Windows 10: Some missing desktop icons and folders

I had a shock a few days ago when I switched on my PC Windows 10 +all updates and booted up to the desktop. Instead of the usual 10 or so Icons, there were only 5 Icons. Even worse, when I started Windows Explorer, I found that My Documents was completely empty. Not a single folder in it. But all My Pictures were there as normal.

First thing I did was a System Restore to go back a few days - but that did not bring back the missing items. So the next thing I did was to restore all the missing Icons back onto the Desktop by dragging them out of the List on the left hand side menu and dropping them onto the Desktop. And because I have all my folders and files backed up on an external drive, I was able to restore those as well. So recovery was not too difficult.

What I'm concerned about is why this happened. No changes to settings had been made. It was as if the PC had switched to another User with a more limited Desktop selection and no access to my Folders, but there is no other User - only me.

All the On line Help is no help because none of those suggestions relate to this problem. They are for when Icons are Hidden or if Tablet mode is selected. These are not the problem here.

Does anybody recognise this problem and know how it might have occurred? More importantly, how to prevent it from happening again. Thanks

Kes

:)

 

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Missing desktop icons

Hi,

In order for us to address your concern about the missing desktop icons, kindly answer the following questions first:

• Have you made any recent changes to your computer system prior to getting this issue?
  
• What is the current version and build of your Windows 10? To get these information follow these steps:
  

• Press Windows key + R.
• Once the Run box appears, type Winver.
• Press Enter.
• A small window will appear which will show these information.

(You may need to update your Windows computer, please refer to this
support link to get information about Windows update history as well as how to update your device.)

• Aside from doing the commands above, what are other troubleshooting steps have you taken for your missing desktop icons issue?
  

We look forward to your response.

Regards.