Learn to fix My Documents folder and Settings access denied via five useful fixes on this page. You can also recover the missing Documents folder and get relevant tips about Documents folder.
My Documents folder serves as an integral part of the user profile, offering a centralized location for storing personal data (Desktop, Start menu, favorites & specific application files). By default, this folder is included in the user’s profile and acts as a default storage location to save documents.
Obviously, the My Documents folder provides great convenience for Windows users, but some of them encounter the Documents and Settings access denied error, which can prevent users from accessing path C Documents and Settings folder and its sub-folders, hindering managing and freeing up disk space.
I’ve tried logging in as Admin and checked all my permissions. But I still can’t access this folder. So why is My Documents folder and Settings access denied? What’s more, how do I allow access to My Documents folder? Thanks.
- A user from Seven Forum
Why is your access to Documents and Settings denied? All in all, encryption protection, insufficient folder ownership, inadequate read permissions, antivirus settings, and User Account Control Settings are also responsible for denied permissions.
Please note that modifying/organizing these files could cause unintended consequences within the associated applications.
» Therefore, before proceeding with the fix for the Documents and Settings access denied error, you’re advised to make a file backup of this folder and store them in another safe place. This precautionary measure ensures the preservation of valuable data stored within the Documents folder.
According to the above factors, this part lists five fixes to fix the My Documents folder and Settings access denied. You can try them one by one.
It’s recommended to verify whether encryption protection has been applied to the folder because activated encryption protection definitely renders the Documents folder and its contents unreadable as a means of safeguarding sensitive or confidential information, particularly during transmission over the Internet.
Please refer to the following steps to cancel the encryption protection feature.
Step 1. Press Win + E to open File Explorer > right-click on the Documents folder > select Properties > click General > Advanced.
Step 2. In the Advanced Attributes interface, don’t tick “Encrypt contents to secure data” and click “OK” to save changes.
Insufficient permissions is one of the main reasons behind the Documents and Settings access denied error. To solve this problem, you need to grant the necessary permissions to this folder.
Similarly, if your desktop icons reappear after deletion, it’s also relevant to insufficient permissions.
Step 1. Right-click on the My Documents folder in File Explorer > select Properties > Security.
Step 2. Locate your username and click the “Edit” button.
Step 3. Check the Allow box next to Full Control. After clicking the “Apply” button, remember to click “OK” to close it.
Help! The above fixes can’t fix access to path C Documents and Settings denied. When lacking sufficient ownership of the Documents folder, accessing the Documents and Settings folder on Windows 10 becomes impossible. These steps describe how to regain ownership of the Documents folder.
Step 1. Right-click on your Documents folder in File Explorer> select Properties > click Security > tap Advanced.
Step 2. Click the “Change” button beside the Owner.
Step 3. In the Select Users or Groups window, type your username to replace Everyone. Then click Check Names > OK.
Step 4. Go back to the Advanced Security Settings window, and click the “Replace all child object permission entries with inheritable permission entries from this project” and “OK” buttons.
Another method to fix the Documents and Settings access denied error is to relocate its path outside of the C drive and move My Documents folder to another drive in Windows 10 computer.
» Press Win + E to open File Explorer > right-click the My Documents folder > select Properties > Location > set a new saved path according to your situation.
In some cases, your antivirus settings can prevent access to the Documents folder. Thus, you need to see if your Documents folder and Settings have been shielded with antivirus settings (Windows Virus & threat protection or other third-party antivirus software) or not.
Let’s take in-built Windows features as an example because Windows Defender could automatically delete files after turning on real-time protection.
Step 1. Press “Win + I” to open Windows Settings. Then click Update & Security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection.
Step 2. Turn off the Real-time protection.
After disabling real-time protection, please see if you can access your Documents folder and Settings or not.
If you didn’t have a chance to back up your Documents folder before resolving the issue and ended up losing data in the process, can you recover deleted or missing files stored in the Documents folder?
Or if your Documents folder missing Windows 10 or 11, what can you do to retrieve it?
In this case, seeking assistance from professional data recovery tools like MyRecover seems like your second-to-none choice because third-party tools can exempt you from essential backups and recover deleted & lost files from computer hard drives.
Download MyRecover on your Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, or Server PC to retrieve them!
Step 1. Launch MyRecover > Hover the mouse over C drive saved deleted files before, and click Scan.
Step 2. MyRecover will automatically scan your C drive and detect all the recoverable folders and files.
Filter your needed Documents folder or saved files according to Document Type, Name, Date, or Path.
Step 3. Go to the Deleted Files/Recycle Bin/Other Missing Files folder and select your desired folder or files. Then click “Recover x files” to start Windows data recovery.
My Documents folder and Settings access denied! You can get feasible ways from the above part. Besides, there’re related tips about the Documents folder and access denied.
Please open the Finder on your Mac. Then click Preferences > Sidebar > Documents to find it.
It’s possible for you to create a new Documents folder via the Registry or using CMD.
If your external hard drive access is denied , you can modify permissions, assign a drive letter, run CHKDSK, or format the inaccessible drive using AOMEI Partition Assistant.
Only regular backups are the best data loss prevention measure. If you want to protect the Documents folder, it’s highly recommended to create regular file backups using this free Windows backup software, AOMEI Backupper.