Learn Practical Ways to Recover Missing Files on Windows 10

Part 1: Files Are Missing or Disappeared on Windows 10

Have you ever suddenly lost important files on Windows 10 without knowing the exact reasons? You may have started the computer and opened a hard drive or a folder in order to access certain files, only to find they have disappeared. Many other users suffer from this problem and they don’t know how to recover missing files on Windows 10.

I am running Windows 10 Home on an Acer Aspire laptop. I have customized all my file icons for easy access. This morning when switching on I noticed I have the standard Windows folders, when going into my icons folder I find it empty, I also have 4 spreadsheets using Libre Office, they are all missing, just an empty folder. Can anybody help me recover my lost files and icons? – conrailtenforums.com

When you are in such a situation, please keep calm. The good news is that Windows 10 file recovery is not a difficult task.

So, are you ready to find missing files on Windows 10 and master the skills of making files appear again on Windows 10? Please roll up your sleeves and follow the tutorials given below.

Part 2: How Do You Recover Missing Files on Windows 10

Have no background knowledge of Windows file recovery? Never had experience with missing file recovery? These are not problems you need to worry about when using MiniTool Power Data Recovery. This software offers clear instructions and a clean data recovery environment, which makes the data recovery process user-friendly and safe.

The free file recovery software fits all Windows systems. It is not only able to recover deleted files due to partition loss/damage but also powerful in external hard drive recovery, corrupted CF card recovery, and more.

Keep reading and follow the steps below to perform Windows 10 file recovery.

Use MiniTool Power Data Recovery to Recover Your Deleted Files

Step 1: Download and install MiniTool Power Data Recovery on your computer.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 2: Launch the software to enter the main interface. There are two sections: Logical Drives and Devices.

In the Logical Drives tab, you will find all the partitions on your computer, including the connected removable devices’ partitions. You can select the connected devices by switching to the Devices tab.

Here, you can choose a partition that contains your missing files under the Logical Drives tab, then click Scan.

Step 3: The software will start scanning. You can browse the found files during the scanning process, but you’re not suggested to interrupt the process for the best data recovery result.

step 4: After the process completes, you can look through the file list to find the wanted files. Since there might be numerous files on the result page, you can use the Filter and Type feature to filter out unwanted files and apply the Search function to quickly locate one file by inputting its name into the search box (both the part and full name are OK).

When finding the target file, click on the Preview button to check whether it is the one you need. Pictures, documents, videos, and audio are all supported to be previewed.

Step 5: Tickle all the files you need to recover and click on the Save button. In the prompt window, you need to choose a proper storage path to save these files and click OK to confirm.

This is how to recover missing files on Windows 10 by using MiniTool Power Data Recovery. Here are some other methods for you to find missing files on Windows 10.

Part 3: Why do Files Disappear on Windows & How to Fix

Sometimes, files and folders disappearing from Windows 10 are not caused by mistaken deletion, formatting, or other obvious wrong operations. So, today, I am going to unveil other unusual reasons why files and folders disappear on Windows 10 and the corresponding tips to fix this.

Reason 1: User Account Is Changed

There’s a situation in which files and folders are disappeared after you have upgraded your OS to Windows 10. During the upgrading process, Windows 10 may create a new account for you and set it as the default one. Your old account still remains, but you are not logging in with it after the upgrade; thus, you can’t find files stored in the old account. You can switch accounts to find the missing files.

step 1: Click on the Windows icon at the left corner of the screen.

step 2: Click on the user profile and choose Sign out from the drop-down menu.

step 3: You’ll be driven to the login screen. Now, you can choose the right account to log into.

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Reason 2: Bad Logical Sectors on Drive

There are also cases when files and folders are missing because the drive has been corrupted. In this way, those files become invisible to you. In order to see them again, you should check your disk.

Step 1: Press Win + E to open File Explorer.

Step 2: Select This PC on the left pane, then right-click on the target drive that contains your missing files.

step 3: Choose Properties from the context menu.

step 4: Switch to the Tools tab and click on the Check button under the Error checking section.

Step 5: Click on Scan drive in the prompt window to check the drive.

You can also run the CHKDSK command in Command Prompt to check the disk for errors.

Reason 3: Files and Folders Are Hidden

Your missing files and folders could be hidden somewhere on your computer occasionally. At this time, you ought to show hidden files and foldersto make them visible again.

Step 1: Press Win + E to open File Explorer.

Step 2: Click on the View tab on the top toolbar, then check Hidden items.

After this, you can check whether your files appear or not.

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Reason 4: Files Have Been Moved to another Place

If you find certain files are gone from the original location after you’ve finished Windows 10 upgrade. Don’t be anxious. They may not disappear from your computer. In most cases, they are only moved to another location on the hard drive. Follow the next steps to check where your files are moved to.

Situation 1:

Step 1: Click on the folder icon on the taskbar to open File Explorer.

Step 2: Choose Local Disk (C:) on the left sidebar.

Step 3: You can choose to navigate to Users > username > Documents or go to Users > Public to find your files.

Situation 2:

Step 1: Press Win + S and type %Temp% into the search box.

Step 2: Hit Enter to open the Temp folder which stores temporary files, cache, unsaved data, etc.

Then, you can look through the file list to find your wanted files.

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Reason 5: Hard Drive Letters Get Changed

After you have finished upgrading your OS to Windows 10, you also probably run into this problem – the letters of drives are changed somehow. Thus, you need to check other partitions thoroughly when you can’t find some files and folders in the partition you think they should be located. After that, you can change the drive letter to its original one as you like.

Reason 6: Fast Startup Causes File Missing

Fast startup is responsible for the disappearance of files and folders on Windows 10 sometimes. Taking this into consideration, you can turn off Fast Startup to try to fix the issue.

Step 1: Press Win + I to open Windows Settings.

Step 2: Go to System > Power & sleep, then click Additional power settings from the right pane.

Step 3: Select Choose what the power button does in the left sidebar.

Step 4: Click Change settings that are currently unavailable to modify the Shutdown settings.

Step 5: Uncheck Turn on fast startup (recommended), then click on Save changes.

Reason 7: Indexing Options Needs to Be Changed

Windows Search Indexer runs in the background of your Windows to provide a quick response for your search. When you find random files and folders missing on your Win10, you can try changing the Indexing Options to help.

Step 1: Press Win + S and type Indexing Options into the search bar.

Step 2: Press Enter to open the window.

Step 3: Click on the Advanced button at the bottom, then click Rebuild in the Troubleshooting section.

Step 4: Click OK to confirm.

That’s all I want to share with you in terms of missing data recovery on Windows 10.

Part 4: Conclusion

No matter whether you are newly updated to Windows 10 or have using it for a long time, it is possible to find files disappearing from your computer suddenly. In this case, the first thing is to recover missing files on Windows 10. You can try professional data recovery software, like MiniTool Power Data Recovery, or work with the methods mentioned in Part 3 to find files if they are not actually deleted by Windows.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Welcome to share your problem with our software via [email protected]. Hope you can find the missing files successfully.

Recover Missing Files on Windows 10 FAQ