Troubleshoot | My Documents Folder Missing Windows 10/11

Where is My Documents folder in Windows 10?

First introduced in Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2, the My Documents folder has served as a standard location for storing user-created personal files and application data (such as configuration files and saved games).

Plenty of users get used to saving documents, pictures, music, videos, and other files in their My Documents folder for easy access and better management. However, some users might ask where can I find My Documents folder? 

Path 1:

Press “Win + E” to open File Explorer and go to the default storage path C:\Users\UserName\Documents to find your folder.

Path 2:

Press “Win + R” to open the Run box and type “%userprofile%Documents” in the search box. Then hit “Enter” or press “OK” to open the My Documents folder.

Why has My Documents folder disappeared?

Varied reasons are responsible for the missing documents folder. Please get an overview of the following possible causes.

✍Accidentally deleted My Documents folder: Accidental deletion is unavoidable while you’re organizing files/folders using File Explorer.

✍Windows Update: Windows updates also can fix bugs and bring incompatible changes. Some users have said desktop files missing after Windows 10 update.

✍Virus or malware attacks: Viruses could result in files being deleted automatically in Windows 10/11.

How to fix the My Documents folder missing Windows 10/11?

So how do I restore My Documents folder in Windows 10/11 computers? There’re four feasible solutions for you.

1. Recover the accidentally & permanently deleted My Documents folder via Previous Versions

After accidental deletion, you can quickly press Ctrl + Z to Undo Delete files or folders.

However, if there’re some changes after accidental deletion, you’d better open Recycle Bin to restore them as soon as possible.

Even with an emptied Recycle Bin, regular backups also provide another possibility for you to recover missing folders in Windows 10/11. After enabling File History or System Protection of the local disk C drive, you can get several copies of files/folders according to the timeline. 

Please refer to the following steps.

Step 1. Press “Win + E” to open Windows File Explorer and find the master folder that includes the My Documents folder before deletion.

Step 2. Right-click on your selected folder and click Restore Previous Versions. Under the Previous Versions tab, “Restore” your wanted folder version.

2. Create a new My Documents folder via Registry

Creating a new blank folder and updating the path address using Registry also can recover the missing My Documents folder. Nevertheless, if there’s an error while changing your Registry, your Windows OS will likely be damaged. Let’s show how it works.

Step 1. Go to the default storage path C:\Users\UserName to create a new Documents folder.

Step 2. Press “Win + R” and type “regedit” in the Run box to open your Registry.

Step 3. Go to Computer\HKEY-CURRENT-USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Sheel Folders directly.

Step 4. After opening Value Name-Personal, enter the corresponding saved path of your created new Documents folder in the Value data field. Then click the “OK” button.

3. Create My Documents folder using CMD

Powerful command prompt is a text-based user interface on your Windows computers. In this scenario, you could use the command prompt to recover deleted files/folders like the My Documents folder.

Step 1. Type “cmd” in the search bar and click “Run as administrator” to open your command prompt window.

Step 2. Type “attrib +r –s –h %USERPROFILE%\Documents /S /D” in the window. Then hit “Enter” or press “OK” to go on.

After the process, restart your PC and see if the My Documents folder has been restored.

4. Recover My Documents folder via data recovery software

To be fair, both Registry and CMD can discourage non-tech users from following them. What’s worse, most users believe they would be so unfortunate to lose their files/folders. As a result, it’s unsurprising that no precautions are taken.

So how to recover the permanently deleted My Documents folder without backups? In this case, there’s no better way than adopting professional document recovery software like MyRecover to help you out because only third-party software can exempt you from essential backups and recover data as much as possible.   

● Please avoid making any changes or adding new data to the same Windows PC after data loss because newly added files could erase your deleted & lost files.

● Remember to save your recovered folders in another drive instead of your local disk C drive.

★Highlights of MyRecover:  

Powerful features: Recover deleted & lost MS Office files, folders, compressed files, photos, videos, audio, and hundreds of file types from HDD, USB, SD cards, etc.

Easy-to-find: During Quick Scan and Deep Scan, you can search your desired folders by Path, Filename, Date, etc.

Convenient: Retain the original Path, Filename, and Format for the deleted files.   

Excellent compatibility: Support NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, and ReFS file systems.

Download MyRecover on your Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, or Windows Server computer to recover this specific folder!

Step 1. After launching MyRecover, hover the mouse over the local disk C drive and click Scan.

Step 2. You can quickly locate your desired folder or wait to view all the deleted & lost files after the scanning process.

Step 3. Go to the Deleted Files/Recycle Bin/Other Missing Files folder and select the folder you want to restore. Then click “Recover x files” to start Windows data recovery.

Related suggestions

Where can I find My Documents folder? Moreover, how to address the My Documents folder missing Windows 10/11 computers? Please get four ways from the above content.

Apart from that, there’re some relevant practical tips about the My Documents folder.

• Go to the default storage path of this specific folder and right-click on it. Then select Properties > Location > set a new saved path to move My Documents to another drive in Windows 10 computers.

• Right-click the My Documents folder and click the “Add Item to Desktop” button to recreate a missing My Documents folder icon on the desktop.
• Develop a good habit of making regular file backups using free backup software for Windows. Besides, partition, disk, or system backups are also allowed.

• Please don’t put all your eggs in one basket to prevent data loss.