Recycle bin

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This article is about the recycle bin concept in desktop environments. For the Microsoft Windows implementation, see Recycle bin (Windows). For a container used for recycling, see recycling bin. For the Sigur Rós album commonly known as Recycle Bin, see Von brigði.

An example icon of an empty recycle bin

An example icon of a recycle bin that contains files

In computing, a recycle bin, or trash can, is a temporary storage for files that have been deleted in a file manager by the user, but not yet permanently erased from the physical media. Typically, a recycle bin is presented as a special file directory to the user (whether or not it is actually a single directory depends on the implementation), allowing the user to browse deleted files, undelete those that were deleted by mistake, or delete them permanently.

Whether or not files deleted by a program go to the recycle bin depends on its level of integration with a particular desktop environment and its function. Low-level utilities usually bypass this layer entirely and delete files immediately. A program that includes file manager functionality may or may not send files to the recycle bin, or it may allow the user to choose between these options.

[edit] Implementations

Recycle bin functionality is usually integrated into a desktop environment and its file manager. Examples include:

Microsoft Windows, with Windows Explorer (see Recycle bin (Windows))
GNOME, with Nautilus
KDE, with Konqueror
Xfce, with Thunar
Mac OS, with Macintosh Finder

The GNOME, KDE and Xfce implementations comply to the freedesktop.org Trash specification [1], ensuring that any applications written with this specification in mind will be interoperable with any trash can implementation.