How to Recover Files Too Large for Recycle Bin in Windows 11/10

What Does "This File Is Too Big to Recycle" Mean

If you see a message saying, "This file is too big to recycle," it means just what it sounds like: the file (or folder) you're trying to delete is bigger than what the Recycle Bin can handle for that drive. Instead of sending the file there, Windows skips the Recycle Bin and deletes it right away. Now, sometimes it's still possible to recover these files if nothing's been written over that space on your drive, but there are no guarantees.

Usually, when you hit "Delete" in Windows or right-click and choose it, the file just moves into the Recycle Bin. That way, if you get second thoughts, you can just restore it. But the bin isn't unlimited; it has a size limit for each drive. If your file is bigger than that limit, Windows just goes, "Nope, can't do it," and asks if you want to permanently delete the file instead.

You'll see messages like:

• "This file is too big to recycle."
• "This folder is too big to recycle."
• "Do you want to permanently delete it?"

If you say yes, the file's gone; it skips the Recycle Bin entirely.

Why does this happen? Almost always, it's simply because your file is larger than what the Bin will store for that drive. For example, if your D: drive's Recycle Bin is set to hold up to 10 GB and you try deleting a 25 GB video folder, there's just no room, and Windows asks if you want to delete it forever.

Keep in mind, each drive's Recycle Bin has its own size setting. If you bump up the limit for your C: drive, your D: drive won't change unless you adjust it too.

Stuff that often triggers this message? Things like huge 4K/8K video files, RAW photo libraries, sprawling Photoshop or Premiere project folders, giant ZIP or RAR archives, virtual machines, huge game installs, database files, system backups, or just a massive Downloads folder. Basically, anything that's really, really big.

What Happens After You Click "Yes"❓

Where does the permanently deleted file go? Generally speaking, when you first delete a file on a computer by right-clicking the Delete option or pressing the "Delete" key, it goes to the computer's Recycle Bin, Trash, or something similar depending on your operating system. It will remain there until you empty the Recycle Bin or restore the file from it. Recovering deleted files from the Recycle Bin is practical if you remove the files/folders by pressing the DEL key or by right-clicking the item and choosing Delete. 

However, it doesn't always work this way. If the deleted files are larger than the maximum size of the Recycle Bin, these items will bypass the Recycle Bin and be deleted permanently. Just as the picture shows, the maximum size of the Recycle Bin is 8998MB; if your files or folders are larger than 8998MB, you would receive this error.

How to Recover Files Too Large for Recycle Bin

As we have mentioned above, once you delete the items when the message "file too big for Recycle Bin" appears, they will be deleted permanently. This operation is like the "Shift + Delete" activity. However, the items are still on the hard drive until another file or part of another file is saved to the same location. You only remove the entry and not the files themselves. As a result, the files are still recoverable as long as they are not overwritten. In this case, only reliable and professional data recovery software can help you recover files too large for Recycle Bin.

Method 1. Recover Files Too Large for Recycle Bin with Recovery Software

If you do not have a usable backup, a graphical data recovery program is often the simplest approach for recovering files that bypassed the Recycle Bin.

Ideally, you should stop using the device to avoid data being overwritten. Then, apply a professional data recovery program to scan and recover permanently deleted files. The sooner you do the data recovery after you delete your files, the better the chances of recovery will be. To save your time and energy, I have a recommendation - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.

With the EaseUS Recycle Bin recovery software, you can easily perform the recovery of large files that have bypassed the Recycle Bin and recover deleted files not in Recycle Bin in simple steps. (Jump to the end of the article for a more detailed introduction of this tool if you have questions.)

Step 1. Choose the exact file location and then click the "Search for Lost Data" button to continue.

Step 2. After the process, locate the deleted or lost files in the left panel using the "Path" or "Type" feature. Or, you can apply the "Filter" feature to find the deleted files.

Step 3. Click the "Recover" button and save the restored files – ideally, it should be different from the original one. You can choose a cloud storage, such as OneDrive, Google Drive, etc., and click "Save" to save your recovered files.

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is most useful when the files bypassed the Recycle Bin and no usable backup is available. The most important recovery rule is to scan the original drive but save recovered data somewhere else. You can share this guide on social media and help more Windows users!

Method 2. Recover Large Files from File History

If you had File History set up before you deleted your files, there's a good chance you can pull an earlier copy from your backup.

File History is Windows' built-in feature that automatically saves versions of your personal folders to an external drive or a network location. Just remember, it can't help if your file wasn't already backed up.

Step 1. Plug in the external drive you used for File History, if there is one.

Step 2. Go to the Control Panel, then find this path: System and Security > File History.

Step 3. Click "Restore personal files". Look through the versions Windows saved for you.

Step 4. Find the deleted file or folder. Go back to where the file used to be and browse the previous versions. Find the copy you want to restore.

Step 5. Restore your file. Click the file or folder you need and hit the restore button. If you can, save it to a different location so you don't accidentally overwrite something else.

Method 3. Restore Files Too Large from Previous Versions

If Windows or File History made a backup before you deleted your folder, you can use Previous Versions to get it back.

Step 1. Start by opening File Explorer and going to where the missing folder used to be. Right-click that folder, then hit "Show more options" and pick "Restore previous versions" if you see it.

Step 2. Now, look through the list and pick a version from before you deleted the files. Use the preview or open option to make sure the files you want are actually there.

Step 3. Once you spot them, just restore the file or folder and put it back where you need it.

How to Customize Recycle Bin Settings to Fix File Too Large

If you don't want to delete a folder and this folder is too big to recycle, to bypass the Recycle Bin, you can change Recycle Bin properties. 

Step 1. Right-click "Recycle Bin". Choose "Properties".

Step 2. Under the "Settings for selected location" section, select the "Custom size" option.

In the "Maximum size (MB)" field, specify the maximum hard drive space in megabyte that Recycle Bin can use on the particular partition. For example, if you have a 500GB drive and want to Recycle Bin to use 50GB of space, then you need to specify 51200 megabytes (because 1GB equals 1024MB).

Step 3. Click the "Apply" button. Click the "OK" button.

Once you've completed the steps, the Recycle Bin will be able to keep more or fewer files from a particular location depending on your configuration. While each partition configured on your device has its own Recycle Bin, removable drives like SD cards and USB flash drives are not supported, which means that as you delete files on an SD card or a USB, they'll be erased permanently.

Why Does Windows Still Say "This File Is Too Big to Recycle"

If you've bumped up your Recycle Bin's size but Windows still insists a file's too big, there are a few things to check.

You Changed the Wrong Drive. Maybe you upped the space for your C: drive, but the file you're trying to delete sits on D:. Each drive has its own setting—so you have to tweak the right one.

The File's Just Too Big. Even with a larger Recycle Bin, if a file's way over the limit, Windows can't fit it. So, if your Recycle Bin maxes out at 10 GB and you try to send a 20 GB folder there, you'll still hit that "too big" warning.

The Recycle Bin's Already Full. Deleted files don't vanish from the Recycle Bin. If it's already stuffed with old files, there's less room for anything new.

External Storage Isn't Playing by the Same Rules. Plugged-in drives, SD cards, or USB sticks don't always use the Recycle Bin the same way your main drives do. Sometimes, deleting just skips the bin and erases the file right away.

You can share these problems on social media to help more users who keeps encountering this issue.

Conclusion

When Windows tells you a file or folder is "too big to recycle," it means that deleting it skips the Recycle Bin. That item goes straight out the door. Windows tries to erase it for good instead of letting you pluck it back later.

But don't panic yet. The data isn't gone forever unless you keep using the drive and overwrite it with new stuff.

First, stop using that drive right away. Don't copy, save, or install anything new on it. After that, pick the recovery method that fits your situation:

• If you have File History set up, check your backup for the missing file.
• Try Previous Versions, sometimes Windows keeps older versions of folders you can roll back to.
• For an easier, visual approach, use something like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard to scan and try to get your deleted files back, even if you don't have a backup.

This Folder Is Too Big to Recycle FAQs

Here are 4 additional questions about this folder is too big to recycle. Check here for the answers.

1. What happens when we delete a file whose size is larger than available Recycle Bin size?

The objects will skip the Recycle Bin and be permanently removed if the deleted files exceed the maximum size of the Recycle Bin.

2. How do I recover a large deleted file in Windows?

Select Windows File Recovery after pressing the Windows key and typing Windows File Recovery in the search box. Choose Yes when asked if you want to give the app permission to modify your device. Regular and Extensive are the two fundamental modes that you can utilize to recover files.

3. How do I resize my Recycle Bin?

Use the right-click menu on the Desktop to select Properties next to your recycle bin. Select the drive by clicking on it. Put the maximum amount of drive space you want to set up for the recycle bin next to the Custom size.

4. How do I delete files with names that are too long for Recycle Bin?

• In the directory where the file is placed, launch a command prompt.
• Use a DOS command to obtain the short filename in the 8.3 filename format.
• To delete the file, execute the DEL command in DOS at this time.