All My Pictures Disappeared From My Computer! How to Recover Them?

Why all my pictures disappeared from my computer?

There are situations where users find that their pictures have suddenly disappeared from their Windows computers. You may wonder "why did my pictures disappear from my computer?" There are several possible reasons why your pictures might have disappeared from your computer. First, accidental deletion or human error is a common cause, where images are either mistakenly deleted or moved to an unintended location. In some cases, the pictures may be hidden due to mismatched image attributes or size that doesn't align with the folder's view settings. Other reasons like improper operations, such as abrupt shutdowns or errors during file transfers, can also lead to the Windows system crashes and fails to recognize or display a damaged picture folder.

In addition to these, if the hard drive where the images are stored becomes damaged, the files may become inaccessible, and you will find all your pictures disappearing from your computer. System upgrades can sometimes result in certain files or folders appearing to be missing due to changes in the file system or user account settings. In the next section, we will share how to recover your pictures if they have disappeared from your computer on Windows computers.

How to recover lost pictures effectively?

If you want to effectively find missing pictures on your computer, you can try the 5 methods. With potential causes of pictures disappearing and solutions, it is easy to recover lost pictures. 

Method 1. Run AOMEI FastRecovery

The first and best method to recover missing pictures on your computer is to run reliable data recovery software like AOMEI FastRecovery. This powerful software help recover lost, deleted, or corrupted files on Windows PCs & Servers, no matter whether it is accidental deletion, formatting, system crashes, or virus attacks. It also can be used to restore various types of files, including pictures, documents, videos, audio, HTML, etc., when you empty the Recycle Bin or make no backup. As a powerful assistant, it can even restore files from a formatted hard drive, an external hard drive, or an SD card.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI FastRecovery. Choose the exact partition or disk where your data lost and click Scan.

Step 2. It then began to scan and look for the file.It will first do a "Quickly Scan" to quickly find your removed files. Then it will do a "Deep Scan" to look for other lost files.

Step 3. Once the scan is completed, all deleted files, recycle bins and other missing files will be displayed. Please select the file you would like to recover and then click "Recover".

Step 4. Then, select a folder path to save your recovered files.

Step 5. Wait patiently for this process of recovering ends.

Method 2. Find lost pictures from Recycle Bin

One of the possible reasons are that you pictures disappeared from your computer may be accidental deletion. How to find missing pictures on your computer?It is a good idea to check the Recycle Bin. It generally temporarily stores the deleted files, allowing you to easily recover them with a simple click. However, it's crucial not to choose the option to "Empty the Recycle Bin" beforehand. Let's go through the steps.

Step 1. Open your Windows PC and double-click on the "Recycle Bin" icon.

Step 2. Locate the pictures you accidentally deleted or search for them by their names within the Recycle Bin.

Step 3. Right-click on the pictures and select the "Restore" option.

Method 3. Recover deleted pictures by File History

What to do if you find pictures disappeared from computer? If you are used to making regular backups and have backed up your pictures through File History, or Backup and Restore, then you can manually restore them.

Step 1. Type "Restore files" in the Search icon, and then click "Open"  to restore your files with File History.

Step 2. Find the deleted pictures or the folders which contain the pictures

Step 3. Select the green refresh button to recover deleted pictures to their original places.

Method 4. Run Command Prompt to restore deleted pictures

To recover missing pictures on your computer, Command Prompt is a helpful method to tell you how to get back deleted photos. But using CMD cannot guarantee to recovery completely. Also, you need to pay attention to every following step in case of missteps that may cause data loss.

Step 1. Type Command Prompt in Search icon or Start and Run as administrator.

Step 2. Input chkdsk [drive letter]:/f and tap Enter key. Then, type Y and hit Enter to confirm and proceed to examine.

Step 3. Type in [drive letter] and hit Enter again. And then, enter attrib -h -r -s /s /d [drive letter]:\*.* to start recovering files on this disk.

Method 5. Recovering the lost pictures from Previous Versions

Another method to help you recover missing photos is by utilizing the Previous Versions feature. If a system restore point was created to save a previous version of the system, you can retrieve accidentally deleted pictures based on the copies that Windows automatically preserves as part of the restore point.

Step 1. Right-click on the folder where you initially stored the pictures before losing them and select "Restore Previous Versions".

Step 2. Choose the version you wish to recover and click the "Restore" button.

Conclusion

These are all about how to fix "All my pictures disappeared from my computer". To effectively recover lost data, it is recommended to use a professional Windows data recovery tool like AOMEI FastRecovery. It can help you easily get back lost pictures in seconds to minutes. It is 100% safe and virus-free, so you can use it without worry.