How to Restore Missing Desktop Icons and Files in Windows 10/11 - Qiling  

How to Restore Missing Desktop Icons and Files in Windows 10/11


Desktop Files and Icons Disappeared in Windows 10/11

Your brother's gaming session may have caused the desktop icons and files to be deleted. Try checking the Recycle Bin, but if they're not there, it's possible they were permanently deleted. You can also try using the Windows File Recovery tool to scan your computer for deleted files. If you're still unable to find them, it's possible they were deleted from the desktop or moved to a different location. You can try using the Windows Search bar to search for the missing files, or try restoring from a previous system restore point if you have one set up.

Windows 10 computer desktop comes with default icons like the Recycle Bin, This PC, and Network, while users often create shortcuts to frequently used apps and save files like Word documents and Excel spreadsheets on the desktop for easy access.

Losing desktop icons and files on Windows 10 can be frustrating, especially if it's due to accidental deletion or improper settings. Fortunately, restoring desktop icons is a simple process, and we'll guide you through it in this article. Additionally, using professional hard drive recovery software can also help you recover lost desktop files, making it easier to get back to work with your computer.

How to Restore Missing Desktop Icons on Windows 10/11

By following the steps below, you can easily restore all the missing icons that you previously deleted accidentally.

1. Open "Settings" and click on "Personalization".

2. Click "Themes", then click "Desktop icons settings".

restore desktop icons

3. To customize your desktop icons, select the icons you wish to display, such as Computer (This PC), User's Files, Network, Recycle Bin, and Control Panel, and arrange them as desired.

4. Click "Apply", then "OK".

add desktop icons in Windows 10

If you don't see any icons on your desktop, it's likely because they were previously hidden in Windows 10. To make them visible again, right-click an empty space on the desktop, select "View", and click "Show desktop icons".

How to Recover Desktop Files in Windows 10/11

To recover lost or deleted desktop files in Windows 10, you can use a data recovery tool like Deep Data Recovery, which can restore over 200 file types from various storage devices. This tool can help retrieve deleted files due to accidental deletion, hard drive formatting, virus attacks, or partition loss.

The steps to restore desktop files are similar to those for recovering deleted files from a USB flash drive. To restore desktop files, follow the detailed guides available.

Step 1. Run Deep Data Recovery. Select file types and click "Next" to begin the recovery process.

Select file types that you want to recover

Step 2. To recover a lost folder, go to the location where you lost the folder, click on the "Scan" button to initiate the scanning process, and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the recovery process. 

select a location and click scan

Step 3. You can search for the target folder or use the Filter feature to quickly locate a specific type of files within the folder.

choose files to recover

Step 4. 1. Preview the recovered folder, 2. Click "Recover", 3. Choose a new location.

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