Summary
The desktop in Windows 10/11 is a convenient location for frequently used files and folders, but it's also prone to accidental deletion and data loss. Fortunately, it's often possible to recover these lost desktop items. The article explains how desktop files and folders are stored in a specific directory on your computer’s hard drive and provides guidance on how to recover deleted items to regain access to important data.
Table of contents
Sometimes messy but always readily accessible, the desktop in Windows 10 is a useful hub for our frequently used files and folders. However, because of how exposed it is, the desktop is far more vulnerable to accidental deletion and other causes of data loss than regular folders are. Fortunately, it’s often possible to recover deleted desktop files and folders in Windows 10. This article will guide you through the process of recovering your lost desktop files and folders, ensuring you can regain access to your important data.
All files and folders that appear on your desktop are actually stored in a special folder on your computer’s hard drive, and you can find it in this location:
C:\Users\[user name]\Desktop
Since 2024, if you activate OneDrive on your Windows system, your desktop location will be:
C:\Users\[user name]\OneDrive\Desktop\
.If you manually copy a file or folder to the Desktop location using File Explorer, then it will appear on your desktop screen. This works in reverse as well—anything you drag onto your desktop screen will be stored in this folder.
It’s important to know why your desktop files have disappeared so you can choose an appropriate fix. Here are a few common reasons why your desktop files disappeared in Windows 10 and the relevant solution for each one:
| Reason | Description | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Hidden Desktop Icons | Windows allows users to hide all desktop icons using the View option after right-clicking on the desktop. The files are not deleted, but simply hidden. | To recover hidden files on the desktop, simply right-click on the desktop, click on View > Desktop icons . All your desktop icons will now be visible. |
| Tablet Mode is Enabled | If you have a touchscreen device, enabling tablet mode may cause some icons to disappear. | Disable tablet mode in Windows 10 . |
| The Desktop Folder Location Was Changed | It’s possible for Windows 10 users and even malware to change the location of the desktop folder. When that happens by accident, | You need to restore the desktop folder location to its default setting . |
| Accidentally Deleted Files and Accidentally Deleted Desktop Folder | Users can unknowingly delete important files or the entire desktop directory. | You can restore the deleted files from the Recycle Bin , provided they were not permanently deleted. Otherwise, use a data recovery program to get back the files. Full instructions for both methods are in the next section. |
| Logical Damage to the Storage Drive | All storage devices are susceptible to logical damage due to corruption, improper usage, wear and tear, and malware. This causes files to disappear. | Use data recovery programs to recover deleted files from the desktop due to logical damage. |
| Physical Damage to the Storage Drive | Damage to the moving parts of a hard drive or noticeable physical damage to other storage media like SSDs, USB drives, etc. This could be due to shock, power surges, water, etc. | Contact a professional data recovery service. |
The recovery of desktop files and folders in Windows 10 can be straightforward, but you need to follow the right steps and begin the recovery process as soon as possible. Let’s go through three effective methods that together give you a very good chance of successful recovery.
Before you do anything else, you should restore the default location of the desktop folder. As mentioned above, the location of the desktop folder can be changed, and if it has been moved, it might affect your ability to recover files .
1. Open File Explorer and navigate to
C:/Users/
and create a new folder called Desktop .
2. Now, press Windows + R to open the Run application. Type regedit in the text box and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
3. In the Registry Editor, go to
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
4. Here, double-click the Desktop entry and change the Value data to C:\Users\[User Name]\Desktop and click OK .
Please replace
[User Name]
with your account username. For example, if your name is Joe, change the value to
C:\Users\Joe\Desktop
.
5. Close Registry Editor and your Desktop folder will be restored to its default state with only the Recycle Bin icon. You can now copy files and folders to it from the merged folder. Now that the location of the desktop folder has been restored to its default setting, you can proceed with the actual recovery of your files.
The Recycle Bin temporarily stores deleted files and folders after you delete them from the Desktop or any other folder for that matter. These files can easily be restored using the steps below:
1. Open Recycle Bin using the desktop icon or Windows Search ( Windows + S ).
2. Select the files or folders you want to restore, then right-click on them and choose Restore .
3. The selected files will be moved back to their original location. If you can’t find the deleted files in the Recycle Bin, then it’s time to move on to the next method, which can deliver results even if the missing desktop files and folders have been permanently deleted.
Data recovery software gives you the ability to locate your desktop files and folders even if they’ve been deleted from the Recycle Bin or never landed there in the first place.
Renee Undeleter is a professional data recovery tool that can help you retrieve lost or deleted files from your computer. It is a user-friendly and comprehensive tool that offers a high success rate for file recovery.
- It can recognize and recover over 400 file types. The desktop folder is often home to a varied mix of multimedia files, archives, and documents, so the ability to work with many different file formats is a must-have feature.
- Renee Undeleter lets you preview files before recovery. With the help of the preview feature, you can recover only what you really need and leave the rest behind.
- The software is intuitive, making it easy for non-technical users to recover their desktop files without confusion.
Step 1: Download, install and run Renee Undeleter on your Windows computer.
Tips: Please avoid installing the software on the disk containing the data to be recovered in order to prevent data overwriting . Also, refrain from saving new data to the same disk partition after a file is lost to avoid further damage or complete loss of the lost file.
Step 2: Select the [ Fast Partition Scan ] option in the main interface.
Data Recovery Features
Fast Partition Scan: Recovers files from accidental deletions or recycle bin clearance.
Whole Partition Scan: Restores files from inaccessible or formatted partitions.
Whole Disk Scan: Analyzes partition information for a comprehensive disk scan.
Image Creation: Generates a partition mirror image for backup purposes.
Step 3: Next, select the partition where the lost data is located, and click [ Next ] .
Step 4: Select the [ Fast Scan ] option and click the [ Next ] button to scan. The [ Fast Scan ] mode scans the initial 30GB of available space on the chosen disk. If desired files are not found, the [ Deep Scan ] mode can be used for a thorough scan of the hard disk partition , though it will require additional time.
Step 5: Wait for the scan to complete you can double-click the file to preview, then check the files that need to be recovered, and click the [ Recover ] button to recover the files to other disks.
Tips: Please select a disk without any important data when installing the software to avoid overwriting it . If the quick scan mode doesn’t find the necessary files, we suggest trying the deep scan mode for a full search. Using a professional software like Renee Undeleter can greatly increase your chances of successful file recovery. It is important to note that the longer you wait to use this method, the lower your chances of successful recovery become.
Windows has a backup feature, called Previous Versions , that lets you restore previous versions of a file or folder. You can restore these earlier versions of the folder either from the copies stored in System Restore Points or File History. Here is how you can do the same:
1. Connect the external storage drive that contains the File History backup.
2. Open the C:/Users/ / location in Windows Explorer. If your Desktop folder is located elsewhere, open the relevant location.
3. Right-click on the Desktop folder and click Properties . Click on the Previous Versions tab.
4. Select the version of the Desktop folder you want to restore and click Restore .
Files and folders may come and go from the desktop folder, but nothing truly disappears without a trace. With the right tools and know-how, you can recover your lost data in a relatively short amount of time and without much effort. So the next time you face a desktop data loss disaster, don’t panic. Take a deep breath, recall the methods we’ve discussed, and successfully turn the bad situation into an opportunity to learn something new and put the knowledge to good use.
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