Remove malware from your Windows PC. OneDrive (home or personal) OneDrive for Windows. Microsoft Defender Antivirus is a powerful tool that finds and removes malware from your PC. Here's how to use it in Windows 10 or 11 to scan your PC.

Each release of the tool helps detect and remove current, prevalent malicious software. This malicious software includes viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. Microsoft uses several metrics to determine the prevalence of a malicious software family and the damage that can be associated with it.

At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER: sfc /scannow. The sfc /scannow command will scan all protected system files, and replace corrupted files with a cached copy that is located in a compressed folder at %WinDir% \System32\dllcache. The %WinDir% placeholder represents the Windows operating system folder.

Use this app to try to recover lost files that have been deleted from your local storage device (including internal drives, external drives, and USB devices) and can’t be restored from the Recycle Bin.

If you can't find a file on your computer or you accidently modified or deleted a file, you can restore it from a backup (if you're using Windows backup) or you can try to restore it from a previous version. Previous versions are copies of files and folders that Windows automatically saves as part of a restore point.

Here's how to get the Recycle Bin on your desktop in Windows 10: Select the Start  button, then select Settings . Select Personalization > Themes > Desktop icon settings. Select the Recycle Bin check box > Apply. Notes: To get to desktop icon settings in Windows 8.1, swipe in from the right edge of the screen, then select Search.

Press and hold (or right-click) on the program you want to remove and select Uninstall or Uninstall / Change. Then follow the directions on the screen. Need more help? If you can't find an app or program, try the tips in See all your apps in Windows 10 and Program is not listed in add/remove programs after installation.

Find the Recycle Bin. If your desktop shows no icons at all, right-click (or press and hold) the desktop and select View. If Show desktop icons has no checkmark, click it to add one. If that doesn't work, try this: Select Start > Settings > Personalization > Themes > Desktop icon settings.

Find the Recycle Bin. If your desktop shows no icons at all, right-click (or press and hold) the desktop and select View. If Show desktop icons has no checkmark, click it to add one. If that doesn't work, try this: Select Start > Settings > Personalization > Themes > Desktop icon settings.

Empty the Recycle Bin in Windows 10. Windows 10. Find the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop. Right click (or press and hold) and select Empty Recycle Bin.