How to have recycle bin on Android: never lose your files again

Deleting a file from the mobile and not recovering it is a most unpleasant situation, which, unfortunately, many of us have had to experience when using our smartphones. Although it is possible to create a complete backup to keep all documents and files safe, and even resort to utilities that allow you to recover deleted files, many of these problems could be avoided if Android had a native recycle bin to which, as in desktop operating systems such as Windows or macOS, those documents were deleted before removing them from storage permanently.

Luckily, this is Android, and using the right app, it is possible to do almost anything we can imagine, no matter how advanced, including, of course, having a recycle bin. In this guide, we explain how to do it step by step and in a simple way.

Recycle bin on Android: how to do it step by step

Although smartphones evolve, and it is less and less common to see devices with less than 32 GB of internal storage, in the first years of the Android platform, 4 or 8 GB of storage were the most common configurations, and that is why in principle, It did not seem necessary to spend the necessary effort in the development of a recycle bin from which to recover deleted files before permanently deleting them.

Nowadays, on the other hand, we are storing heavier data on our devices, such as movies, complete discographies, books, photo albums, and much more. Therefore, it is more convenient than it seems to be able to access a utility that allows to re-save those files that, either accidentally or intentionally, have been deleted.

Recycle Bin

This free application does exactly what it says in its name: it implements a recycle bin to access recently deleted files. It also works with the vast majority of available file browsers. Since Android does not incorporate this functionality natively, to send files to the trash, you will have to follow specific steps:

1. Open the file explorer.
2. Choose the file you want to send to the trash. Instead of deleting it, make a long press on it and click on “Send” or “Open With.”
3. Select the “Recycle Bin” application.

In this way, the deleted file will be in the trash. When the application is opened, the list will appear with all those images, documents, videos, or folders that have been “deleted,” giving the user the possibility of returning them to their original place if desired or permanently deleting them.

One of the advantages of this app is that it allows you to configure complete directories that the app will monitor, and the files included inside will be automatically sent to the trash if they are accidentally deleted.

Dumpster

Another application that allows you to use a trash can on Android is Dumpster. With more than 10 million installations, it is one of the most used and popular tools in its category, and it is more than deserved for its great utility and ease of use.

As in the case of the previous tool, Dumpster allows you to recover files that have been deleted from storage. It even takes care of recovering applications that have recently been accidentally uninstalled. To do this, the steps to follow are as follows:

1. Open the file explorer, gallery, or any other app to access the files stored on the phone.
2. Choose the file you want to send to the trash. Instead of deleting it, make a long press on it and click on “Send” or “Open With.”
3. Select the “Send to Dumpster” option.

After carrying out this process, the deleted files will be saved in the app, and the possibility of recovering them will be offered if desired.

Although the application is free, those users who decide to subscribe to the application’s payment method will have the possibility of accessing a “trash can in the cloud” to store those files that they wish to delete without taking up space on the internal storage the phone. According to its creators, Dumpster is the only tool capable of recovering files of all kinds, whatever their type, size or

Although there are many other trash can applications on Android, these two fulfill their function perfectly. They do not require strange permissions as it does with other alternatives such as Clean Master from Cheetah Mobile, an app that we talked about and that among its functions can recover deleted files.