If you delete a file on say a computer or a phone where does it go? Especially when it isn’t connected to an internet source.

Question

If you delete a file on say a computer or a phone where does it go? Especially when it isn’t connected to an internet source.

In: Technology

Answer 1

It doesn’t “go” anywhere. When you delete a file, the operating system merely marks the memory space as available for writing again and clears out the file’s entry in what files it knows about. The file is technically still there, just the operating system no longer recognizes it. As you continue use the device, programs are free to overwrite the space previously used by the file.