Windows 7: Empty recycle bin is grayed out and shows nothing that I've deleted?

Whenever I delete a file, it goes to the recycle bin. Now, all of a sudden, the opton to Empty Recycle Bin is grayed out and no matter what I do, the option to Empty does not activate.

I'm wondering if the file is actually deleted"

How do I get this to work again?

Thanks very much.
Jim

Hello Jim,

If you open the Recycle Bin after you have deleted a file, is the file in the Recycle Bin?

If the file is gone from where you deleted it from, then it has been deleted. The question is if it's actually being put in the Recycle Bin, or is being permanently deleted instead.

Did you change the setting in the Recycle Bin properties to permanently delete files rather than moving to the RB??

Brink and Shukaku, thanks for the reply. It is not in the Recycle Bin and I have not changed the setting to permanently delete all files that I delete.

EDIT: I just deleted a folder on my data drive to see if it is in the RB, using Win Explorer and clicking on Recycle Bin, the deleted folder is there. BUT- the option to 'Empty Recycle Bin" from the Recycle Bin icon is NOW working!! Just wonder what is going on!!??

Second edit: I deleted the folders using the icon. Deleted another folder and the option is grayed out in the icon. The deleted folder is showing in Recycle Bin using Win Explorer. Once I used Explorer to see if the deleted folder is in the RB, then the option to empty in the icon worked! This doesn't make sense to have to click on the RB and then the icon to empty the folder. I've never had to do this before.

Again, thanks for the help. Maybe somebody knows what has happened and how to correct it. If I have to use Explorer to go to the RB, then I may as well delete from there, which defeats the purpose of having the icon.

Jim,

In addition, if you delete a item from a removable/external drive (unless connected via eSATA), then it's also permanently deleted and not put in the Recycle Bin.

It seems like it may be a refreshing issue as well since you do not see the option ungrayed until you click on it. If you like, try OPTION TWO in the tutorial below to toggle the icons to see if that may help if it's a refreshing issue.

Recycle Bin - Vista Forums

Brink, thanks for the info. This started when I was deleting a lot of stuff from my external backup drive. I did not know that nothing from there would go into the Recycle Bin. After disconnecting the external and letting everything sit awhile, now my recycle icon works as it should.

Again, thanks!

That's great news Jim. I'm happy to hear that it's working again for you.