9 Ways to Recover Missing Folders on Desktop Mac and Windows 10/8/7

Question: Desktop folder disappeared on Mac

Users often place frequently used folders or files on the desktop for quick access when needed. However, they might not be aware that this habit significantly increases the risk of data loss due to accidental deletion, system crashes, or sudden power outages. Consequently, the need for folder recovery from the desktop arises.

In this article, we'll show you how to recover missing desktop files or folders on your Mac. Plus, we'll also introduce how to restore disappeared folders from the Windows desktop. Let's get started.

Please provide the English content you would like translated, and I will promptly translate it into Chinese for you.

Why do files/folders disappear from my desktop?

Did you lose the files on your desktop while working on your Mac or Windows computer? Don't worry – there are ways to get them back! It helps to understand the possible reasons before taking action.

• Files disappear after changing the password. • You forget to save a file you were working on. • A power failure or computer crash causes data loss. • A file is missing after updating software. • The option to Hide extensions for known file types is selected.

This list isn't exhaustive, but there are ways to get them back on both Mac and Windows.

6 Ways to Recover a Missing Mac Desktop Folder

A Mac desktop folder missing can be caused by two reasons: it's either hidden or deleted. Regardless of whether your file/folder is hidden or deleted, you can use the effective methods below to recover your lost items.

• Tip 1: Show Hidden Files in Finder
• Tip 2: Display Hidden Files in Terminal
• Tip 3: Locate Folders with Stacks
• Tip 4: Recover Files from the Trash
• Tip 5: Disable iCloud Drive
• Tip 6: Use Mac Data Recovery Software

Amongst all, the most effective way is to use a Mac Data Recovery Software to restore lost Mac files. If you don't want to use any data recovery software, then you can try the other methods mentioned below.

Tip 1: Find Lost Desktop Folder on Mac with Finder

The Finder on macOS helps you organize your files and folders. If you can't find a file or folder, you can search for hidden files in the Finder using these steps.

Step 1: First, click on the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen, and then choose "Force Quit" > "Finder" > "Relaunch." If that doesn't work, you might need to troubleshoot the Finder.

Step 2: Open the "Macintosh HD" folder in Finder. Press Command + Shift + . (period) to show hidden files. You can do this in the "Documents," "Applications," and "Desktop" folders as well.

Tip 2: Show Hidden Files in the Terminal

A terminal command can show hidden files on a Mac.

Step 1. Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities, and then double-click Terminal.

Step 2: In your terminal, run the following commands in order:

Type defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE and press Return.

Type killall Finder and press Return.

After running the command, you'll see hidden files in the Finder, along with any temp files saved to your desktop.

Step 3: Type Quit in the terminal and close the terminal window.

Tip 3: Find Missing Mac Folders with Stack

If your Mac supports and has Stacks enabled, then all of your files will be organized by category. Clicking on one of these categories will expand it to show everything that's on your desktop.

Step 1: Click “View” at the top of your desktop, and then select “Use Stacks.”

Step 2: Choose "Group by Stack" to see how your files are organized.

Step 3: Locate your missing folder and move it to the destination.

If you don't see a Desktop folder, try turning off Stacks to find your Mac's desktop files.

The above three methods should help you recover missing files or folders on your Mac desktop, provided that they haven't been deleted, just hidden. If your Mac folder has been deleted or removed, try the solutions below to restore lost files or folders from your Mac desktop.

Tip 4: Recover Deleted Desktop Files/Folders from Recycle Bin

If you accidentally deleted a file from your Mac's desktop, you can easily recover it from the Trash. Follow these steps to retrieve a deleted desktop file on a Mac.

Step 1: Click on the “Trash” icon on your desktop, and you'll see all of your deleted files.

Step 2: Find the files you want to recover and drag them to your desktop. Or right-click on them and choose "Put Back" to restore deleted files on Mac from the Trash. The files will go back to where they were.

Tip 5: Recover Missing Desktop Folder on Mac by Turning Off iCloud Drive

You can sync your Mac's Desktop and Documents folders with iCloud Drive. This moves the folders to the iCloud section of the Finder sidebar. If you find that your Desktop or Documents folder has disappeared from your Mac, you can turn off iCloud to recover missing documents.

Step 1: From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences > iCloud.

Step 2: Click on “Options.”

Step 3: Deselect “Desktop and Documents Folders” and click “Finish.”

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Tip 6: Recover Disappeared Folder with Mac Data Recovery Software

The most effective way to recover lost or deleted desktop files on a Mac is by using professional Mac data recovery software. The Tool Data Recovery Wizard for Mac can efficiently restore data lost due to accidental deletion or other reasons.

• Recover deleted Word, Excel, photos, videos, audio files, and hundreds of other file types
• Restore deleted files from Desktop, emptied Trash, formatted hard drive, inaccessible storage devices, and more
• Supports all versions of Mac OS (macOS 10.15~10.9)

Now, download the free Mac data recovery tool to restore missing folder or files from Mac desktop.

Here are the steps to recover files from the Desktop on your Mac device:

Step 1: Search for the missing file

Select the disk location where you want to search for lost files (it can be an internal HDD/SDD or an external hard drive). Click on the “Search for Lost Files” button.

Note: Before data recovery, it's better to click “Disk Backup” from the left sidebar and create a backup for your HDD/SSD to prevent further data loss. After the backup, the software can recover data from your disk image, and you can reuse your HDD or SSD.

Step 2: Preview the scanning result

The software immediately scans the disk volume you select and displays images, documents, audio, video, and email in the left pane.

Step 3. Select the files and recover them

Click on the data to preview them, and then hit the "Recover" button to get them back.

You may apply Tricks 4 – Trick 6 to restore missing files or folders from Mac desktop. If you have permanently deleted files from Mac, only a Mac data recovery tool can restore deleted files or folders from Mac.

[1] Three Ways to Recover Missing Folders on Windows 10/8/7 Desktop

If you're using a Windows OS, you can recover missing desktop files through Windows 10 Data Recovery Tool, CMD, or previous versions.

• Tip 1: Show Hidden Files with Control Panel
• Tip 2: Restore Lost Desktop Files from Previous Versions
• Tip 3: Recover Desktop Files with Windows Data Recovery Software

Tip #1: Show or Hide Hidden or Invisible Files via Control Panel

If your desktop files are missing on a Windows PC, they might be hidden. You can make them reappear using the Command Prompt. Here's how:

Step 1: Click the Start button in Windows 10.

Step 2. Search for “Control Panel” and click on “Open.”

Step 3: Click on “Appearance and Personalization.”

Step 4: In the Folder Options dialog box, select Show hidden files and folders and drives.

Step 5: Deselect Hide extensions for known file types, and click OK.

Tip #2: Recover lost desktop files from a previous version

If you want to try fixing the missing desktop files issue manually on your Windows 10/8/7, you can follow the steps below.

Step 1: Create a new folder on the desktop with the same name as the missing folder.

Step 2: Right-click on the folder, select Properties, then Previous Versions. Windows will search and list previous versions of the deleted or lost file or folder.

Step 3: Select the latest backup and then click on "Restore" > "OK" to recover the lost folder from desktop.

Tip 3: Recover Lost Desktop Files with Software in Windows

If you're a Windows user, you can also try the Windows version of Data Recovery Wizard - a tool renowned for its high recovery rate and ultimate data recovery capabilities. You can use it to recover deleted files from emptied Recycle Bin, formatted disks/partitions, damaged internal/external hard drives, lost partitions, and more.

Now, follow these 3 simple steps to download this top-rated data recovery tool and restore missing folders from your Windows desktop.

Step 1. Select a folder to scan for lost files

Open the EasyRecovery Wizard. Under "Select Location," click "Select Folder." Click "Browse" to choose where your lost folder was located, then "OK" to begin scanning for lost folders.

Step 2. Look for and preview the found files in the lost folder

If you can remember the name of the folder, type it in the search box to quickly locate the missing file. Then, open the found folder and double-click to preview the scanned files. Alternatively, you can use the “Filter” feature to look for a specific type of file.

Select the files to recover

Step 3. Recover and save the lost folder

Finally, select the folders and files you need and click “Recover” to save the retrieved data to a new secure location on your computer.

Conclusions

This article showcases 10 ways to recover lost desktop files. Among them, the most effective method is to use a data recovery tool to restore missing files or folders from your Mac or Windows desktop. It allows you to effortlessly retrieve hidden, deleted, lost, inaccessible, and corrupted files.

"Frequently Asked Questions: Missing Desktop Files on a Mac"

Now you know these effective ways to show missing files on Mac desktop. If you have related issues, read through these questions and answers for more information.

Where did my files on the Mac desktop go?

If your desktop files have disappeared from your Mac and you store them in iCloud Drive, they've moved to the iCloud section of the Finder sidebar.

Why did everything disappear from my Mac desktop?

When it comes to missing desktop content, the first culprit could be missing or hidden folder icons. It could be an issue with your system settings, or you might have accidentally deleted something.

How can I recover my desktop files?

Restore desktop files to your Mac:

1. Method 1: Recover Missing Desktop Folder with Software 2. Method 2: Restore Lost Files on Mac via Trash 3. Method 3: Retrieve Deleted Files on Mac Using Terminal 4. Method 4: Locate Lost Mac Desktop Files with Finder 5. Method 5: Turn Off iCloud Drive to Retrieve Lost Desktop Files 6. Method 6: Disable macOS Desktop Stacks to Find Missing Mac Folders

Restore desktop files to Windows:

1. Recover Lost Desktop Files Using Software (UTF-8) 2. Restore Missing Desktop Files from Previous Versions (UTF-8) 3. Display Hidden or Disappeared Files Using CMD (UTF-8)