[Fixes] How Do You Find Recently Downloaded Files

How do you find recently downloaded files if the files not showing up? Here we talk about the reasons of disappearance and provide guidance on how to find downloaded files.

Posted by @Irene December 17, 2024 Updated By @Irene July 24, 2024

Scenario: How do you find recently downloaded files

 

"When I download a file on a webpage, I see that it is downloading, but when I go into my desktop, I cannot find it after it has finished the download. I know the file has been downloaded because the computer shows space has been taken up. Where do I find my downloaded files? What is the default download location for files on Windows? Is there a fix in which I can get the files to be updated in my download folder?" How do I find my downloaded files?

How to find downloaded files on computer

Have you ever encountered a problem like his? In such circumstance, how do you find recently downloaded files? Now, we will provide some methods for you to fix this problem.

Fix 1. Find downloaded files via File Explorer

When you download a file, it will locate in a default location in Windows. Usually, the Windows Download folder will store web browsers downloaded files. Therefore, if downloading is finished, you can search it via File Explore to check it.

Step 1. Open File Explorer and click “Downloads” on the left side. You can see the downloaded folders and files in the window.

Step 2. Click This PC > Local Disk (C:) > Users > UserName > Downloads” when the menu pop-up

Step 3. Select “Date modified” to classify the files in light of the date or time that you download them. Choose Descending sort, the files will list from the newest (top) to the oldest (bottom)

Step 4. Now, you can find the recently downloaded files at the top.

However, the download location may be set to restore in other places rather than to the default folder. In this case, the files could be located elsewhere. Apart from using Windows File Explore, you can also try to use the following method.

Fix 2. Find downloaded files in the Downloads folder of web browsers

Presumably, the storage path was changed, for example, the files were downloaded from browsers on Windows 10 or Windows 11 like Chrome, Firefox, or Microsoft Edge, you could first click the folder “Downloads” in the browser to find them. Here we display Chrome and Firefox as examples.

◤Google Chrome

You can see the downloaded files in the top taskbar of this webpage. Click the tiny dots ( or Menu) as the picture shows to unfold the operation lists.

Step 1. Choose “Downloads” (Or you can press the combined shortcut “Ctrl +J” to open it directly)

Step 2. Select “Open downloads folder”, you can find the recently downloaded files.

Note: If you need to change the storage path, you can click Menu > Settings > Downloads > Location > Change (on the right side of the corner).

◤Mozilla Firefox

If you download files in Mozilla Firefox, you can follow the guidance as the picture shows.

Why do I still cannot find recently downloaded files

To answer this question, we would better consider the other reasons for recently downloaded files not being found. Commonly, the downloaded files will be stored in the folders in C drive by default, while some users may not notice the storage path.

With the C drive storage space increasing, they probably delete the recently downloaded files when cleaning up other junk files. If it were not the case, system crashes, viruses, or other causes also happen to the situation, making users cannot find the recently downloaded files. In this case, you may ask, How to find a downloaded file on computer? Let’s continue to read this passage to obtain the solution.

Recover the missing downloaded files

If you encounter the above situations, retrieving them back is quite easy if you utilize a reliable tool. AOMEI FastRecovery allows users to restore deleted or lost data. The function of Recover Data can achieve retrieving lost documents, emails, movies or other over 200 types of files, including but not limited to exe, png, jpg, mov, doc, docx, xlsx, ppt, pdf, etc.

Even if you permanently delete the files, format the PC, or suffer from viruses attack. With simple operations, you can recover missing downloaded files easily.

Free DownloadWindows PCs and Servers
Secure Download

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

Step 2. Then, the recovery tool start to scan and search. lt will execute the “Quickly Scan" first for finding your deleted data fast, and then execute the “Deep Scan" for searching other lost data.

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.

To sum up

How to find downloaded files on PC? We can search for the files in File Explorer or Downloads Folder if we download them from browsers. In addition, when you cannot find recently deleted files, mistaken deletion should also be taken into consideration.

Using AOMEI FastRecovery to recover the files can be convenient. You can use AOMEI products like AOMEI Partition Assistant. It is an all-in-one tool that can also fix other issues relating to your PC, such as disk clone, MBR/GPT conversion, moving apps, etc. If you are a Windows Server user, the Server edition can also assist you to manage your device effectively.