How to Recover Lost Files After Upgrading to Windows 10

Although Windows 10 is a more stable and reliable system than previous versions, the truth is that there are still some errors with which we can find when updating our computer. Stopping any of the features of the system may be more or less uncomfortable, depending on the function, however, the fact of losing personal files if it can be a big problem. If we have recently updated to Windows 10 and certain files have disappeared, we will show how we can recover them.

Although the update process has been carried out correctly and everything works perfectly, it may be that at the moment we are going to take advantage of some file it has disappeared. That is, we open the system file explorer, navigate to the correct path and find that some files are no longer where we had them stored before the update. If so, we will check the following:

• If we are logged in with a temporary profile.
• Try to search the files using the System Search tool.
• Restore a backup.
• Enable a Windows 7 administrator account.

How to recover lost files after upgrading to Windows 10

Check if we are logged in with a temporary profile

To check if we have logged into the system with a temporary profile and that is the reason why we do not see certain files, this is what we have to do:

1. We open the Windows 10 Configuration page.
2. Navigate to the option Accounts> Synchronize settings.
3. If a message appears at the top indicating “ You are logged in with a temporary profile. Roaming options are not available at this time «, then we must restart the computer and log in again.
4. We check if the lost files have appeared.

Doing a search

The first thing we can try is to perform a search of the missing files from the Windows 10 search tool itself. Therefore, we go to the search box of the taskbar and perform a search by name of the lost files .

If we do not find them and we are sure that we have not logged in with a temporary profile, then we will have to use the Problem Solver. For it:

1. We go back to the search box on the taskbar, type ” indexing “.
2. Select the option Indexing options .
3. We select Advanced Options .
4. We click on the link Troubleshooting search and indexing.
5. We follow the steps requested by the solver itself until the process is finished and then check if the missing files already appear after the upgrade to Windows 10.

From the file explorer itself we can also perform a search, being able to indicate the name of the file or use filter patterns to find for example, files with a certain extension, which contain in their name a specific chain, etc.

It may be that for some reason these files are hidden . In that case, what we have to do is open the file explorer and enter the Vista menu option. Now, we display the options under the Show or hide option and check the Show hidden items box.

Then, within the View menu option, click on Options and in the next window shown, select the View tab. Within the list of Advanced Settings options, we make sure to check the Show hidden files, folders and drives options and save the changes.

Restore a backup

If we still can’t find the lost files after updating to Windows 10, we can try to restore them from a backup. For it:

1. We open the Configuration page.
2. We navigate to the option Update and security> Backup.
3. We click on Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7).
4. Select Restore my files .
5. We follow the instructions shown to complete the process.

Sometimes, it is possible to recover a file by creating a new one with the same file name and type and then entering its Properties. There we can select the Previous Versions tab and choose the version of the file we want to recover.

Enable a Windows 7 administrator account

If we have created a new Microsoft account when upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows 7, then it is possible that our files are in a managed account that is disabled. Therefore, we will have to re-enable it to log in with it and check if we can see the lost files.

1. In the search box on the taskbar we type Computer Management .
2. Select Computer Management (desktop application) .
3. We select the option Users and local groups in the left panel.
4. We choose Users .

1. We check if the Administrator user is shown with the down arrow icon. In that case it means that it is disabled.
2. To enable it, we double click on it and enter Properties .
3. Uncheck the Account disabled box.
4. Select Apply to enable the Administrator account.
5. We close our current session and start over with the administrator account that we just enabled.