An AI agent deleted my files. Can I get them back?

Sometimes. Check the Windows Recycle Bin first, then git (git status, git reflog) if the folder was a repository, then Windows File History or OneDrive version history. If the AI used a hard delete outside a repo with no backups, the file may be unrecoverable, which is why prevention matters more than recovery.

Can I undo commands an AI ran in my terminal?

Not directly. A terminal has no undo. You can only reverse the effects: restore files from backups or git, uninstall packages that were installed, or revert config edits by hand. Tools like Verlox add the missing undo layer by capturing anything deleted or overwritten before the command runs.

How do I stop this from happening again?

Run AI agents in an environment that plans before executing and records everything. Verlox shows a numbered, risk-scored plan you approve before anything runs, keeps deleted files in a Recovery Vault, and logs every action to a timeline so you always know what changed and how to reverse it.

guide · recovery

How to undo AI changes in your terminal

An AI agent ran commands and now files are missing or changed. Here's what to do right now to recover on Windows, in the order most likely to work, and how to make sure the next AI session is reversible by design.

Step 1: stop the agent

Before anything else, stop the AI session that caused it. An agent that's still running can keep modifying files while you're trying to recover them. Close the session or hit its stop control, then take stock of what's actually missing or changed before touching anything.

Step 2: check the Recycle Bin

If the deletion happened through Windows APIs or a well-behaved tool, the files may be in the Recycle Bin. Open it, sort by date deleted, and restore. Be aware that most terminal deletions are not this lucky: Remove-Item, rm, and del bypass the Recycle Bin entirely and delete permanently.

Step 3: if it was a git repository, git can save you

Run git status to see what changed. Deleted or modified tracked files come back with git checkout -- . or git restore . for uncommitted damage. If the agent made commits, git reflog shows every state the repository has been in, and git reset --hard <hash> returns to any of them. Untracked files (new work never committed) are not protected by git, and this is how most real losses happen.

Step 4: Windows File History and cloud versions

Right-click the folder that contained the files, then Properties, then Previous Versions. If File History or restore points cover that folder, you can pull back earlier copies. If the folder syncs to OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox, check the website's version history and deleted files view; cloud recycle bins often hold files for 30 days.

Step 5: know when it's gone

If the file was never committed, never backed up, and deleted with a hard delete, recovery software (Recuva and similar) is a long shot that gets worse every minute the disk keeps writing. This is the honest truth about terminals: they have no undo. Every recovery path above is a backup you happened to have, not a real reverse button.

Next time: make the AI reversible before it runs

The reason this page exists is that every AI terminal tool runs commands first and leaves recovery to you. Verlox was built the other way around. Before anything runs, you see a numbered plan with a risk level on every step, and nothing executes until you approve. Anything the AI would delete or overwrite is captured into a Recovery Vault first, restorable in one click, no matter which of its eleven models (or your own keys, or its offline model) did the work. And every action lands on a timeline, so "what did the AI change" always has an answer.

You can even run other AI tools inside Verlox's terminal, so the habit that protects you doesn't require giving anything up.

Never lose work to an AI again.

Verlox is free to try. See the plan before anything runs, and keep everything recoverable after.

Download for Windows

15 credits a day on the free plan. Windows today, macOS & Linux soon.

Keep reading

Verlox vs Warp Verlox vs Claude Code Warp alternatives The AI terminal for Windows