As a Windows user, you might be familiar with Notepad, which is a simple text editor that comes with Windows by default. The default storage location for Notepad files on Windows system is C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming. The reason it is popular among users is that it allows you to note down some important information in simple text format. But it is to be noted that Notepad files can get lost due to Windows corruption. Unfortunately, Notepad doesn’t provide advanced features like files backup, autosave, etc., which makes Notepad files prone to Windows corruption.

But, recovering Notepad files is not difficult as there are various methods to recover the .txt files. In this article, we will discuss the most effective methods to recover Notepad (.txt) files.

Methods to Recover Lost/Deleted Notepad Files

The recovery method of .txt files depends on the situation. Sometimes your notepad file is hidden on your system which you can reveal by selecting the Hidden Items checkbox under the View menu of the Windows 10 File Explorer. Also, check the Recycle Bin for once as there are chances that someone has deleted the file unknowingly or knowingly. Even then if the file is not accessible, try the solutions provided in the next section.

1. Restore a Previous Version

Using this method, you can restore the .txt file. Follow to below steps to execute this method.

• Go to the system drive folder location where the Notepad file is saved.
• Right-click on the folder and select Restore Previous Version.
• Select the specific previous version and click Restore.
• Now, in the folder check whether it’s available or not.

If this method doesn’t work for you, then there is an alternative to it.

2. Using Command Prompt

With the Command Prompt, you can resolve most of the issues related to .txt files.

• Click Start and type CMD in the search bar.
• Right-click the Command prompt and select Run as Administrator.
• Now, type chkdsk C: /f in cmd and hit Enter.
• A message will appear in cmd – Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Type ‘Y’ to check the ‘C’ drive next time you restart the PC.
• Now, restart your system and check the repairing process.
• Once the process is finished, check the .txt file to verify whether it’s available or not.

These methods are only ideal if the Notepad files are saved on your system. However, if you want to recover a deleted .txt file, then there is another approach.

3. Recover Deleted Notepad Files

As mentioned above, there is no auto-recovery feature in Notepad, so it requires a bit of technical expertise to recover deleted files. In that case, the temp files can be used to restore them.

Note: Temp files keep updating every time you restart your computer. So, do not turn off your computer after you lost the Notepad file because you won’t be able to recover them after restarting your system.

• Go to the start menu and type ‘%AppData%’ in the Search bar. Press Enter.
• On the search bar, type the name of the deleted/unsaved .txt file
• If the temp file is available, then you can easily restore it to the .txt format

But, if the temp file is not available, then recovering deleted/unsaved .txt files is not possible with manual approaches.

4. Alternate Solution – Kernel for Windows Data Recovery

Kernel for Windows Data Recovery Software is a useful utility that allows you to recover every file from your Windows system, including images, videos, text documents, and other content. It comes with a simple recovery process that makes it suitable for even non-technical users.

1. Download and configure the tool on your system.
2. Select the scanning method from the home screen after launching the software.



3. Select the particular drive from which you want to recover Notepad files and click Next.



Note: You can also recover data from external drives with this tool.

4. The software will start scanning the drive.



5. Once the process is complete, a pop-up will appear on screen with guidelines, click OK to display the recovered data.



6. You can select any item from recovered data to preview it in the tool.



7. If you don’t know the exact location of the file, then click Find and type the file extension in the opened tab.



8. After finding the file, select the file(s) that you want to recover and click Save Selected File.



9. Select a specific location to save the files and click OK.



10. It will start saving the files in the given location. After saving the records, a notification will appear on your screen displaying Files Saved successfully, click OK.



That’s the easiest way to restore lost or deleted Notepad files from your Windows 10 system.

Conclusion

Recovering Notepad files is a headache, especially when they are permanently lost or deleted from your system. But, if it contains crucial data, then it is necessary to recover it. In this article, we have discussed how you could recover lost/deleted.txt files using manual ways. Also, we have given an instant professional solution to recover deleted Windows files from any drive partition quickly while displaying preview of data before saving to selective destination folder.