Folder contents suddenly gone/moved?
Hello,
I've been having a problem with my PC for a while now. I don't know how to explain it well, but I have a folder with a lot of things in it. Now, all of the folders in it are suddenly empty. All of the files are gone. But when I look at the folder's properties, the original size and number of files are still displayed. That was about two months ago. I've since created a new folder for all of my things, and I'm having the problem again. What's wrong? What can I do about it? Can I get my files back?
Here is a picture when I try to open a file in the second folder (they are not displayed in the folder, but in quick access) and the size of the first folder.
Thanks in advance for answers!
(2 votes)
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Important: If you think it might be a drive or file system error (e.g. after power failure or a defect in the hard disk/SSD itself) and a professional data recovery (by sending the hard disk/SSD into a laboratory, etc.), you should not use the computer as much as possible, since each write access to the drive reduces the probability that data can still be recovered after a drive error. In most cases, however, I would not consider such a thing, only because I do not want to see my data (carriers) in foreign hands, but also because it is often costly and not worth it, because in this area there are also many “black sheep”.
If we have excluded this point, you can try the following.
First, you should check if the files are hidden.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files-0320fe58-0117-fd59-6851-9b7f9840fdb2
If you know enough for this, you could try using PowerShell to navigate the folders and try to list the contents by means of the “ls -force” command.
Otherwise, you could try to rename the supposedly “empty” folder via Windows Explorer even if it sounds curious. Sometimes the content appears again.
In general, I would recommend that all important data be regularly stored on an external disk. This should be done anyway, because a drive can just fail or a file system can be damaged. If you have to reset or reset the system, you have to secure the data anyway. Then you can also get used to it, make it regular. I personally can’t sleep quietly without some current backup.
If you have secured the data (if available), and it has not been a “triviale problem” (hidden files), I would reset the computer. The error could be caused by a corrupted file system and file system errors are not better in time, even though file systems today have some self-healing mechanisms.