The Recycle Bin has changed very little over time. It's a place where deleted files are stored until you either empty the recycle bin, restore the files, or run out of space in the bin. When tghe Recycle Bin falls short of storage, it just deletes the oldest file in the Recycle Bin to make space for newly deleted files.

If you're like most Windows users, you've never bothered to do much with Recycle Bin. Knowing how you can get more control over Recycle Bin and deleted files is valuable when using your computer for work. As such, let's explore what you can do with the Recycle Bin in Windows 11.

1. How to Increase or Decrease Recycle Bin Storage

The Recycle Bin doesn't store your files forever. The Recycle Bin is auto-configured to have a certain percentage of the partition size for storing files you delete while running Windows. Older files are automatically deleted once the reserved space is used up to accommodate new files.

If you frequently delete files hoping that you can always restore them from the Recycle Bin should you need it, you should be careful about the size of the files you delete. Alternatively, you can increase (or decrease) the storage space reserved for deleted files in case you often need to recover files from the Recycle Bin.

You can change the reserved storage from the Recycle Bin properties. Right-click on the Recycle Bin and select Properties. Click on the C drive, and find the Maximize size field.

Now, define a specific size in MB to adjust the reserved storage. Remember that 1 GB is equal to 1024 MB, so you'll need to do a little bit of mental math if you want your Recycle Bin to store files in the gigabytes.

changing the storage available for recycle bin

When you've done that, click OK to save and exit.

You can also change the storage size for other drives on your PC, but not for external drives.

2. How to Delete Files Permanently Without Sending Them to the Recycle Bin

If you're someone who never needs to recover deleted files, you could skip the extra step and set the files to be deleted directly. There are two ways to do this.

First, you can simply use the keyboard shortcut Shift + Delete to delete files permanently without sending them to the Recycle Bin.

Second, you can change the Recycle Bin settings so that even when you delete files without the keyboard shortcut, the files are deleted permanently.

You can do this from Recycle Bin properties. Right-click on the Recycle Bin and select Properties. Select the radio button next to the text that reads Don't move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted.

permanently deleting files without sending them to recycle bin

Click OK to save and exit. Now when you delete an item, it'll instantly get erased instead of sitting in your bin.

3. Enable Confirmation Before Deleting Files

If you tend to mistakenly delete files when using your PC, you can enable confirmation, so you don't end up deleting important files. This is especially true if you've changed Recycle Bin settings so that files are permanently deleted without ever making it to the Recycle Bin.

You can enable the confirmation from Recycle Bin properties. Right-click on the Recycle Bin and select Properties. Check the box next to the text that reads Display delete confirmation dialog.

enabling confirmation prompt before deleting a file

Select OK to save and exit.

Note that you can still permanently delete files using the keyboard shortcut whenever you need to.

4. How to Empty the Recycle Bin on a Schedule

Windows 10 brought an excellent feature called Storage Sense. You can hand over your cleaning Windows to Storage Sense. Essentially, it works as an alternative to third-party tools like CCleaner to a certain extent.

If you're on Windows 10 or 11, you'll be able to use Storage Sense to automatically empty the Recycle Bin after a set number of days. You can set Storage Sense to delete files in the Recycle Bin after 1, 14, 30, or 60 days.

The days aren't counted for each file, i.e., a file won't remain in the bin for 30 days if you've chosen to clean the bin every 30 days. All files in the bin are removed on a 30-day cycle. For instance, if the last clean-up was 29 days ago, any files in the bin the next day will be cleaned, including ones you deleted today.

You can set up Storage Sense from the Settings app. Press Win + I to launch Settings and navigate to System > Storage > Storage Sense.

auto cleaning recycle bin with storage sense

Look for an option called Delete files in my recycle bin if they have been there for over and select the number of days. The default is set to 30.

5. How to Put the Recycle Bin in the System Tray

If you're a heavy-duty Recycle Bin user, it can get annoying going to the desktop or searching for Recycle Bin in the Start Menu every time you want to open it. Fortunately, you can put Recycle Bin into your system tray and access it directly, cutting those extra steps.

There's no built-in option that allows adding the Recycle Bin to the system tray on Windows. You'll need to rely on third-party tools like TrayBin or MiniBin. We've got a thorough tutorial on how to use these to add the Recycle Bin to the system tray, so check that out if you need help using these tools.

Recycle Bin Configured to Convenience

Recycle Bin is one of the most overlooked parts of Windows. While many aren't aware that there are several ways to configure it, knowing what you can do to make things more convenient can help improve your experience.

Now that you know how to configure Recycle Bin, you're better equipped to manage deleted files and how Recycle Bin functions on your PC. It's easy to overlook Recycle Bin, but make sure you're aware of how it can come in handy. In some cases, you'll only realize the importance of Recycle Bin when it disappears from Windows.