I primarily use external drives (USB flash drives) and cloud storage (PCloud) for active file management and storage but unfortunately the default file delete action is a permanent delete and not a send-to-recycle bin and I have scoured the internet looking for a way to change the delete settings but they only tell you how to permanently delete files. So to prevent future disaster, is there a way to make sure I don't delete things from at least my flash drive, since I believe PCloud has a backup feature.

First post on these alternative sites so forgive any mistakes. My external hard drive (a small travel one) was enclosed in a padded hard-shell case like this one but I'm still worried. When I went on vacation, I had the hard drive in a bag that I was dragging down the (carpeted) stairs. I don't know if the protective case was intended to shock absorb something like that and had I realized sooner that the HDD was in the bag, I would've packed it away with the laptop instead.

Should I replace the drive before something happens or do those cases shock absorb?