Windows 10: Files in DownloadS folder disappeared, and that storage is still being taken up

So I cleaning out my very extensive Downloads folder. I was selecting files and folders that I wanted to keep and moved them to another folder on C:\ drive. I went back to the downloads folder to continue selecting stuff I wanted to keep. Literally everything left in there was gone. It said, “Downloads is empty”. Now I was planning on deleting most of the stiuff in there anyway and thought eh it’s whatever. Then I checked to see if the space the downloads folder was using, which was significant, something like 100-120Gb, had not been freed up. All the stuff that disappeared did not show up i

:)

 

Downloaded files disappear


When you download a file through any browser, there's an option somewhere to 'Open Containing Folder.'

In Windows, to find a file you have downloaded...

1. Open your personal folder by clicking the Start button and then clicking your user name at the top of the Start menu's right pane.
   
2. Double-click one of the following folders:
   
   • Downloads
     
   • Documents
     
   • Pictures
     
   • Videos
     
   • Music

If you do not see the file you are looking for, but know its file name, you can search for it by following these steps:
To search for a file you have downloaded...

1. Click the Start button
   
2. Type all or part of the file name into the Search box.
   The file you are looking for will appear in the list of results.

 

Disappearing folder

I've encountered a strange problem in windows 10 where I tried to delete a file in a folder, but ended up deleting the whole directory. It did so without the usual pop-up to confirm delete or say it was too big for the recycle bin. It was my Videos folder, so pretty big, but the disk allocation has also remained the same.

I've always had a problem with 'double icons' for the different user folders, including videos, and so I'm thinking it could have something to do with the whole thing, especially as now one of the two video folders has disappeared from the users folders.

The first thing i tried was 'Undo delete', but it just bought the folder back with non of the contents. Then, I went straight to Recuva, but it came up blank (there must have been over 50 videos in the folder)

I'm at a little bit of a loss as where to start looking for this disappeared folder and was hoping someone might have some suggestions?

Screenshots below:

 

Storage taken by a cancelled download

Hello Andrew Browne1，



Welcome to the Microsoft Community！



I understand that you are having trouble downloading but finding that your storage space is still occupied.



If you have cancelled the download but find that the storage space is still occupied, it may be because temporary files or cache files were created during the download process, but these files were not cleaned up properly. You can refer to the following steps that may help improve your situation:

1. If the files are hidden, you may not be able to see them directly in File Explorer. In File Explorer, check the item View-Show-Shadow, and then search to see if there are any temporary files or folders related to Ark Survival Ascended.

2. I suggest you go into Safe mode. We can use this to isolate the problem as Safe Mode enables a minimal number of additional services or apps to rule out issues caused by personalized settings and third-party apps.

Visit Safe mode to view the specific steps. Please follow these in order and report back what you discovered.

Please follow the following steps based on the safe mode.



3. Enter "win + R" first, then enter "% temp%" and press enter.

Select all files and folders (press Ctrl + A), then press Delete or right-click to select "Delete" to empty the folder.



4. You can also use the Disk Cleanup Tool (cleanmgr), click the "Start" button, then type "Disk Cleanup" or "cleanmgr" in the search box and press Enter.

Select the disk to clean --- OK --- Check the items that need to be cleaned (e.g. temporary files) --- After selecting the items to clean, click the "OK" or "Clean System Files" buttons. The system will start cleaning the selected file type.



Hope this helps,please feel free to reply me if anything is unclear or if there are any further updates, thanks.



Best Regards ,

Morning | Microsoft Technical Support Community