SharePoint Recycle Bin Administration

The recycle bin in Sharepoint is a 2-stage operation where the user can delete content and get it back for a configurable amount of time and then an administrator can get it back for a configurable frame after that. User Level Recycle Bin The first and most simple operation is just to click on the recycle bin link in the corner.You should see the item if it hasn't exceeded its retention expiration date.

Note: Recycle bin will show only those items that have been deleted by login user. Administrative Level Recycle Bin (Site Collection Level) If your item is not in the recycle bin or you can't find it in your content, ask an administrator to pull it from the site collection recycle bin. To do this, click on Site Actions in the top right corner of the site and select Site Settings --> Modify All Site Settings.

On the next page, select the Recycle Bin link.

You can now select either all user's recycle bin items or the items that have been deleted from the user recycle bin.

Note: 1) End User Recycle bin Item: items that reside in all user's recycle bin in all web under current site collection. 2) Deleted from End User Recycle bin: items that are deleted by user from recycle bin or items deleted due to recycle bin policy. Administering the Recycle Bin Retention Policies Start by going to Administrative Tools in Windows. Select SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration. This opens the admin web site. Select the Application Management tab.

Now, in the SharePoint Web Application Management section, click on Web application general settings

Scroll all the way to the bottom of the next page and find the place to edit your Recycle Bin settings for the server.

You can turn off the recycle bins (not recommended), change the user level or the admin level recycle bin settings and then save your new values.