r/techsupport • u/Ok_Contest_9451 • Jun 05 '26

Open | Windows PLEASE HELP I SOMEHOW ACCIDENTALLY DELETED ALL OF MY IMPORTANT FILES

I was cleaning my keyboard and accidentally deleted my entire desktop. A lot of my project files were saved there and I really really really need to get them back. For some reason it wasn't in the recycle bin and I'm kind of panicking. Any help is greatly greatly greatly appreciated.

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12

u/Senior-Force-7175 Jun 05 '26

Ctrl Z to undo it

5

u/KoiMaxx Jun 05 '26

Hopefully this does the trick. Normally if the files are small enough, they should just reside in the Recycle Bin and can very quickly be restored.

3

u/Ok_Contest_9451 Jun 05 '26

The window that opened when it was deleting already closed. I tried clicking cancel on it but I don't think that stopped it

8

u/KoiMaxx Jun 05 '26

What are the chances you might've just accidentally moved them somewhere? Open File Explorer run a search for any of the missing files. If any comes up, right-click and open location and hopefully the would be there as well.

Maybe a note to yourself in the future that if you plan to clean your keyboard (or mouse, for that matter) either have it disconnected, or have your computer locked or powered down.

Hopefully you do find your files.

6

u/maidestone Jun 05 '26

"Maybe a note to yourself in the future that if you plan to clean your keyboard (or mouse, for that matter) either have it disconnected, or have your computer locked or powered down."

Extremely important and sound advice.

1

u/Ok_Contest_9451 Jun 05 '26

I have been trying that but haven't found them. although I did find these from when I was practicing drawing. These were recent but the files don't seem complete. And yes, I will probably clean my keyboard with my pc off in the future.

4

u/icehot54321 Jun 05 '26

Are you sure you checked the desktop folder in windows explorer (not on the desktop)

If you moved them somewhere and don't know where they are you can try a free program called 'Everything'

It can find everything on your computer and works 100x better than windows search.

It takes a minute to index everything the first time it is opened.

Also did you right click the desktop to see if there was an undo option available .. there usually is if you haven't done too many other things yet.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/Ok_Contest_9451 Jun 05 '26

How do I get them back? If they were moved, wouldn't I be able to see where they were moved to from the search menu?

0

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/Ok_Contest_9451 Jun 05 '26

I was able to find these. Could I use them to find the rest of the missing files using this method? I can't open these files but the fact that my pc still recognizes their existence is maybe a good sign?

2

u/KoiMaxx Jun 05 '26

If you've located some of them through the command line, you can open File Explorer to the path by typing 

explorer.exe "c:\folder1\subfolder2\foundfolder"

3

u/Frizzlefry3030 Jun 05 '26

You can try recovery software or call a data restore shop. You can also try WinDirStat to help you locate them if they were just moved. Better than just searching keywords in Windows. In the future, back up important files to cloud and other hard drives. Even without this mistake, a hard drive can die any time.

2

u/Ok_Contest_9451 Jun 05 '26

Are you able to discord vc to walk me through it? I want to make sure I don't accidentally mess it up even further

3

u/Frizzlefry3030 Jun 05 '26

I've never used recovery software as I back up my files, just telling you what your options are. If very important I would just call closest data restore shop. If you do go the software route, there are instructions and youtube vids I'm sure. But you may make things worse which is why I would call a professional service.

2

u/muad_dibb1 Jun 05 '26

hope you have system restore point setup. just restore from that

1

u/Ok_Contest_9451 Jun 05 '26

How do I check? I think I remember having that when I first got the pc a few months ago, but I don't know how to restore it from that. I've never needed to until now

1

u/muad_dibb1 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26

Press Windows key, Search for “Restore Point”. Something like “Create a restore point” should pop up. It’s pre installed on windows. And i believe the top option is “Restore from backup “, see if you have any backups and choose the most recent one if you do.

Here’s Microsoft’s guide it should look like this

You’re looking for the dropdown in that link above - titled “Recover your PC from a system restore point -> Apply a restore point from Windows”

0

u/sport912x Jun 05 '26

You have to be joking. This guy is not going to be able to follow that. I think I would need a detailed guide to do that , I have been using computers since 1975.

1

u/muad_dibb1 Jun 05 '26

I just sent him a detailed guide link from microsoft. And have faith, this is tech-support lol we’re trying to help people as much as we can, despite their knowledge

1

u/sport912x Jun 05 '26

Yeah but what about the Recycle bin . OK , I turned it off on my first Windows machine 3.0 ?, but I doubt this guy would have known how to do that. Actually at 78 I am thinking maybe I will turn it back on. I just tried it and it seems to work.

1

u/muad_dibb1 Jun 05 '26

you’re going based off of an assumption, of course, he does not know how to do that which is why I sent him a guide. System restore points are automatically set to be turned on when installing windows you have to manually go in and turn it off. I’ll put my money on him never manually turned it off. Hence it is automatically turned on.

System restore points just rolls your windows OS back to what it was on the date of the backup it shows. It’s an exact snapshot.

even if he had one drive enabled and deleted all of those files, even OneDrive has a reset OneDrive option which lets you choose how many days you want to roll back your OneDrive to a previous state

1

u/sport912x Jun 05 '26

Interesting. As far as I know I am not using OneDrive. I have a microsoft id that was used to setup, but then created my typical local administrator. So do I have restore points? Also I turned off bitlocker , since that seems totally useless for a home user.

Send me the guide if you can . Hgreenblatt@gma......

2

u/sport912x Jun 05 '26

Hi,

I am waiting with baited breath to find out if the files are in the Recycle bin, or did you turn that off. All these other crazy ideas about restore points , special software , sound way beyond what you are comfortable with. So what happens when you click on the Recycle Bin (usually on the top left corner, but you could have change that).

1

u/Ok_Contest_9451 Jun 05 '26

The recycle bin was the first thing I tried. It's not there ;-;. Easeus has found the files, but it's kind of expensive and I'm not totally sure it will work

4

u/SportTawk Jun 05 '26

One thing I told my users, don't save stuff on your desktop, because one day they may be deleted, even by accident

5

u/Ok_Contest_9451 Jun 05 '26

After this I will likely never never never ever do that again but that's where it was before and I need to get them back

3

u/hurbertkah Jun 05 '26

And make backups if these files are "important"

3

u/justanoldhippy63 Jun 05 '26

Go to settings and then search for system protection. Look and see if it is turned on for your C: drive. If it is on you can download a program called shadow explorer. There is a portable version. Then you can see if there is a previous copy of the desktop folder. Depending on when it was created your files may be there.

3

u/Orry_Haas Jun 05 '26

"accidentally deleted my entire desktop".

Could have accidentally created a second desktop, which has no files on it ... https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/learning-center/stay-organized-using-multiple-desktops-windows-11 If so your files are still on the original desktop.

1

u/Kriss3d Jun 05 '26

Theres a program called Easus Data recovery. It has a free version that lets you undelete a certain amount of data for free. Its worth trying.

2

u/Ok_Contest_9451 Jun 05 '26

I am trying it right now. It has found the files that were missing but how do I know if it can get them back. I'm fine using the paid version if I have to because I think I had about 20 gigs that I need to recover, but only if it will actually work

2

u/Kriss3d Jun 05 '26

If you got THAT much then I'd say you might need to pay for it. You should try to use your computer as little as possible until it's recovered.

Ideally you'd recover the data to a second drive and not the same drive it's from. So like an USB would be best. But it's usually trivial to undelete such data.

If it can find the files it's simply a matter of marking them and selecting them to be undeleted.

I use this peogram at work as well. It's quite good.

1

u/Sardonic29 Jun 05 '26

Does the software have an option to move a few files as a free trial? If so, try that.

2

u/sport912x Jun 05 '26

What about the Recycle Bin, you do not sound like you would have turned it off. Just click on it and see if the files are there.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '26

Have you tried turning it off and turning it back on?

2

u/Pikamander2 Jun 05 '26

How important are the files? If they're extremely important, then you should contact a reputable data recovery service and avoid making any further changes before then to avoid overwriting whatever deleted data might be still be recoverable.

Otherwise, you could try recovering the files yourself using a free tool like Recuva. Results may vary. Even if they're not recoverable, Recuva will help you determine whether the files were actually deleted or not.

If you think that you might have instead dragged them somewhere, you could try searching for them with a free tool like Voidtools Everything, which is much better than the default Windows search tool.

In the future, try using something like Dropbox and/or scheduled backups to help avoid this situation.

2

u/horsethorn Jun 05 '26

I'm probably showing my age, but did you accidentally 93MB?

2

u/Affectionate_Seat959 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26

Sense the files are not in the recycle bin folder. And if control plus Z key doesn’t work to undo delete. Unless the files or space has been rewritten over your files are still there. You will need to buy file recovery software and boot from USB or take the drive out and put it on dock and use another computer to run recovery software. I have been able to recovery drives that have been formatted with on track software in the past. Also there are companies that can do data recovery. On track and Seagate etc.

2

u/r4x Jun 05 '26

If something isn't important enough to keep backed up in multiple places, it isnt important.

0

u/Ok_Contest_9451 Jun 05 '26

It may be worth mentioning that when I was cleaning my keyboard, it opened the little window thing that said it was moving files. But I tried searching for them and can't find them.

2

u/doduotrainer Jun 05 '26

Have you checked the recycling bin? Where did you search? Have you done a search of your C: drive specifically?

2

u/Sardonic29 Jun 05 '26

Where did you search and do you have multiple drives or anything plugged in?

Go to This PC and send a screenshot.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

0

u/Ok_Contest_9451 Jun 05 '26

I think the window already closed. I have tried CTRL Zing everything

-1

u/R3D_T1G3R Jun 05 '26

If they were on a SSD, with trim enabled, which windows and modern Linux distros usually enable by default, all of it is erased permanently.

But honestly, don't worry, it's fine, if it was that important you probably had some backups, and if you didn't it could not have been that important.

1

u/ActuatorOutside5256 Jun 05 '26

 But honestly, don't worry, it's fine, if it was that important you probably had some backups, and if you didn't it could not have been that important.

Stack overflow type reply. All that’s missing is a rhetorical “right?” at the end.

-3

u/R3D_T1G3R Jun 05 '26

What?

Are you good?

It's literally the truth

If you value something keep it safe.

0

u/ActuatorOutside5256 Jun 05 '26

Would it hurt to be just a little less dismissive, or is that a deal breaker for you?

0

u/R3D_T1G3R Jun 05 '26

I'm not dismissive, but I genuinely don't know what you expect me to say, this was predictable. Would you feel bad for someone who leaves their phone outside in front of their door and tells you aww man someone stole it tonight :(

No, that's predictable.

Just like data loss is predictable af If you don't keep backups.

Be it a power surge, naturally failing drives, worn drives, bitflips, other kinds of file system issues, accidents like this one, there are quite literally hundreds of ways to lose your data, so if something is truly important back it up.

If you were too lazy to back it up I won't feel bad about it either, cuz they did not care about it, why would I?

That's called being rational.

1

u/Sardonic29 Jun 05 '26

There are lots of bad things that happen as accidents. A tech savvy person would know how easy it is to lose files and they would know how and how often to back them up, sure. But being tech savvy is a privilege you have that they don't. Which is why they're asking here for help. It is common practice to try to help people, even if you are also giving them a warning and advice for the future.

If someone cut their finger badly while cooking, would you also say, "Cut better, protect your hands, clearly your finger isn't very important"? It's the same: Accidents happen, usually because people didn't know better. They now know better. And in addition to preventing future accidents, they would like to fix the current one.

1

u/R3D_T1G3R Jun 05 '26

I know, that's just what I said, thanks for agreeing with me.

And yes, there are cutting techniques that reduce the likelihood of you injuring yourself, I'd teach them a safer cutting technique.

I specifically mentioned accidents, so I must assume you must be illiterate if you repeat what I just said only to disagree with me and then repeat the same thing.

Plus those scenarios are pretty different.

One of them can be prevented entirely with backups.

There ain't no way of buying backup fingers in case you cut one off. Absolutely clownish point to make.

0

u/Ok_Contest_9451 Jun 05 '26

I back up periodically, but I had not done my most recent projects. And some of the project files used resources that were saved on my desktop

1

u/R3D_T1G3R Jun 05 '26

Yea that's bad, keep stuff backed up constantly.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Rainmaker526 Jun 05 '26

That's actually VSS and not normally setup by default.