Windows 10 got a new update recently, named as Windows 10 April Update. It has surely brought a lot of changes and improvements to the OS. Moreover, a few new features have also been added to Windows 10. Many features such as Timeline, Quick Pair and more have been added with the update. Moreover, Cortana has got some enhancements as well. People wait for the updates to experience improvement and use new features. However, sometimes updates could cause you a trouble as well. Which is what happened this time. Well! In short, files went missing after Windows 10 update. Let us look at why it happened and how to get back your missing files.
WHY DID FILES GO MISSING AFTER WINDOWS 10 UPDATE?
Most of the users might want to know why their files went missing. As this Windows update consists of a lot of changes. Therefore, the location of some folders and files stored in Documents, Downloads and other might get changed or worse, you might lose the data following the update.
After updating to Windows 10 April Update, many users reported that their files got deleted. If unfortunately, you are one of them, don’t panic! As we can help you get them back.
In this post, we have mentioned some of the probable ways to get your deleted files back.
You could try to get the files back by searching them in the below locations:
- Recycle Bin
- User Account Directory or Folder
- Restore Files By Using File History
- Use Windows Backup To Restore Your System
- Go Back To Windows 10 Previous Update
5 Ways To Recover Lost Files After Windows 10 Upgrade
1. Recycle Bin: The First Place to Look
Whenever a file is deleted, the first place to look at, on your Windows is Recycle Bin. If you don’t find your files in the bin then proceed further.
2. User Account Directory or Folder
After the update on your Windows 10, users have experienced that they lost files from their folders which come under ‘THIS PC’ such as Documents, Downloads, and Pictures. If you have lost files after the update, you can look for them under user account folder in Local disk C.
- To locate the lost files, go to This PC and then Local Disk C.
- Navigate to Users and click on it and then open UserName folder and search for the files that are missing.
Most of the users can get the files at this location. You can copy those to any other location that you find comfortable. If you don’t find your files there, proceed to the next step.
Also Read: How to Recover Permanently Deleted Files in Windows 10
3. Restore Files by Using File History
You can follow this step if File History Backup settings are enabled on your Windows 10 before updating it to the latest version. If the settings were enabled, you can get back the files by using below steps:
- Press Windows + Q and type File History in the search bar.
- Click ‘Restore Your Files With File History’.
- If you know the file name, type the name of the file in the search box or scroll to find the files’ & folders’ different version.
- Select all the files and folders and click Restore to restore them to their original location.
- If you want to save the files to a different location, then right-click Restore button.
4. Use Windows Backup to Restore Your Windows 10
If you have a habit of creating regular Windows backup, then it would help to get your missing or deleted files back. If you have a backup, then follow these steps:
- Click Start then look for Settings.
- Once you get to Settings window, click Update & Security.
- Now click Backup, then choose ‘Go to Backup & Restore’.
- Click Restore my Files and follow the onscreen instructions to get back your files.
Also Read: How To Recover Deleted Images From WhatsApp
5. Go Back To Windows 10 Previous Update
To get back your files after Windows 10 updates, you can roll back to the previous update. To uninstall the update, follow the steps:
Note: It is not sure that you will be able to recover your files, but it is worth a shot.
- Locate and press Windows button on the keyboard & then go to Settings (gear icon).
- Click Update & Security.
- Click Windows Update Settings and then click View Update History.
- Go to View Update History window and Click Uninstall updates.
- You will get a window, select Windows update after which you noticed that you lost your files.
- Now restart your PC and go to the location from where you have noticed that the files are missing.
Note: On the Update & Security settings windows, look for Recovery and look for ‘Go back to earlier build’ then click on Get Started button.
After following these steps, you don’t get your files then you need a recovery tool. One of the best tools for this is, Advanced Disk Recovery. The tool will help you recover your lost files easy peasy. It is very easy to use the software as it has a simple interface. All you need to do is select to scan entire PC or a drive where you want the software to search for the lost files. After a quick scan, you will see your recently deleted files and you can get them by right-clicking on them, irrespective of file format.
Download Here-
So, these are ways to recover your missing files, try them to get back your files. However, if you would back up your data on regular basis, it could be a lot easier for you to access your lost data. You can always take help from third party Advanced Disk Recovery.