Windows 10: "LOCATION" is missing from all personal folders including Video, Music, Photo, Documents...

"LOCATION" is missing from all personal folders including Video, Music, Photo, Documents and Downloads. I know there are several responses to this but I find it hard to follow them. I am on Windows 10, latest update. I have been trying to change the default location for the downloads from the default of %USERPROFILE%\Downloads.


I tried right clicking on any of the personal folders but as noted before, the LOCATION tab does not exist. The only thing I did not try was changing the Registry entry. I wanted to get the system back where it belongs.


Hope someone can guide me to straighten this out so I can move the download default to another folder. I hope I am in the right forum group.



:)

 

Windows Refresh removed thousands of personal files; how do I recover photos, documents, videos, and music?

Hello.

I helped a family member do a Windows Refresh, and thousands of her personal files have been removed. According to Microsoft, "you can refresh your PC without deleting any of your personal files or changing your settings." This was not the case for her.

I have searched online and have not been able to find an answer. Before going further, I'd like to address a couple things of which I am certain:

• I did a Refresh, not a Reset; and
  
• I am not talking about program files from software - I know those are removed.

The family member had thousands of:

• personal pictures (e.g., camera photos, downloaded wallpapers);
• documents (e.g., Word documents, PDF files);
• videos (e.g., movies, self recordings); and
• music (e.g., purchased mp3 files).
  

I think the issue is this: She stored all of those files in the Program Files folder. Examples include:

• her photos were stored in the IrfanView folder (IrfanView is an image viewer);
• her documents were stored in multiple folders, such as PDFs in the Foxit PDF folder and Word documents in the Microsoft Office folder; and
  
• her videos and music files were stored in the VLC folder (VLC is a media player).

Yes, I know she probably should have stored these in her Windows Libraries personal folders, such as Pictures, Documents, Videos, and Music. However, she explained that it made sense to her because those programs are what is used to open the specific files.

How can she fully recover those thousands of files? Thank you.

 

Location Tab Missing from Almost All Folders

I assume your referring to the Location tab in the Properties of user folders .... Documents, Desktop, Downloads, Pictures, etc

If the tab is missing, it would suggest you're not looking at/accessing the actual user system folder, but simply folders that have the same name(s).

Do the folder listing(s) in Windows/File Explorer have the user system icon, or are they just plain common everyday folder icons?

Try restoring the icons to their default location C:\Users\username\

Note : "Restoring" doesn't mean simply copy/move > paste. The registry has to be adjusted accordingly. This forum has steps to do just that ...
Restore Default Location of Personal Folders in Windows 10

Looking at this part, and having second thooughts ...

Yo don't "create" user system folders, you have to re-locate them from the original system location (as indicated above).

But if you're referring to everyday-usage user-created personal folders ..... they don't have a Location tab.

 

What exactly are are "My music", "My Pictures" and "My videos"

You can't redirect the shortcut links which is the subject of the post