this command and rebooting the computer, the $RECYCLE.BIN folder will be recreated, and each user profile will have an empty recycle bin.

Summary

The C:\$RECYCLE.BIN folder is essential for managing deleted files within the Windows operating system. Understanding its structure and behavior can help you manage disk space more effectively, especially in environments with multiple users. By knowing how to clear out the recycle bins of all user profiles, you can ensure that your system runs efficiently and has ample storage space.
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