TechTips - How to Configure the SharePoint 2007 Recycle Bin

SharePoint 2007 has a recycle bin much like most Windows operating systems have a recycle bin; this is used for deleting files in a safer manner. SharePoint 2007's recycle bin works just like the Windows OS recycle bin, files are put here and wait to be deleted forever. The nice thing about having the recycle bin is that when a user decides they want the file still (which happens a lot) they can usually get it back. So in this article I will explain how to turn on the recycle bin in SharePoint 2007 and some of the settings you can apply to the recycle bin to help your users.

So it always happens that a user deletes something they didn't want to and it's too late they can't get it back. Well Microsoft created the recycle bin so that files are stored safely for deletion but a user has to manually "empty" the bin before the files are gone. This is nice because if the user decided they didn't want to get rid of a file or accidentally deleted the file they could easily get it back. Well SharePoint 2007 has the same functionality; all you have to do is turn it on for your websites. Then when users delete pages, files, etc...they are stored in the recycle bin until the user manually empties it or the time period for deletion is passed (this setting can be changed more explanation later). It's a nice function that should be turned on for most SharePoint 2007 websites.

Here is how you turn on the Recycle Bin in SharePoint 2007:

Open Central Admin

Click Application Tab

Click Web application general settings (SharePoint Web Application Management Section)

Click Web Application Drop Down

Click Change Web Application

Click Web Application you want to change settings for

Scroll down to Recycle Bin Section

Click ON Radio button (Recycle Bin status section)

Click After (set number of days) or Click Never for deletion time period (explained more below)

Click OFF for Second stage recycle bin

Click OK

That is all there is to turning on the recycle bin for a SharePoint 2007 website, now your users will have a nice place to put files they want to delete and depending on your settings they will have some time to recover the files just in case they decide they don't want to delete them.

When you are setting the delete items section make sure you allow enough days so if a user does change their mind the file isn't already gone. I usually set this to 90 days so the users have 3 months to decide if they really want to delete a file or not. You can set it to never actually delete the files but that can be a real burden on disk space. I have found 90 days is usually ample time; also make sure your users are aware of the time limit.

Well I hope this guide helps you get your recycle bin turned on for your SharePoint 2007 website.