Windows 10: Folders missing after upgrade to 1511

Hello,

Windows 10 on my PC last night upgraded itself to 1511. This morning, I noticed that when I open File Explorer that under "My PC" the folders and files in "Documents" have all disappeared.

However, the files are still there and I can retrieve individual files by searching for them by name. I can also open the entire folder structure by going a long way round, namely "C:\Windows\Users\{user name}\Documents rather than just looking under "My PC".

Other folders under "My PC" (eg, Pictures, Music, etc) are unaffected and are still visible.

As the Document folders were visible yesterday afternoon this problem must be associated with the upgrade to 1511. Has anyone else experienced this - and does anyone have a solution?

Thanks, Roger

:)

 

Desktop files missing after Update 1511

Just updated a brand new PC to Windows 10 Version 1511 and had the same issue. When looking under This PC, My Documents, My Pictures, etc. are empty. All folders and files that were previously in them are missing. After some research online,
I was able to determine that the folders and files are still under my User folder. Hope that helps.

It's terribly disappointing that MS did not warn about this issue prior to pushing this upgrade.

 

Folders not visible after upgrade to 1511

I upgraded to Windows 10 on my Dell laptop and lost all my folders and pictures. I am not computer savvy and fear I cannot retrieve them. They were saved to my hard drive though? HELP

 

Hi london2000, welcome to Ten Forums. Try opening file explorer and click the File tab, Click on change folder and Search options. You should have this.




For each tab (General, View, Serch) click on Restore Defaults, Apply and OK. See if that helps.

 

Thanks, John, that was a good suggestion but unfortunately it's made no difference.

 

As a workaround until a proper solution is found, I've pinned the long route (ie, C:\Windows\Users\{user name}\Documents) to "Quick Access" which gets me to where I want to be with one click of the mouse.

 

Does rt clicking a folder, "Include in Library" help here?
Sorry, a random thought as I've never had such a problem ... yet..

 

Thanks for the suggestion but when I just tried it I got the message back saying it was already in the library.

 

- or moving the folders out and back in?

Other hints on the internet suggest a corrupted user profile.

 

Thanks, but unfortunately, it doesn't allow me to do that.

What I have noticed this afternoon is that the empty Documents folder under "My PC" is actually a OneDrive folder. All the other folders under "My PC" are C:\ drive folders.

Do you know how a corrupted user profile might be fixed?

Thanks

 

Hi, essentially you need to create a new one.
I suggest some research is needed.
Fix corrupt profile in Windows 8
gives an idea, but some things could be different in Win 10.
How to fix a corrupt user profile in Windows - How-To - PC Advisor
Fix: Corrupt User Profile in Windows 10

These more recent articles suggest at first glance there's no change.

A very quick search suggests there may be nothing in tenforums on this, but have a look.

Clearly you can create a new user with the same rights and demonstrate to your own satisfaction the same symptom isn't present before doing anything more drastic.

It rather depends also how complex your existing profile it is. If you can fairly simply create another user whose files, folders, startups are the same, then delete your current one, that's great. However you also need to consider the question of your login id, particularly if you use an MS live id.

Ideally someone who's been through that would help...*Smile

 

Thanks for this advice. I'll look into it but I'm concerned I could end up in a bigger mess. I'm always fully backed up so it might be easier for me simply to reset the PC and start again from scratch, trusting to luck that the 1511 upgrade works flawlessly next time.

In the meanwhile the workaround I've implemented (attaching the full path length to "Quick Access") is preserving my sanity so there's no rush to do anything!

I much appreciate you taking the time to provide advice.