Easily Fix Windows 10 Desktop Files Gone

Why did the Windows 10 desktop files gone

Before you click this post, you probably held the query about why Windows 10 desktop files disappeared and were eager to know how to recover desktop files in windows 10. Well, there is no exact answer to this problem. Many Windows users report that the case appears after the Windows 10 update. But other reasons, such as emergency PC restart, unscheduled system update, system failure or file corruption, and so on, may also result in Windows 10 desktop files gone. To troubleshoot that, it is better to grab the possible cause and adopt the appropriate method.

Part 1. Check the missing desktop files

Usually, it is recommended that check the location of files. Do they be moved or hidden? If not, where are they? Thus, we can simply guess whether they be moved or disappeared for deletion or other reasons. Now, let’s do it.

▷ Search the files from File Explore

After Windows updates, it is reported that some files probably be automatically moved to other folders on your PC instead of deleting. There are two paths for you to check the missing files.

Path 1. Click This PC > Local Disk (C) > Users > User Name > Documents

Path 2. Click This PC > Local Disk (C) > Users > Public

If the lost files are not found, you can try to use the next approach.

▷ Check whether the files are hidden or not

Most Windows system computers are configured not to show hidden files by default, but some important files, especially the operating-system-related files, are marked as hidden in case of changing, mistaken deletion, or moving. Therefore, if you find the windows 10 desktop files gone, check whether the files are hidden.

Step 1. Select “This PC” and click “View” (Marked 1 in the picture) on the top.

Step 2. Hit Options > View (Marked 3 in the picture) > Show hidden files, folders, and drives.

▷ Check the hard drive

The third potential cause of windows 10 desktop files disappeared can be hard drive damaged or corrupted. It may happen during the process of Windows 10 updating or other unknown situations. Whatever, checking the hard drive to deal with the problem should be the priority.

Step 1. Select “This PC” and right-click the drive that saves your desktop files (usually in C: drive). Then choose “Properties”

Step 2. Hit “Tools” button and select “Check”. Click “Scan drive” and then follow the instructions to repair drive errors.

Part 2. Fixes for Windows 10 desktop files gone

OK, after following the above three ways, have you successfully found the disappeared desktop files? If it is still not, there is highly possibility that the files may be deleted or corrupted when Windows 10 updates. Don’t worry about that. Here we prepare three fixes for windows 10 desktop files deleted or corrupted.

Fix 1. Use Control Panel to fix Windows 10 desktop files disappeared

Generally, Windows 10 operating system will periodically save the recovery points. So you can try to recover the files by rolling back to the previously saved state. The desktop files will be stored in the copy if the saving process works out.

Step 1. Type “Control Panel” in the search box

Step 2. Select “Recovery” in the control panel interface.

Step 3. Choose “Open system restore” and press “Next” in the pop-up window.

Step 4. Ensure the rollback to the saved point and confirm it.

Fix 2. Restore the gone files from Recycle Bin

This method is the simplest and most straightforward answer on how to recover lost desktop files Windows 10. Most deleted files are temporarily placed in Recycle Bin where you can get them back with sightly clicking. Kindly please notice that you do not choose “Empty the Recycle Bin” before permanently deleting them.

Step 1. Double-click “Recycle Bin” on your PC.

Step 2. Find the target files or search their names in Recycle Bin

Step 3. Right-click the files and choose “Restore”

Fix 3. Recover lost desktop files Windows 10 via data recovery tool

If you did not find the previously saved state in your Control Panel, or you have the good habit of regularly empty the Recycle Bin, use a data recovery tool that will suit you to solve Windows 10 desktop files deleted.

AOMEI FastRecovery is a powerful and all-in-one tool in computer management. One of its advanced features, Data Recovery, supports restoring more than 200 file types, such as TXT, DOC, JPG, PNG, MP4, MP3, ZIP, HTML, etc. What’s more, no matter whether your data suffers from formatted, logically damaged, or corrupted, it can provide effective and worry-free service for users to retrieve their data.

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.

To sum up

In this passage, the possible reasons for Windows 10 desktop files gone are shared with methods on how to recover lost desktop files windows 10. In short, using AOMEI FastRecovery can bring much convenience for you. You do not need to make out how Control Panel saving works, nor regret permanent deletion.

You can also use AOMEI products like AOMEI Partition Assistant that offers clone disk, move installed apps, allocate free space, migrate OS to SSD, etc. Not only for Windows 10 users, and its broad compatibility also supports Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7. If you are a Windows Server user, the Server Edition can also meet your demands in highly effective computer management.