How To Fix Folder is Empty Error on Windows 11/10

Think of a situation when you have moved all your files from a folder drive to another location or another storage medium. But, as soon as you check your folder, it is still showing as if there are files in there. In simple words, your folder shows empty but still files are there, or at least it looks that way. This situation can be quite maddening because now consider the following scenarios –

• You were delighted that your folder is empty and you could possibly delete it but as soon as you checked the storage space, it showed that there were some files in there
• You are confused and are left thinking if you have accidentally forgotten some files in the folder or have probably hidden them

How To Fix “Folder Is Empty” Problem on Windows 11/10 Computer

1. Unhide The Files In File Explorer

Just because your folder is showing empty, it could be that you have hidden files in it. So, here you can use the unhide functionality in your File Explorer and look for any hidden files –

1. Open your File Explorer

2. Click on the View tab

3. Click on Show 

4. Click on Hidden Items 

2. Run The Attrib Command

Despite unhiding files in the file explorer, if you are still facing issues,i.e. Folder is empty yet the storage space of that folder is filled, the next course of action that you can take is to use the Attrib command in your Windows Command Prompt – 

1. In the search bar type cmd 

2. Select Run as administrator from the right-hand side

3. When the Command Prompt window opens, type – 

attrib -h -r -s /s /d g:\*.*

4. Press Enter

5. Now, head to the folder where you suspect there might be hidden files 

6. Hit the refresh button and check if there are any files that are showing up

3. Try A Different Port

Sometimes the “folder is empty” issue may surface when you are trying to transfer files from a folder on one of your drives to an external hard drive or USB flash drive, and vice-versa. Here the issue could be that the port your USB device is connected to is faulty. In such an event, you can switch the USB port. This means you can unplug your USB from the faulty port and plug it into another port. Now, conduct the file transfer and check your folder is empty in the right sense i.e. there are no files and folders left inside it. If that’s the case, you can rest assured that the transfer was successful. 

4. Check Your Drive For Error

If the folder in your drive looks empty but on the outside when you see it filled, there are high chances that the drive in which it is kept has errors. So, here are the steps to check your drive for errors – 

1. Open your File Explorer

2. Locate the partition where the problematic folder is empty on the inside whereas it shows filled storage 

3. Right-click on it, select Properties 

4. Click on the Tools tab 

5. Under Error-checking click on Check 

Wrapping Up

We hope that you have been able to resolve the “Folder is empty” problem on your Windows 11/10 PC. If you have, which of the above workarounds helped you fix the issue, do let us know in the comment section. In case there is an even more effective way to deal with the issue, do let us know that too. For more such content, keep reading WeTheGeek.