Restore Missing Files After Computer Restart and Recover Lost Data

User Query: My computer reset automatically and I lost everything.

"Recently, my laptop has been running increasingly slower, so I decided to restart it to fix the issue. To my astonishment, after the reboot, all my files, documents, images, and others vanished. Is there any way to recover these lost files?"

"My laptop reset itself after a restart, and all the files on my desktop are gone. It even reset my custom desktop wallpaper!"

The issue of files disappearing after restart has been a headache for many users across different Windows systems, including Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, and the newly introduced Windows 11.

Why did my computer delete everything?

There could be various reasons for a PC restart that wipes out everything, such as human errors, virus attacks, software conflicts, corrupted system files, power failures, and more. When faced with this issue, you might urgently want to know how to recover lost files after a restart. Here, we'll show you effective ways to restore desktop files deleted after a Windows 10 restart using System Restore or professional Data Recovery Wizard software.

1. Recover lost files after a restart with System Restore

You can undo system changes by restoring your computer to a previous restore point. It can also recover lost files after a restart.

2. Use data recovery software to retrieve lost files after a restart.

If you didn't have System Restore enabled and you need to recover lost files, or if you experienced data loss during a System Restore, don't worry. You can download and try the Data Recovery Wizard tool to restore files lost after a restart.

This powerful file recovery tool enables you to retrieve lost data under various circumstances, such as restoring missing desktop icons and files in Windows 10, getting back missing documents/files after a Windows 10 update, and recovering files infected by shortcut virus, etc.

Now you can download a data recovery tool on your computer and restore the desktop files deleted after restart.

Step 1: Launch Disk Drill on your computer. Select the disk with the missing files and click "Scan." If the lost files were on an external storage device, connect it to your computer first.

Step 2: The software will immediately perform a quick scan to find the deleted files, and then automatically conduct a deep scan to search for more lost files. After the scan, you can use the "Filter" to quickly locate files of specific types.

Select the files to recover

Step 3: Click on the “Preview” button or double-click the file for a full preview. Finally, select the files you need and hit “Recover.” Choose another secure location to save all your files in one go.

How to Fix a Computer That Deletes Everything After Restarting

There are a few effective methods to resolve the issue of everything disappearing after your Windows 10 computer restarts. While we can't guarantee that these will work, they're certainly worth a try.

1. Switch to your user account

Sometimes, when your PC restarts or crashes, Windows might not be able to log you into your user account. In this case, it creates a temporary profile and logs you into that instead. Since this temporary file is empty, you might incorrectly assume that all your files are gone after a restart.

To fix this, log out of the temporary profile, switch to your user account, and log back in. Once you've successfully logged in, you should have access to all your missing files, including those on your desktop.

2. Scan and remove viruses and malware

Some viruses or malware attack your computer, hide or delete files, and cause it to restart repeatedly. In this case, run a full virus scan with an antivirus program like Windows Defender, Avast, McAfee, Norton, or Kaspersky.

Check and fix your hard drive

A bad hard drive can cause your system to crash, automatically restart, and delete files. You can use the disk checking tool that comes with Windows to diagnose and fix problems with your hard drive.

Step 1: Right-click on “This PC/My Computer,” and then select the hard drive or partition that you wish to check. Click on “Properties.”

Step 2: Click the "Tools" tab and then click "Check."

Step 3: If the system finds errors on the disk, let it fix them.

Bottom line

When encountering issues with a laptop or PC that restarts on its own and deletes desktop files, you can recover lost data using System Restore or data recovery software. The sooner you act, the better. Additionally, you can attempt to fix the problem by logging into user accounts, removing viruses, and checking the hard drive for issues.

Also, we believe that it's a good idea to use the Windows Backup software or the built-in File History tool to back up your computer's data to an external hard drive on a regular basis.