Windows 10: Can't access documents folder

Hi, so about a day ago I permanently deleted stuff from my recycle bin and must not have realised that a shortcut folder to my documents was in there, so whenever i tried to access the documents folder I got something like this error message 'C:\Users\username\Documents is unavailable. If the location is on this PC, make sure the device or drive is connected or the disk is inserted, and then try again. If the location is on a network, make sure you're connected to the network or Internet, and then try again. If the location still can't be found, it might have been moved or deleted.' Eventually

:)

 

Downloads folder is the Documents folder

Hi Chris,

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

I suggest you to Restore to Default the folders and document settings and see if it helps.

Step 1:

Please follow below steps and check if it helps.

• Go to Download folder.
• Right click on the Download Folder and go to Properties.
• In Properties go to Location tab.
• In location Tab Click on Restore Default.

Step 2:

Please follow below steps and check if it helps.

• Go to Documents folder.
• Right click on the Document folder and go to Properties.
• In Properties go to Location tab.
• In location Tab Click on Restore Default.

After performing above steps change the settings as you required and check if it helps.

Hope these information helps, please get back to us for future support, we’ll be glad to assist you further.

Thank you.

 

Quick Access not searching Pictures folder

Summary, that last suggestion didn't work.

• I moved the pictures to another folder temporarily.

• Then I tried to remove the Pictures folder with option one at Add or Remove Folders from This PC in Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials. Even after rebooting, the Pictures folder remained.
• So I tried using option two. Same thing: reboot >> Pictures folder still there.

• Since there were no troubleshooting steps for this scenario, just for the heck of it, I ran through the restore steps. Copied some pictures into the Pictures folder, ran a Quick Access search and initial problem remains: Searching all of QA doesn't find any files in Pictures folder, running search on just the Pictures folder does. I want to run a global search and find matching files in any/all of the Documents, Music, Videos, and Pictures folders.

That article dates from 2015 and I'm guessing is out of date. I hope it didn't create potential future problems in my registry.

Bottom line: I'm still looking for a fix.

 

Prooblems accessing documents

Hi Jilly,

Generally, the Documents folder found under Quick access is the Documents folder built-in to Windows, and not the Documents folder in OneDrive. Since you mentioned that both This PC and OneDrive are giving you the "Location is not available." message,
do you mean to say that both Documents folders are missing from Quick access?

Based on the screenshot that you've provided, you are accessing your Documents through This PC, instead of Quick access. Have you tried pinning the Documents folder from This PC to Quick access? If not, we suggest that you do. This way, you won't need to
go through several folders to reach your files.

Here's how:

• Access the contents of of the user account that you're using, in your case, it's the
  jilly folder from This PC > OS (C >
  Users > jilly.
• Right-click on Documents, and then select Pin to Quick access.

Regarding the OneDrive folder, we suggest restoring the Documents folder from the OneDrive recycle bin so we can avoid further errors. You may refer to this
support article for steps on how to restore deleted files and folders
in OneDrive.

Is your OneDrive synced to your Windows 10 PC? If so, you can try to restore the Documents folder from
http://onedrive.live.com. Steps on how to restore deleted files and folders can be found in this
support article under the
Restore deleted items section.

Let us know how it turns out.