LibreOffice program and documents disappeared from Win11 PC

Question

sometime since I last used it, the LibreOffice program and documents disappeared from my Win11 PC. This was sometime over the last 2 or 3 weeks,

Answer 1

Use Windows search and File Explorer to determine whether LibreOffice and the documents are really gone or just not visible, then consider file recovery if they were deleted.

1. Check if LibreOffice is still installed

• Select Start.
• Either:
  • Select All apps and scroll through the alphabetical list to look for LibreOffice, or
  • Press the Windows key and start typing LibreOffice to see if it appears in search results.
• If LibreOffice does not appear in All apps or search, it was likely uninstalled and must be reinstalled from the official LibreOffice site.

2. Search for missing LibreOffice documents LibreOffice documents are usually .odt, .ods, .odp, etc.

• Right-click the Start menu and select File Explorer.
• In the left pane, select This PC.
• In the Search This PC box (top right), search by extension, for example:
  • *.odt for Writer documents
  • *.ods for Calc spreadsheets
  • *.odp for Impress presentations
• If nothing is found, enable hidden files and search again:
  1. Right-click Start → Settings.
  2. In Windows 11: System → Advanced → expand File Explorer.
  3. Turn Show hidden and system files to On.
  4. Repeat the search in This PC.

3. Fix Windows Search if it is not finding files If search returns no results but you believe the files are still present:

• Open Settings → Privacy & security → Search (or use the Searching Windows button if available).
• Under Related settings, select Advanced indexing options.
• In Indexing Options, select Advanced.
• Under Index Settings, choose Troubleshoot search and indexing and follow the wizard.

4. If the documents were deleted If the files do not appear anywhere on local drives and are not in the Recycle Bin or any cloud storage (such as OneDrive), they may have been deleted.

• If there is a backup (File History, image backup, or other), restore the documents from that backup.
• If no backup exists, Windows provides Windows File Recovery, a command-line app from Microsoft Store, which can attempt to recover deleted files from local drives and USB devices:
  • Install Windows File Recovery from Microsoft Store.
  • Use it to scan the drive where the documents were stored.
  • Minimize use of the PC before running it, because new data can overwrite deleted files.

5. Check Recent/Recommended lists (if you previously used them) If relying on Recent or Recommended in File Explorer:

• Open File Explorer → Home.
• If Recent is missing, ensure the system-wide setting is on:
  • Open Settings → Personalization → Start.
  • Turn on Show recommended files in Start, recent files in Explorer, and items in Jump Lists.

If LibreOffice is no longer installed and the documents cannot be found via search, backups, or recovery tools, they are likely permanently lost.

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References:

• Find all your apps and programs
• Find lost files after upgrading Windows
• Windows File Recovery
• Recent files missing from File Explorer - Microsoft Q&A
• Why won't Recent Files show up in Windows Explorer? I turn it on, but it turns off... - Microsoft Q&A