How to make the recycle bin larger

Q Is there a way to change the Windows Recycle Bin so that it can hold more items? My hard disk has plenty of free space but the bin is full. I don’t want to empty the bin unless I have to as a few years ago I tried to recover a file only to find that I had permanently deleted it. My computer runs Windows XP.

Jack Nash

A Although we’d generally recommend emptying the Recycle Bin before it gets too full, it is possible to expand its size.

Right-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop and choose Properties. A window will appear allowing you to choose what percentage of the hard disk’s total space can be occupied by deleted items: use the slider to increase this, then click Apply and finally OK to save the setting.

A better solution is to back up any files you might want to access later on a CD, DVD or USB memory key, or for larger files an external hard disk.

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