When you delete an item from a SharePoint document library or list, it isn't immediately removed from SharePoint. Deleted items go into the site Recycle Bin for a period of time. During that time, you can restore the items you deleted to their original location, or remove them to free up storage space.
Important
The SharePoint Recycle Bin is different from the Recycle Bin in Windows. To recover local files deleted from your desktop or apps, use the Windows Recycle Bin first. To put your Windows Recycle Bin on your desktop, see Show or hide the Recycle Bin.
Note
If you're looking for the recycle bin for OneDrive, go to your OneDrive site and select Recycle bin in the left pane.
For info about restoring items in the site Recycle Bin, see Restore items in the Recycle Bin of a SharePoint site.
Delete an item from the site Recycle Bin
To delete items from the SharePoint site Recycle Bin
Click Recycle Bin in the Quick Launch bar on the left of the screen.
If you don't see the Recycle Bin on the Quick Launch bar, follow these steps:Click Settings
, and then click Site Contents.The Recycle bin option is in the top-right portion of the Site Contents page.
On the Recycle Bin page, click the box to the left of the items or files you want to delete or restore.
Click Delete to delete the selected files.
Note
If you don't see the item you're looking for, it might have already been deleted and already moved to the site collection Recycle Bin. Or it might have exceeded the holding time limit (93 days) and already been permanently deleted.
To delete all items from the SharePoint site Recycle Bin
Click Recycle Bin in the Quick Launch bar on the left of the screen.
If you don't see the Recycle Bin on the Quick Launch bar, follow these steps:Click Settings
, and then click Site Contents.The Recycle bin option is in the top-right portion of the Site Contents page.
On the Recycle Bin page, click Empty recycle bin
to delete all items.
If Empty recycle bin isn't visible, make sure you unselect all items in the recycle bin.
Can I get back items I delete from the SharePoint site recycle bin?
When you delete an item from a site recycle bin it automatically goes into the Second-Stage or Site Collection Recycle Bin where it remains for a set period until it's permanently removed from SharePoint. If you're a site collection admin, you can restore items from the site collection Recycle Bin. For info, see Restore deleted items from the site collection recycle bin.
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