7 Ways to Recover Deleted Files on Linux

File restoration utilities are one of the most important programs in a Linux administrator’s toolkit. They provide the ability to recover deleted files, even in cases where the disk is either physically damaged or wiped clean.

This guide shows seven simple file recovery tools that you can install right now on Linux. We also show you how you can do basic file restoration on your system. 

When you delete a file, only the link between it and its underlying data is deleted. The physical file itself is still intact. It only tells the operating system that the space is now available to be overwritten.

In addition, most desktop environments today prevent you from directly deleting files on your disk. They will instead move the deleted file to a Trash folder (or Recycle bin in Windows), which can then be recovered easily.