HOWTO: How to Retrieve Deleted Files in Visual SourceSafe

When you delete a file from a project in Visual SourceSafe, a dialog box appears that gives you the option of either deleting the file or destroying it permanently.

If you choose to merely delete the file, the file will be removed from the view in the SourceSafe explorer, but the file and all of its history will still exist in the SourceSafe database. This gives you the option of recovering the file at a later time.

If you elect to destroy a file, the file will not only be removed from the SourceSafe explorer view, but it will be gone from the SourceSafe database as well. A file that has been destroyed cannot be recovered.

Steps to Retrieve Deleted (Not Destroyed) Files in the Visual SourceSafe Explorer

1. In the Visual SourceSafe Explorer, select the project folder that contained the deleted file.
2. Click Show Properties, and then select the Deleted Items tab.
3. Select the deleted files and click Recover.

To Retrieve Deleted (Not Destroyed) Files from the Command Line

• Use the SS RECOVER command on the parent project of the deleted file.