Windows 10: Windows 10 Disk CleanUp wiped my entire Download folder

I ran disk clean up last night, and noticed that the Downloads folder were an option. On account that I’ve used this tool for decades, and that it says that it removes «unnecessary files», I thought that I would clean up some leftovers from various updates. But instead it wiped the entire folder clean! It contained everything from photos, documents, programs etc!


How do I recover these files?!

:)

 

DISK CLEANUP

Hello,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

1. Which files are you trying to delete using disk clean up?
2. Which version of Windows are you currently using?

Please reply back with the information to the above questions in order to provide you with appropriate troubleshooting steps:



I understand that you are trying to free up memory using Disk Cleanup. If you are trying to delete files using disk cleanup on Windows 10, I suggest you to refer the following article on

Disk cleanup in Windows 10 for steps to perform disk clean up on your PC.



Hope it helps.



Sandeep Kumar M

Microsoft Community – Moderator

 

Windows 10 forced download

To stop the download, uninstall the KB3035583 update (under "Control Panel > Windows Update > Installed Updates").


To get rid of the C:\$Windows.~BT folder:

• Right-click on your C: drive.
• Select "Properties".
• Click on [ Disk Cleanup ]
• After the initial scan: If you have a [ Clean up system files ] button, click it and wait for the second scan to finish.
• Scroll down the list and look for "Temporary Windows installation files" (its size should be in the gigabytes range); check the box.
• Click on [ OK ] to start the clean-up.

 

Disk Cleanup - downloads folder


Just noticed that 1809 disk cleanup now has downloads in the list - could cause problems if you're not paying attention. I'm used to blindly ticking all boxes...