Windows 10 1809 update deleted all files from Documents!

Question

Last night I updated to 1809, and it all went smoothly, but then I find that all my files in Documents are DELETED. Gone. Poof. This included many crucial documents and financial info. Yes, I have a backup (I think - using Windows Backup to a NAS). But this is pretty bad. Did no one in the first two rings run into this yet?

I understand (from the news) that this happens to all files in Documents that aren't synced to OneDrive. Further, the Documents folder is really an agglomeration of "Documents" from several different paths - not sure how that works, and it may or may not relate.

Answer 1

I never trusted Microsoft cloud services for my files, and here they roll out an update that deleted 50 gigs of work. Thanks Microsoft.

Answer 2

Hi Stuart, this does seem to be an emerging bug today on the 1809 update, quite a few users reporting this . .

I am really glad to hear you have a backup of your data!

What has worked for some users is - Restart (not shut down) your PC 3 or 4 times, this will fix this issue a lot of the time . . .

Answer 3

Hi Stuart, this does seem to be an emerging bug today on the 1809 update, quite a few users reporting this . .

I am really glad to hear you have a backup of your data!

What has worked for some users is - Restart (not shut down) your PC 3 or 4 times, this will fix this issue a lot of the time . . .

At what point do you have to Restart the PC 3 or 4 times to get your documents back? After they have been deleted or during the update? I'd like to know so when my documents are deleted I can hopefully get them back.

Answer 4

Fresh reinstalls are not acceptable, and not a proper procedure anyway. 

This is not a completely new OS, let's get that clear. It's a service pack at best. 

I'm not going to spend several days reinstalling my programs and files and weeks getting things back the way I want them every time there's an update, anyone that does waste their time like that is a fool.

Microsoft needs to have better testing and qc on these updates if they're going to force them down people's throats all the time. Thankfully I can defer the updates for a year, and I've further turned off Windows update in group policy until they fix this mess.

If it is linked to foisting OneDrive on everyone, they need to give people more free space right up front, I have 51GB to back up in my documents folder, and I already pay for Dropbox and MEGA and have free Google Drive. I'm not paying for another service that I never wanted to use in the first place.

Is there any truth to the rumor that it's related to the group policy setting for administrators that deletes user accounts created more than 30 days ago?

Answer 5

Hi Tom -

Alas - it gets worse. Microsoft's Backup silently stopped backing up back in February and didn't tell me, and I didn't notice. So I have maybe 100 hours of tedium ahead of me as I try to reconstruct my financial records... And the restart (3x) didn't do anything. Sigh.