Lost TF2 map files from uninstalling

[Ianfran]

I was doing some movement of moving games to another hard drive (and TF2 was one of them) so I decided to uninstall and reinstall the game in the new drive (yes, I know theres a "Move Install Folder" option but I did not know this at the time being) and then my dumb brain remembered that the TF2 map that I had been working on was deleted and there were no TF2 files left on the steamapps/common folder.
I've been working on the map for like an year now and I really don't want to start over so please, is there any way of recovering the TF2 map files? I've even tried scanning with Recuva, but I got no results.
So please, I need help out here.

 

[Jabba]

If you have 0 backups I'm afraid it's gone.

 

[Izotope]

With no backups it's gone.
And this is why you save your maps outside the TF directory.

 

[MaartenS11]

If autosave was enabled there might be a slight possibility of them still existing in "C:\HammerAutosave" but then again this might also get deleted if you were using tf2's hammer and uninstalled tf2. It's worth a try I guess.

 

[Da Spud Lord]

If you uploaded/shared the BSP file anywhere, it's possible to decompile it into an editable VMF. But if the files never existed anywhere outside your TF2 installation, then there's not much that can be done.

If you're really savvy, you could try one of those software kits that can recover deleted files (which is possible because computers don't actually erase the files, just puts a mark next to them saying "this space is no longer being used"). I can't say how successful this might be, though.

Always store your TF2 mapping files outside your TF2 installation. Cloud storage services are best, since you'll still have the files even if you lose your whole PC.