If you have updated Windows recently and noticed that the Recycle Bin confirmation prompt shows a strange, garbled filename when you try to delete something, you have not imagined it — Microsoft has confirmed this is a real bug introduced by the June 2026 security updates. Instead of showing the real name of the file you want to delete (like “family photo.jpg”), the dialog may display an internal reference such as “$R4A2F3B.jpg.”
The good news: this is entirely a display problem. Your computer is deleting the correct file, and the Recycle Bin restore function still shows your real filenames. No data is lost or corrupted. Microsoft has confirmed engineers are working on a fix that will arrive in a future update. In the meantime, there is no public self-service workaround — business customers can contact Microsoft Support for a temporary fix.
How to check if you’re affected
Affected versions include Windows 10 (version 22H2 and all LTSC editions), Windows 11 (versions 23H2, 24H2, 25H2, and 26H1), and Windows Server 2012 R2 through Windows Server 2025 — essentially every supported Windows release that received the June 2026 cumulative update.
To confirm the bug: right-click any file, choose “Delete,” and look at the filename shown in the confirmation prompt. If it starts with “$R” followed by random letters and numbers, your system is affected. You can safely continue using the Recycle Bin as normal — just trust that the file shown is the one you selected, even if the name looks unfamiliar.