Accidentally Deleting Over 18,000 Files with Shift+Delete: Recovering Data from a Surface SSD Using WinFR

While freeing space on my Surface Laptop Studio 2, I accidentally used Shift+Delete to permanently remove the C:\tests directory, which unexpectedly contained photographs from a trip to Switzerland. This article documents my attempts to recover the data using Microsoft’s Windows File Recovery tool in Regular and Extensive modes, while explaining SSD TRIM, recovery destinations, HDD recovery,…