How to Find a Lost Folder in Windows 10 | 8 Useful Ways

How do I recover a lost folder in Windows 10?

Plenty of users have found that files on Windows 10 have disappeared without being deleted? Based on user feedback, we have summarized several reasons that can easily cause file loss: files are deleted carelessly, files are hidden, file location attributes are modified due to Windows system updates, and so on.

The loss of important files can have a huge impact on life or work. Below, we outline 8 methods that can help you get back lost folders and files on Windows 10.

How to find a lost folder in Windows 10

If you are also in a file loss situation, read the following content to see how to find a missing folder in Windows 10 simply.

Tip 1. Check your user account

If you lost files due to a Windows update, please check if you are logged in with the correct account. This is because, after a system update, Windows may log in with a temporary account, causing some old files not to be accessed.

You can switch to your old account with the following steps:

Step 1. Click on the Windows Start button and right-click on the account name icon (or picture).

Step 2. Select your old account and log in to it.

Tip 2. Check the user folder

There is also a possibility that the file location has been modified due to the Windows update. Most users who lost files found the missing folders and files are in the user folder. So, head to the two paths below to see if you can find your lost data.

Navigate to This PC > Local Disk (C) > Users > User Name > Documents or This PC > Local Disk (C) > Users > Public and check if your disappeared folders are here.

Tip 3. Show hidden files and folders

Files being set to a hidden state is a common cause of file loss on Windows. In this instance, you can find out how to find lost folders in Windows 10 with the following tutorial.

Step 1. Tap the Start button, select Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization.

Step 2. Click the Show hidden files and folders button under File Explorer Options.

Step 3. Select Show hidden files, folders, and drives in the drop-down menu of Hidden files and folders. And then, uncheck the Hide protected operating system files box as well.

Tip 4. Search for your computer

Your files and folders disappeared on Windows 10, probably because you accidentally put them into another folder. In this case, you can find them by searching for the name of your folders directly on your computer. How to retrieve lost folders in Windows 10 from the search box? Here are detailed instructions:

Input the name of your lost folder in the Search box (next to the Start button). The search results will be displayed in the list.

Tip 5. Check hard drive

Another cause of file loss is file system corruption on the hard drive. How to find a lost folder from a corrupted hard drive on Windows 10? You can check the hard drive and fix file system errors with the guide beneath.

Step 1. Click the This PC icon on the desktop.

Step 2. Right-click the location that needs to be scanned and choose the Properties option.

Step 3. Go to Tools, hit Check, and click Scan drive for error checking.

It will fix file system errors during the scan process. You can reboot your computer after the scan is complete and check if the lost folders get back.

Tip 6. Modify indexing options

Starting with Windows 7, Windows systems use indexing to help users locate data they need more quickly. If you can't find a missing file on your hard drive, modifying the indexing options may help you troubleshoot this issue.

Step 1. Type “Indexing Options” in the search box and click on it. Then, click on Advanced.

Step 2. In the Advanced Options window, click the Rebuild button.

Recommended Ways to Recover deleted folders on Windows

If you cannot find lost folders with the foregoing methods, your files may have been deleted by mistake. How to find deleted items on Windows 10? For deleted files, you can first try to restore them from Recycle Bin. If unfortunately, Recycle Bin is emptied, don't worry, the following two methods can help you retrieve deleted files in Windows 10.

Tip 1. Restore lost folders from a backup

Restoring backups is an easy way to recover files that have been deleted accidentally. Whether you back up your files through the features that come with your computer or use other tools to create backups of your computer files, as long as you made a backup before the files were lost, you can find the corresponding data through the backup.

We will take File History as an example to illustrate the specific steps to recover deleted files and folders here:

Step 1. Click on Control Panel > System and Security > File History in turn.

Step 2. Make sure the File History is turned on and pick Restore personal files.

Step 3. Select the folders you need to recover and click on the left arrow or right arrow to choose the right backup version.

Step 4. Hit the Restore button to begin data restoration.

Tip 2. Recover deleted folders using a data recovery tool

How to get deleted files in Windows 10 without backup? A simple and easy solution is to employ professional data recovery software.

MyRecover is a multi-purpose data recovery tool designed to help users safely recover files after formatting, accidental deletion, operating system crash, virus attack, partition loss, and other various data loss situations.

Some powerful features of MyRecover:
★ High recovery rate: It allows you to rescue data at a high success rate and a very fast speed.
★ Wide compatibility: It is compatible with NTFS/FAT32/exFAT/ReFS on Windows 11/10/8/7 and Windows Server.
★ Support recovery of hundreds of file types: It offers to recover documents, videos, graphics, emails, and so forth with ease.
★ Supports multiple storage devices: It provides data recovery from PC/laptop, external hard drive, USB flash drive, SD card, etc.

To find a lost folder in Windows 10 with this tool:

Step 1. Install and launch MyRecover. Hover the mouse over the drive saved deleted files before, and click Scan to scan.

Step 2. The Windows data recovery software will start scanning all lost files on the disk.

Step 3. Preview these lost folders and files, then select the ones that you intend to recover and tap Recover x files. After that, choose a new location to save the data.

Wrapping things up

Here we have provided 8 ways about how to find a lost folder in Windows 10. The first six methods are applicable when the folder is not removed from your computer. If the file is deleted and you don't have a backup of it, using the third-party tool MyRecover can help you get back the lost data easily and quickly.