Restoring deleted server files from the Trash in FTP by Zaweba

Getting back a folder you deleted from the server by mistake takes only a few clicks, as long as it went to the trash. FTP by Zaweba can send server deletes to a server-side trash, and the Trash window is where you see what is in it, restore what you need and clear out what you do not.

What the window shows

Each deleted item is listed with its original location, its size and when it was deleted. The original location is what makes restoring painless, because you do not have to remember where something lived. The time matters just as much: a group of items deleted together at 10:42 almost certainly belong to the same job, and the size tells you at a glance which entries are taking up space.

Restoring

Tick the items you want back and press Restore ticked. They return exactly where they were, under the same names, as if the delete never happened.

To help with the ticking, there are Tick all and Untick all, and an option to tick everything that was deleted at the same time as the item you have chosen. That last one is the useful one after a mistake. Find one file you recognise from the batch you regret, use it to tick everything deleted alongside it, and restore the whole lot in one go. You are much less likely to leave a stray file behind than if you picked them out one by one.

Emptying it properly

Items in the trash still sit on the server, so they still count against your hosting space. When you are confident about what is there, tick it and use Delete ticked permanently. Because that cannot be undone, the app asks you to type the number of files first, and it can download a backup before anything is removed.

Take the backup when you are not completely sure. It costs a little download time and gives you a copy on your PC of everything you are about to lose. If you never need it, delete it later.

Where it fits

The trash is one of several safety nets in FTP by Zaweba, each catching a different kind of mistake. Local deletes go to the Windows Recycle Bin. Files overwritten by Get, Put or a save go into the local version history. Disk operations such as renames, moves, trashing and permission changes appear in the operations log and can be undone as a batch. The server trash covers the one action that would otherwise be final on most hosts: removing a file from the server.

It works well with the Disk view. When you use Disk to find old backups, logs or forgotten folders taking up space, sending them to the trash first gives you a grace period. Check the site still works over the next day or two, then come back and delete permanently.

Mistakes to avoid

Do not treat the trash as storage. It is a waiting room, not an archive, and a full trash can quietly eat the space you were trying to free. Make emptying it part of any clean-up you do.

Do not restore in a hurry without reading the list. If someone else has since put a new file at the same location, think about which version you want before bringing the old one back. Comparing the two first, or downloading the current one, is the safe order.

And keep in mind that Delete Permanently, with Shift+Del, skips the trash entirely. Anything removed that way will not appear in this window at all, which is exactly why the app warns before it does it.

A trash on a web server is a simple idea, but it changes how confidently you can tidy a site. Delete what looks unneeded, see whether anything breaks, and keep the way back open until you are sure.