Windows 10 1809 update deleted all files from Documents!

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.

i don't understand any of this i upgraded my pc to 1809 on the 4th of october i was given the option to keep my settings and files so i did and proceeded with the upgrade and i'm running windows 10 1809 without any problems could it be people chose not to keep their existing settings and files and just proceeded with the upgrade i also backup my files but as of today nothing has mysteriously deleted only what i myself have deleted so i am very baffled here why people are having problems and now microsoft have pulled the upgrade i have spoke to other people who have upgraded and neither have had these problems also there is another reason this may be happening they may have had malware on their pc that can delete files im sure microsoft will resume the upgrade very soon obviously they had cause to pull this and investigate those who are experiencing these problems i suggest running a deep scan on your pc's for malware etc

This situation is inexcusable on Microsoft's part. I run 5 computers in my home, 1 of which has been in the Windows 10 Insider program since its inception. This problem never showed up in all the Insider Preview releases. On October 3, I updated the 4 other computers to 1809 with no problem and no lost files that I have been able to detect.

I have a question for those who say that they have lost many years of work. What backup system do you have in place? This situation is no different than it would have been had your hard drive failed. How would you have recovered your files in that situation? Hard drives can fail at any time, whether they are 10 days old or 10 years old. Multiple backups of data files are essential at all times.

Frankly, Microsoft needs to abandon the twice a year **"feature update"**approach. One time per year is enough. Even when things go smoothly, twice yearly is far too frequent for home users and for businesses. Let's all use this as a tough learning opportunity, and that goes 10-fold for Microsoft!

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.

I am in the same boat. Following for possible assist with fix that won't take weeks.

I allowed the automatic 1809 update to go through on Oct 3 afternoon. When I did the restart I noticed all my missing data. I have a ticket with MS Level 3 but they have never contacted me. Level 1 continues to insist that allowing my computer to run will not overlay files but I doubt their thinking. I went to Geek Squad and I downloaded Active@ and we ran File Recovery. We could get some files but not those with unusual extensions such as .T17 (HR Block tax data) or .mny (MS Money). At this moment running the Last Chance option to see if it can find more data. Im in shock.

For what it's worth, I did call Microsoft support, was assigned a case number, and they called me back and setup an appointment for me to bring in my desktop to the nearest Microsoft Store, which I will do tomorrow (about an hour's drive away).

I don't hold out much hope for them being able to do much - there has been a lot of disk activity since the disaster - I tried a backup restore, which brought in thousands of files, only to discover that the newest one is eight months old! But I'll be able to be face to face with at least one real person...

Another issue is of course Microsoft's "backup" failing. It was (and still is) enabled for hourly backups of a few dozen folders, including the usual suspects - like "Documents", "Pictures", etc. I'll be sure to ask them why it didn't run.

So - I'm trying to figure out the best way to restore my financial data - I do have a great pile of paper receipts and statements. Sigh...