The Windows Recycle Bin is the place where the files to be deleted are moved. The recycle bin is used to make files ready for deletion, without deleting them immediately.
In this way you have the possibility to recover them until the trash is emptied or until the available space is exceeded.
Like all Windows tools, there are also options for the Recycle Bin to optimize it and programs to manage it better.
In this article we then see the best trash management tools and the guide to configure the options and optimize their use .
1) Change the space to dedicate to the Trash
By default, the amount of space on the hard disk dedicated to the Recycle Bin is 10% of the total size.
If you delete a file larger than this 10%, Windows will not be able to move it to the recycle bin and will ask you to delete it completely.
If you prefer, you can decrease or increase the space reserved for the trash by right clicking on the garbage pail icon on the desktop and entering the Properties .
If you have two or more partitions and disks in your computer, there will be a trash can for each of them even if the one displayed on the desktop becomes one.
For each partition you can choose the space to allocate for the basket by increasing or decreasing it.
On Vista, Windows 7 and 8 the properties screen is different from that of XP, although the options are the same.
In another article it was explained how to add a trash can also for a USB stick.
2) Skip the file deletion confirmation
In the Properties screen, you can remove the cross from the confirmation message option to no longer make the message appear that warns of the movement of a file in the recycle bin.
3) Always delete files permanently
Instead of specifying a recycle bin size, you can choose the option to permanently delete them.
This is not recommended because in the event of an error it becomes difficult to recover.
To delete a file permanently whenever you want, without changing any option of the properties of the recycle bin, you must select a file and then press the combination of Shift-Del keys.
4) Hide the trash from the desktop (or return it)
To hide the trash can icon from the desktop just right-click on the desktop to enter the personalization properties and then click on the " Change desktop icons " link by deactivating the trash.
In Windows XP the procedure is the same even if the screens, compared to Windows 7, are different.
5) From the same window it is also possible to change the icon to the Trash, both when it is empty and when it is full.
To return with the classic recycle bin, you can go back to the desktop properties window and click on Restore .
6) Put the Trash in the taskbar
If you have a messy desktop you always struggle to find the trash can icon.
You can then install a small and practical program that brings up the trash can icon in the taskbar at the bottom, near the Windows clock.
You can use these two almost identical programs: MiniBin or MicroBin .
MiniBin has a few more configuration options while MicroBin is just a small icon in the system tray that allows you to open the recycle bin.
Both applications are very light, take up zero memory and integrate seamlessly into Windows without looking like external tools.
Neither requires installation.
To make the change permanent, you need to move the executable (exe) file of Minibin or Microbin to the Startup folder of the Start menu in order to start them when you turn on the computer.
7) With another type of program, the trash can be emptied automatically after a certain period of time.
For example, after installing the RecycleBinEx tool, when you right-click the trash can icon, you can choose to permanently delete only the files that have been moved there for more than 30 days or more than a week.
You can also configure the automatic emptying of the recycle bin at every start, only of the oldest files, so as not to take up too much space.
8) Rename the Trash
You can change the name of the bin by pressing the right mouse button and pressing Rename .
9) Changing the sound of emptying the bin
Go to the Windows Control Panel, open the Audio section and, in the Sounds tab, look for the trash can in the list.
To do this first, you can right click on the volume icon at the bottom right near the clock and select Sounds.
10) Restore files placed in the recycle bin.
If you want to bring a file moved to the recycle bin back to its original position, just find it in the recycle bin itself, right-click on it and then click Restore.
It will be moved to the folder where it was before the deletion.
In two other articles we have finally seen how to recover deleted files from the recycle bin and how to delete files safely and permanently and delete them from the disk forever .
