Desktop background photo disappeared after Windows 11 update

Question

Hi there,

I am at a total loss, and I am not very technical-minded. I have been working on my Laptop (HP Omen) all day yesterday, and nothing was amiss until I closed Chrome and noticed that my desktop background was just black. My background photo was gone. I tried finding it again under the Personalization tab but it is no longer there either. The problem is that it was the only copy of this photo I had left after I suffered a house fire a few years ago, and I thought it was linked to my Google Chrome account, but I have no idea where it is saved on my computer apart from the spot where I could see it under the personalization tab.

I tried googling the problem of the black background, but all it is said is to go back to personalization and select the photo there - but that is where the photo is missing as well. I also looked under Windows/Web - not there either.

I did have an update that was installed yesterday, and I reverted that one as well - no difference. Short of getting someone with more knowledge than me to come and search for this photo, what else can I do, and why has it happened in the first place? Also, all my files are now saved under One Drive - I do not want them to save on One Drive but that is a question for another thread...

Any help with this would be great - that photo has many sentimental values to me...Thanks

Answer 1

Hello

Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.
I am sorry to hear that. Let's see if we can try to locate that photo. Here are a few suggestions you can try:

1.Search your computer:

Press Windows + S to open the search bar.

Type the name of the file if you remember it or try typing common image file extensions like .jpg, .jpeg, .png, etc.

Check the search results to see if your photo appears.

2.Check the Recycle Bin:

Double-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop.

Look through the deleted files to see if your photo was accidentally deleted.

3.Check Default Folders:

Navigate to C:\Users\<YourUsername>\Pictures and C:\Users\<YourUsername>\Downloads, as these are common places where images might be saved.

4.Check Google Chrome Downloads:

Open Google Chrome. Press Ctrl + J to open the Downloads page. Look through the list to see if you find any clues regarding where the photo might have been downloaded to.

5.Check OneDrive:

Open File Explorer.

Navigate to the OneDrive folder and look through the Pictures or Desktop folders.

6.Use File Recovery Software:

If the above steps don't work, you might want to try using file recovery software. These tools can sometimes recover deleted files.

Regarding your question about stopping files from saving to OneDrive:

1.Disable OneDrive Auto-save:

Right-click the OneDrive icon in the system tray (near the clock).

Click on "Settings."

Go to the "Backup" tab.

Click on "Manage backup" and then "Stop backup" for the folders you don't want to save to OneDrive.

2.Change Default Save Locations:

Press Windows + I to open Settings.

Go to System > Storage.

Under "More storage settings," click on "Change where new content is saved."

Change the default save locations for your files.

I hope the information above is helpful.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let us know.

Best Regards,

Daisy Zhou

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Answer 2

If you have created a System Restore Point earlier, then you may use that to retrieve the photo.

If you were using Google Photos or had your Chrome account linked to Google’s backup services, check your Google Photos account.

Since your files are saved on OneDrive, check the OneDrive folder on your computer or go to OneDrive online and search for your photo there.

Check Recycle Bin.

Try recovery software such as Recuva or EaseUS Data Recovery.

Answer 3

Thank you. Sadly, I don't think rummaging through thousands of photos will give me a result. To my knowledge, this one was never on any of those platforms. I am a semi-professional photographer, so all my usual places where I keep photographs have tens of thousands of photos in them, and this one was never one of them (well, not after our house fire that destroyed the original file). This particular image was only ever my computer background, and I have no idea where it is now. I tried the usual spaces where those types of photos are saved, but only the general Windows ones are there.

I did look in one drive (which I hate by the way), but even there, I cant find it at first glance.

Plus, this does not explain why it disappeared in the first place; it should not have happened.

I tried restoring the system but had no luck. I also uninstalled the latest updates, and I got the same result. I only get a black background. Its as if it has vanished into thin air.

Right now I am at a loss how it even happened - how can windows just show me a black background screen as my desktop wall paper? I did not sign out it just happened...