Accidentally Replaced File: How to Recover in Windows 11/10/8/7

Can replaced files be recovered?

In computer, replaced files also are called overwritten files. Overwriting occurs when newly entered data replaces existing information or data. When a file is overwritten, the original data is lost and cannot be recovered, thus, many users choose to overwrite a hard drive to prevent information leaking. This is because the space where the previous file was stored has been replaced by new information. To successfully recover lost files, it's crucial to ensure that they are not overwritten by new data.

However, there are instances where temporary files are created while editing documents. These can include files that were copied, saved, or automatically generated by software. While these temporary files may have been deleted during the editing process, they can sometimes still be recovered.

Despite the challenges of recovering overwritten files, there are still possible ways to retrieve them. For instance, some data recovery software can scan the hard disk to search for any remaining traces of the overwritten file. Additionally, creating regular backups of important files can help prevent the risk of data loss caused by accidental overwriting.

In conclusion, while overwritten files are typically unrecoverable, understanding the nature of temporary files and utilizing data recovery solutions can increase the possibility of successful file retrieval. Thus, it's also essential to prioritize backing up critical data to avoid permanent data loss.

Accidentally replaced file: How to recover in Windows

In this part, we’ll show you how to try to recover accidentally deleted file in different ways.

▌ Way 1. Recover overwritten files from Previous Versions

Restoring from Previous Versions is a simple and cost-effective solution for those wondering how to recover an accidentally replaced file. If you have created restore points on your Windows system or enabled File History to backup files, you may be able to retrieve earlier versions of the file that you're looking for.

By creating restore points, the system automatically saves snapshots of your computer's settings and configurations at specific intervals. This means that if a file was accidentally replaced, an earlier version of the file might still exist in one of these restore points. Similarly, if you've enabled File History to backup files, previous versions of the file may have been saved and can be retrieved easily.

Step 1. Go to File Explorer, locate and right-click the file/folder you need to restore an older version, and select Restore Previous Versions.

Step 2. Choose Previous Versions and choose the right version from the list of File versions.

Step 3. Click Restore to recover it to its original location.

▌ Way 2. Recover accidentally deleted file in Windows backup

If you need to recover overwritten files for which no previous versions are available, there is still an option available through the Windows backup tool - Backup and Restore. This tool can automatically store your files in a selected location, providing a reliable backup option for file recovery.

Step 1. Open Control Panel, click on System and Security and select Backup and Restore.

Step 2. Tap on Restore my files.

Step 3. Click Browse for files to choose the available backup file, then click Next.

Step 4. Specify a new destination or restore the file to its original location, and click Restore to figure out how to recover overwritten files.

▌ Way 3. Restore overwritten files via System Restore

Another potential solution for recovering overwritten files is to use System Restore to revert your computer to a previous backup point. System Restore offers the ability to roll back your computer's state to an earlier time, which can be useful for restoring missing DLL files, system settings, and other critical components.

However, it's important to note that System Restore typically only affects system files, installed applications, and settings. It does not work on personal files such as documents, images, or videos.

Step 1. Type "create restore point" in the Windows search bar > click Open.

Step 2. Click the System Restore button, then the System Restore wizard will pop up.

Step 3. Tap on Next.

Step 4. Select the date to restore > click Scan for affected programs to view which programs will stop working after using this restore point > tap Close.

Step 5. You can skip the scanning step and just click Next anyway. Then, confirm and start the restoration.

▌ Way 4. Recover accidentally deleted file with a data recovery tool

If you quickly realize that you accidentally deleted some important files from your computer, and you haven’t done other operations on the same storage location, then you can try data retrieval software.

AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is a multifunctional disk and PC manager that can recover deleted files as long as they haven't been overwritten. Its “Recover Data” function supports recovering documents, images, and other 200+ types of files (TXT, DOC, PDF, PPT, JPG, PNG, and GIF, among others) from various devices such as memory cards, computers, and hard/flash drives. The software is compatible with Windows 11/10/8/8.1/7/XP/Vista. You can even recover deleted files from the Recycle Bin even after it's been emptied.

Step 1. Open and run the software. Select "Recover" > “Recover Data” in the main tab.

Step 2. Choose the hard drive on that you store the not saved files, and then click “Start Scan”.

Step 3. All the deleted or lost files will be listed in this step. You can use Filter or Search box to find the target files.

Step 4. Please select a folder path on your PC to save the recovered data.

Step 5. The recovery progress will start and data will be saved to the path you select once the recovery process is successful.

Conclusion

This post list some methods to fix accidentally replaced file and how to recover in Windows. Hope you can recover lost files in these ways. AOMEI Partition Assistant is a quite handy tool for Windows users to manage their devices. Besides data recovery, it’s also a disk cloner, MBR/GPT data-safe converter, disk speed tester, and app/folder mover. You can also resize/format/create/delete/wipe partitions on your PC.