CCleaner deleted my data please help

[Leekay32]

Hello, CCleaner accidentally deleted my data a few days ago, and I can't recover it. I already tried Recuva and other recovering tools it deleted my Chrome browser history, my bookmarks, and a few of my cookies as well as other files such as my photos, videos, etc. How do I undo this as I was very careless when using CCleaner when I knew nothing about it. I was using CCleaner because I had lag issues and I thought why not use CCleaner. I am so desperate because it cost me a while to get those files and data and saves to my games, I tried contacting their customer support but I got no response back, so please help me get those data back.

[nukecad]

We'll need to know some more details to be able to help, to start with:

What operating system are you using? (Windows, Mac, Android, Chrome OS?).
What kind of device is it? (PC, Laptop, Chromebook, Tablet, Smartphone?).
I'm assuming that the Chrome browser isn't syncronised? (If it was then most of that stuff would have come back anyway after cleaning).
Where were  the photos/videos saved? On your device or in cloud storage?
In CCleaner did you use Health Check or Custom Clean? Did you use the registry cleaner?

CCleaner is meant to clear junk like your browser history and cookies, that's not an accident it's what it's for.

It should not (and doesn't) delete your bookmarks, but it will clear your currently open tabs and logins if you tell it to clear the browser 'session'.

It does not delete photos, videos, or other files unless you very specifically tell it to do so.
However if they are in cloud storage then it might have removed the links to them depending on just what you cleared. If that is what has happened then they are still there in the cloud and you should be able to restrore those links.

Game saves will depend on just how and where they were saved, and just what you cleaned.

PS. Recuva is probably not going to help you much here.
It can recover files that have been deleted from your machine, so if the photos/videos were deleted from there it could get them back.
But if they are in the cloud then they weren't on your machine, so they are still in the cloud.

Whilst Recuva can recover the files with the browser history, etc.  you'd need to know just which files those were and then where to put them back, there will be multiple copies/versions of those files recovered from different dates so you'd also need to know just which one of each to put back.
 

 

[PICPro]

On 14/03/2023 at 16:33, Leekay32 said:

... as well as other files such as my photos, videos, etc. ...

Were these files in the downloads folder? i.e. C:\Users\(username)\Downloads?  Did you check any options under "Windows Downloads" in Custom Clean?

CCleaner versions starting with 6.06 have this section:

which selectively removes files from this folder.  Personally, I think this is a terrible addition to ccleaner because for many people the downloads folder is long term file storage and this will remove these files.  If file overwriting is turned on, then the files won't be recoverable either.  Obviously one should always do an "analyze" first and check if there is any actions listed that aren't desirable.  Still this section is rather dangerous.  A stray mouse click could accidentally enable one of the line items and the next "Run Cleaner" click would immediately remove those files which aren't temporary or privacy related files.  Most of the other things CCleaner removes aren't a big deal if lost, but this section directly removes a user's data files.

 

 

[Leekay32]

On 15/03/2023 at 08:26, nukecad said:

We'll need to know some more details to be able to help, to start with:

What operating system are you using? (Windows, Mac, Android, Chrome OS?).
What kind of device is it? (PC, Laptop, Chromebook, Tablet, Smartphone?).
I'm assuming that the Chrome browser isn't syncronised? (If it was then most of that stuff would have come back anyway after cleaning).
Where were  the photos/videos saved? On your device or in cloud storage?
In CCleaner did you use Health Check or Custom Clean? Did you use the registry cleaner?

CCleaner is meant to clear junk like your browser history and cookies, that's not an accident it's what it's for.

It should not (and doesn't) delete your bookmarks, but it will clear your currently open tabs and logins if you tell it to clear the browser 'session'.

It does not delete photos, videos, or other files unless you very specifically tell it to do so.
However if they are in cloud storage then it might have removed the links to them depending on just what you cleared. If that is what has happened then they are still there in the cloud and you should be able to restrore those links.

Game saves will depend on just how and where they were saved, and just what you cleaned.

PS. Recuva is probably not going to help you much here.
It can recover files that have been deleted from your machine, so if the photos/videos were deleted from there it could get them back.
But if they are in the cloud then they weren't on your machine, so they are still in the cloud.

Whilst Recuva can recover the files with the browser history, etc.  you'd need to know just which files those were and then where to put them back, there will be multiple copies/versions of those files recovered from different dates so you'd also need to know just which one of each to put back.
 

 

I was using Windows, it was a laptop, it was synchronised, on my device I think I found my photos/videos now, probably Health Check I'm not sure but it did not delete most of my bookmarks from the bar but I'm not certain if it did delete the ones from the hidden bookmarks because I did recall storing some there.

Edited March 20, 2023 by Leekay32
About the browser history its okay I dont need it now but thx anyway

[nukecad]

1 hour ago, Leekay32 said:

...  I found my photos/videos now, ...  it did not delete most of my bookmarks from the bar but I'm not certain if it did delete the ones from the hidden bookmarks

Good to hear you found your  photos/videos again.

It sounds to me that you had cleared the browser 'Session' using Custom Clean and so it closed open tabs, current logins, and open links.
To prevent that happening in future untick 'Session' for that browser so that it doesn't get cleaned.
Reopening the tabs, logging back into the sites, or the syncing, would restore the links.

CCleaner wouldn't (shouldn't) touch your current bookmarks, not even the hidden ones.
It will clear 'Bookmark Backups' if that is selected (ticked) in Custom Clean - but those are backup files and not your current bookmarks.