WIn 11 - How to recover Documents folder that disappeared?

Hmm.  Suggestions only.

Run a search on your drives looking for a file that is known to be in the Documents folder.  Example.  Let's assume will.doc is the file.  Search both drives for it.  I'm looking for the chance that the whole folder has been moved somewhere else.

Try another util.  For example GetDataBack.  Professional util but free to try.  But you're installing this util on another machine and attaching your drives as slaves to this machine.

Is the folder gone completely? Open regedit as you, and navigate to this location "Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders" on the right pane do you see Personal? If you do double click and see if the document folder path is there.

Did you check the trashcan?

Just adding to Edward's suggestion, try opening File Explorer and going to

shell:personal

Select allOpen in new window

See if your My Document folder is visible there.

Are you using any cloud storage on the computer (GDrive, OneDrive, DropBox etc.)?

@dbrunton - i searched all my other drives for files (the only folders remaining in the original Documents folder are Custom Office Templates & My Data Sources). These showed up on the second run through of the Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard and all the other data had simply disappeared! Basically, i haven't overwritten anything on the G: drive.

i'm pretty sure i can add the new utility on my C: drive, but i'll take your advice & install on another PC...

@Edward Pamias - i found G:\Documents - the folder is there, the sub-folders & files are not there.

@Gerwin Jansen - yes, that was the first place i checked.

☠ MASQ ☠ - opens G:\Documents. i only use OneDrive, there is a Documents folder, but not the correct one.

When I set up win11 initially, i used Document properties ―> Location tab to move everything from C:/ to G:/

This is veritable mystery. in all my years of using Macs & PCs (since the early 80's), i have this has never happened to me.

does anyone have an opinion on the on-board Win 11 Windows File Recovery app winfr?

If you still have the G drive, right click and check the Previous version, see if you have backups.

thanks - but no cupie doll!

message: There are no previous versions available. Top of panel says: Previous versions come from File History or from restore points.

so i'm guessing there is no point to run a restore point...

where is the test label file stored? and what limits did you use?

also, in that article they say :  

Note that in use RANDBETWEEN will change the value it produces each time you update your spreadsheet. So we’ll need to suppress this action once our data set is complete. 

i don't know if this has any influence - just searching

If G: synced with OneDrive check:

https://onedrive.live.com/login/

Using a web browser & the account you log into the PC with.

Did you have autosave enabled? C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\ see if there is a backup of the file here.

@nobus - the original file was open i Excel until i saved it to a folder on my desktop (on the C: drive, not on the G: drive. i have activated Manual calculation for this file.

@☠ MASQ ☠ - the only files that are synced with OneDrive are those in the OneDrive - Personal folder... i deactivated the syncing with Document, Desktop, Download. Music, Pictures and Video folders when i set up Win 11... 

my situation is not as bad as it seems. i've only had the PC the end of July 2023...

@Edward Pamias - i still have the excel file, it was NEVER on the G: drive.

of the Document, Desktop, Download, Music, Pictures and Video folders, only the Desktop folder is on the C: drive (as is the excel file)

all the other folders were 'moved' to the G: drive. 

as i mentioned above:

the only folders remaining in the original Documents folder are Custom Office Templates & My Data Sources.

Does your version of Windows have a System Restore feature that creates checkpoints/restorepoints?

yes... but no luck. the only restore point is AFTER the incident (23-10-08)...

Can you right click on this Documents folder choose the Properties tab and report back on which date this folder was created.

yes... but no luck. the only restore point is AFTER the incident (23-10-08)...

Why not go back to the one before the incident?

@Martin Liss

Why not go back to the one before the incident?

there are NO OTHER restore points, only 10 Oct. 2029

@dbrunton

which date this folder was created

on the same day the incident happened, 6 Oct. 2023

in fact, i moved the Documents folder to another drive in order not to overwrite anything on the G: drive

i never use the move function - always copy - then delete the old one

did you search all your drives?

"in fact, i moved the Documents folder to another drive in order not to overwrite anything on the G: drive "

I know you've mentioned this before but just to confirm that you used the Documents folder Properties and changed the location from C:\Users\<YourProfileName> to G:\Documents?

Did you allow File Explorer to create the Documents folder ("Folder does not exist do you want Windows to...") or did you create a G:\Documents folder yourself ready to move the files to?

Did you agree to Explorer automatically moving the contents of the Folder to the new location or did you move this manually?

If you right-click on G:\Documents now do you see the Location tab in Properties?

In File Explorer does "Documents" still appear in the Quick Access list (Near the top of the left-hand pane with a pin next to it)?

I think you've somehow broken the symbolic link (Symlink) that the Windows OS uses to keep track of your Documents folder.

Good news:  This can probably be fixed with a registry file edit

Bad news:  If G:\Documents has a Location tab under Properties then that IS your Documents folder - check the date of creation.

@dbrunton

i never use the move function - always copy - then delete the old one

did you search all your drives?

the only way to have Win11 to keep track of the Documents folder is to use the Move function

yes, i searched both C: and G: drives

@☠ MASQ ☠ 

yes, i used the Documents folder Properties and changed the location from C:\Users\<YourProfileName> to G:\Documents 

i did allow File Explorer to create the Documents folder ("Folder does not exist do you want Windows to...") or i did NOT create a G:\Documents folder yourself ready to move the files to 

yes i Did you agree to Explorer automatically moving the contents of the Folder to the new location or - did you move this manually? NO

If you right-click on G:\Documents now do you see the Location tab in Properties? - there is no longer a Documents folder in G:,

after copying Documents from my old computer to f: drive (as mentioned above, i moved the Documents folder to another drive in order not to overwrite anything on the G: drive) i used Properties - Move to move the Documents folder to from G: to F:

In File Explorer does "Documents" still appear in the Quick Access list (Near the top of the left-hand pane with a pin next to it)? yes, but i get a message saying:

I think you've somehow broken the symbolic link (Symlink) that the Windows OS uses to keep track of your Documents folder. - that sounds right to me

So also check F:\...Documents Properties for the Location tab

Attached a registry file that will restore the symbolic links for all your System folders

folderfix.reg

Needs a reboot afterwards 

in my view, something happened to create a NEW Documents folder over the existing folder when i was testing the  Word Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard (MS Office Pro Plus 2021) using the Excel test data file!

as i said, i didn't lose a lot of data - some new downloaded documents, some work when i added data to Access, some data i added to 4 existing excel files.

i still have to check F:/Documents…

i ran the folderfix.reg file, i'm still getting the "Location is not available" message above

Does F:\Documents have Location tab in Properties?

Does F:\Documents have Location tab in Properties?

yes - it has always been present on all drives...

 

Could anyone else possibly have a copy of the data?

not that i know of. i created it on my desktop using a formula i copied from the site in my initial question

"yes - it has always been present on all drives..."

You have "Documents" folders on multiple drives that are all System folders with a location tab in their Properties???

If you're happy with the contents of F:\Documents use the Properties tab to restore its linked location to the failed symbolic link.

Reboot the PC and the My Documents links should be restored with that content.

no, Documents folder is only on drive F: now. i mean that every time i used the move function (from C: to G: to F:) the location tab is in the properties panel...

If you're happy with the contents of F:\Documents use the Properties tab to restore its linked location to the failed symbolic link.

are you referring to the folders icon?

Check the Recycle Bin: The first place to look is the Recycle Bin. It's possible, though unlikely, that the folder was accidentally deleted.

 

Hidden Files and Folders: Ensure that hidden files and folders are set to be visible. Go to File Explorer > View tab > check the "Hidden items" box. Then, navigate to your G: drive to see if the Documents folder might be hidden.

 

System Restore: If you have System Restore enabled and have a backup of your system from before the problem appeared, you can restore your system to that point, which might help you recover the folder.

@madunix

thank you.

however, other than "Hidden items" (i always show these), your proposed solutions have been previously suggested and verified.

If shadowcopies is turned on, you may be able to restore previous versions.

https://shadowexplorer.com/

Freeware.

Which shows the previous folder structures, and you can select what you need to copy

Manual is here

https://shadowexplorer.com/documentation/manual.html

@Mike Montgomery

thanks - i gave it a try...

however, the app only sees my PC's 2 internal hard drives, not the external (G:) drive where the problem occurred.

Yes, I meant for you to look in the folder from where you moved them. Shadow copies are not usually made on USB devices.

How long ago did you move them?

in fact, when i set up my PC at the end of July this year, the first thing i did was change the location of most of my folders (Document, Download. Music, Pictures and Video folders) using the Location tab in Properties

so there will not be any shadow copies of the data i added since that time

Is there any chance that your G drive is an external drive and one that you use for backups?

@Martin Liss 

this is not "chance", i purchased this Lacie 1 TB Rugged drive (the external G: drive) for this express purpose. my backups are on a 2 TB NAS drive.

Given that, you should not be manually moving anything to your G drive.

I think it's time to look at a data recovery company. It looks like you are in Canada. If you don't know any then one of my contacts runs a company in Quebec called Kenedacom data recovery.

https://www.kenedacom.com/

@Martin Liss  

are you suggesting not to use this drive anymore?

i used folder Properties ―> Location tab ―> Move... to select a new drive for my Documents folder from C: to external G: drive, then from G: to internal F: drive (after the Documents folder 'magically disappeared' from the G: drive).

I didn't consider this to be manually moving the folder, but i could be wrong.

@Mike Montgomery 

well, for the number of files i have actually modified since using this new PC, i don't think the cost-benefit is sufficient to merit a data recovery operation.

but i'm willing to try the on-board Win 11 Windows File Recovery app winfr app on my external G: drive, if anyone knows something about it's reliability.

just a reminder: 

the Document, Desktop, Download, Music, Pictures and Video folders, only the Desktop folder is on the C: drive

all the other folders were 'moved' to the G: drive. Now only the Document folder has been moved to the F: drive & the other folders are backed up to my NAS!

 

are you suggesting not to use this drive anymore?

No. My statement assumed that you were doing something like this. If not then ignore my comment.

Try right-clicking on the documents->properties, select the location tab and click find target.

Try right-clicking on the documents->properties, select the location tab and click find target. 

yes, it opens f:/Documents - exactly where i last moved the folder to.

When you ran the data recovery software, was there a folder named, something like, Found.000 ?

And were any of the drives formatted FAT32X ?

@Mike Montgomery 

When you ran the data recovery software, was there a folder named, something like, Found.000 ?

no - Recuva simply gives me a list of files...

And were any of the drives formatted FAT32X ?

my documentation states the the G: drive:

This drive is preformatted exFAT for use with both PC and Mac. For Time Machine, it must be reformatted for Mac. Reformatting will delete all data previously stored on the drive... 

i'll give it a go:

Trial limitations:

• The software copies files with the size under 256 KB only.

but at Total price: CAD $98.98 , i'm not sure i'll purchase in any case.

i"ll get back soon with the results.

@Mike Montgomery: UFS Explorer Data Recovery got my files back! seems like a good investment to me!

Thanks to all for your help. 

That's great news Paul.

Mike