Bitdefender Removed a File by Mistake – How to Recover It?
Tags: beginners, tutorial, testing, security
Published: 2022-03-06 13:38:47

Let’s review main products by Bitdefender and methods to recover files deleted by this antivirus. How to restore files that the antivirus placed into the quarantine by mistake.

## Introduction
The algorithm inside every Bitdefender product is set up to ensure timely detection of security threats and elimination of issues by isolating infected files or removing infected elements under certain conditions (for example, a suspicious file cannot be cured, is large enough, its actions do not comply with security settings etc). If the removed file contained important data or was the only copy, and was then removed by an antivirus program, it becomes an urgent task to find a solution and restore it. Below, we will describe main products by Bitdefender and find out how to restore files deleted by the antivirus.

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## Recover Files Deleted by Bitdefender Antivirus

Any antivirus software is meant to protect a computing device and its data from harmful effects of malware and hidden virus attacks. Antivirus developers work to improve their products, extend their functionality by implementing ways to detect threats and prevent malware infiltration, and to find infected elements for curing.

Bitdefender always strives to ensure complete security for its users. Sometimes, after real-time system scan, some files and documents which the antivirus believes can be suspicious will be removed from the computer without showing you an additional notification, just to exclude any threats. However, it can make a user’s if more difficult.

Especially because it is a widespread case. Bitdefender experts explain that the antivirus may remove an infected or potentially dangerous file automatically, if it can’t be cured. So now you know why some files get removed without asking you for permission. At the same time, some files may contain important data and be the only copy, so bringing them back becomes an urgent matter. Fortunately, files removed by Bitdefender are not erased forever and can be restored. In this article, we will tell you about locating and restoring documents deleted by an antivirus program.

## Recover Deleted Files from the Quarantine of the Bitdefender Antivirus

Antivirus products by Bitdefender, a leading cybersecurity company, feature a protected storage for dangerous and suspicious files, the Quarantine. While scanning the computer and looking for suspicious files, the antivirus uses advanced threat identification algorithms to find unwanted files and put them to a protected storage where they are no longer harmful as they can’t be either run or read. Yet sometimes the antivirus fails to determine the threat level correctly for potentially dangerous files and removes harmless files by mistake – that is, it allows malfunction for the sake of preventing possible virus infestation. Mostly, suspicious files get deleted because of wrong programming practices included into some applications. The antivirus can malfunction if applications modify the master boot record, add startup registry entries, modify system files with the system administrator’s approval, run a user’s macros in office apps etc.

That is why, if you can’t find your files in their proper location after scanning the computer with the Bitdefender antivirus, the first place to look for them is the program’s Quarantine folder. To access the program’s protected storage, take a few steps.

Step 1. Open the Bitdefender window in any way you prefer, for example, by clicking on the Taskbar in the lower right corner of the desktop to show hidden icons, and click on the icon of the corresponding app.

![Image description](https://hetmanrecovery.com/pic/blog/a128/bitdefender-02.png)

Step 2. In the left-side panel of the antivirus, find the main menu. Select Protection, by clicking on it.

![Image description](https://hetmanrecovery.com/pic/blog/a128/bitdefender-03.png)

Step 3. On the right, you will see tabs for managing enabled protection features. Find the tab Antivirus and choose Quarantine from the list.

![Image description](https://hetmanrecovery.com/pic/blog/a128/bitdefender-04.png)

Step 4. The new Quarantine window will list all threats moved to the protected storage after scanning the computer. Select the necessary files and click Restore below.

![Image description](https://hetmanrecovery.com/pic/blog/a128/bitdefender-05.png)

The files will be restored automatically to their original location, and excluded from further scanning. If you don’t see a notification about exclusion, change the settings for Quarantine by clicking on the link View Settings, and configure the Quarantine Settings as you need.

![Image description](https://hetmanrecovery.com/pic/blog/a128/bitdefender-06.png)

If there are any files or folders that you trust completely, you can exclude them from the obligatory scan list by following this sequence of steps.

Step 1. In the antivirus window, switch to Protection, find the tab Antivirus and select Settings.

![Image description](https://hetmanrecovery.com/pic/blog/a128/bitdefender-07.png)

Step 2. In the right-side panel, switch to the tab Exceptions, and then click Add to create a list of files and folders to be excluded from the scan.

![Image description](https://hetmanrecovery.com/pic/blog/a128/bitdefender-08.png)

Step 3. In the new window, select trusted elements with the Browse button and select the required exclusion level by checking the preferred option, and then click Add to finish the procedure.

![Image description](https://hetmanrecovery.com/pic/blog/a128/bitdefender-09.png)

Restore Deleted Files with a Third-Party File Recovery Program
As we mentioned before, during an automatic system scan, as well as when downloading or moving files from removable devices or remotely over the network, Bitdefender may remove an infected or suspicious file immediately if there is no way to cure it. Also, the antivirus using progressive heuristic algorithms to identify possible threats may detect some elements as being potentially dangerous, or suspicious, and remove them by force.

If you open the quarantine and you can’t find the file removed by the antivirus and bring it back, your next step should be using specialized file recovery software.

At the moment, there are lots of programs capable of recovering files deleted or lost for a variety of reasons. Naturally, their functionality differs in many ways. By the percentage of successfully recovered deleted files and the number of supported formats, the leading position among rivals belongs to [Hetman Partition Recovery](https://hetmanrecovery.com/hard_drive_recovery/software-3.htm), the flagship product by Hetman Software.