1. Check your recycle bin.

The first step is to see if your file has only been accidentally deleted — easy to do when you’re quickly clicking through multiple files and folders. So it may be as simple as just checking your recycle bin!

Read More: How to Make Your Computer Crash Proof

2. See if you’ve sent any version of the file via email, or have stored it elsewhere.

If you’re lucky, you’ve already sent the file to a colleague, or yourself, so have another copy in your email, or on some other cloud-based platform. Even if just an earlier draft of the document, you still won’t have to start over from scratch. You can also find missing files in surprising places, for example lost or damaged image files can sometimes be recovered from your memory card in Windows.

3. Use your backup program.

Regular backups of your hard drive or libraries are the most surefire way to avoid losing files completely.  Windows computers come with built-in backup programs for both documents and images, and doing so daily is a good habit to get into. Most programs also perform incremental backups, meaning that new files of files that have been changed are copied as well.

4. Try a file recovery program.

There are a number of portable file recovery programs that can scan your disks for lost or deleted files. Once scanned, you can simply search for the missing file by name and size, then click “Restore,” and your file will be recovered.

A great way to protect your data is to make sure your computer is running efficiently and never gets overloaded. To improve your computer’s health, download PSafe Total for Windows. This free software includes a Memory Booster that optimizes your data, frees up your storage space, and speeds up your device. A less-cluttered computer that is able to process more quickly is a computer that is is also less likely to crash.