topic Re: Can a File Be Recovered After Trashcan Cleaner Purge? in Alfresco Forum

Can a File Be Recovered After Trashcan Cleaner Purge?

altaf261089 — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 08:32:54 GMT

Hi,

I deleted a file in Alfresco. I know its name, content, and deletion date.
The file was first in the Trashcan, but after a few days it was purged by the Trashcan Cleaner. Is it still possible to retrieve a file after it has been purged?

Should the content still exist in contentstore or contentstore.deleted?
When a file is purged, does Alfresco keep the same date-based folder structure, or does it use a different one? Thanks for your help.

Re: Can a File Be Recovered After Trashcan Cleaner Purge?

roberto_gamiz — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 09:57:50 GMT

Hello,

It will be on contentstore or contentstore.deleted folder depending on the time elapsed since the purge .

This article is old and some things have changed (indexation engine for example), but still explain well contents deletion cycle in Alfresco.

blyx.com-understanding-alfresco-content-deletion/

contentstore.deleted keeps the same structure than contentstore, if the binary is in contentstrore.deleted, its information has been removed from database so is posible that you need to recover an old backup of database to located it.

Regards

Re: Can a File Be Recovered After Trashcan Cleaner Purge?

angelborroy — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 12:07:24 GMT

This diagram may help you understand where to find the file: https://github.com/keensoft/alfresco-deleted-content-store-cleaner

The content will be there (contentstore or contentstore.deleted) with the same date-based folder structure. The main problem is how to search for it, as it's a binary file with a "random" name. The folder date corresponds to when the file was originally uploaded, so knowing that date should help you narrow down the search.

Or if you still have a copy of the original file (or know its exact content), you can compute its hash and search for matching binaries in the contentstore folders.