# Tried deleting a file in the Processing app, and it ended up deleting all my files in the downloads folder. Is there anything I can do?

**URL:** https://discourse.processing.org/t/tried-deleting-a-file-in-the-processing-app-and-it-ended-up-deleting-all-my-files-in-the-downloads-folder-is-there-anything-i-can-do/46196
**Category:** Processing
**Created:** [April 10, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/tried-deleting-a-file-in-the-processing-app-and-it-ended-up-deleting-all-my-files-in-the-downloads-folder-is-there-anything-i-can-do/46196 "2025-04-10T22:33:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![grumpycatjwj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@grumpycatjwj](https://discourse.processing.org/u/grumpycatjwj)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/tried-deleting-a-file-in-the-processing-app-and-it-ended-up-deleting-all-my-files-in-the-downloads-folder-is-there-anything-i-can-do/46196/1 "2025-04-10T22:33:59Z")

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I asked a friend who had this happen to them, and they said that the files should show in my trash folder, however nothing is there either. Is there anyway to get my files back?

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### Author: ![ProcessingOrg](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/processingorg/32/18341_2.png) [@ProcessingOrg](https://discourse.processing.org/u/ProcessingOrg)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2025, 1:04pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/tried-deleting-a-file-in-the-processing-app-and-it-ended-up-deleting-all-my-files-in-the-downloads-folder-is-there-anything-i-can-do/46196/2 "2025-04-11T13:04:40Z")

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Sorry this happened to you. It was indeed [a critical bug](https://github.com/processing/processing4/issues/794) which [has been fixed](https://github.com/processing/processing4/pull/943) in Processing version 4.3.4. Trying to delete the last tab of a sketch now throws a warning instead of deleting the sketch folder.

Please [update to the latest version](https://processing.org/download) to avoid this kind of data loss in the future.

Unfortunately, if the files aren’t in your Trash, recovery options depend on your system. You could try using file recovery software like PhotoRec or Disk Drill, especially if you haven’t written new data to your drive since the deletion. I hope you’re able to recover your files.

Raphaël