Solved – Documents and Settings/Documents Folder is not Accessible

Before getting started, let’s make sure you are looking for the Documents in the right place. The Documents folder is present in a different location on each version of Windows OS, hence the confusion. Please refer to the guide below.

In Windows XP, My Computer > C :\> Documents and Settings.

In Windows Vista, Username > Documents.

In Windows 7, Libraries folder > Documents > My documents.

In Windows 8, This PC > Documents

In Windows 10, you will find it in This PC > Documents.

So, once the correct location is identified, try to open the folder. However, if you’re still unable to access it or you encounter an error message ‘This folder cannot be accessed’, this article will help you. You need to understand that this error is often a result of incorrect file/ folder permissions or ownership issues. In this article, we provide some solutions to resolve the issue.

Solution 1: Change file/folder permissions

1. Right click on the Documents folder and click Properties
2. In the Properties window, choose the Security tab
3. Click on your username to verify the permissions you have
4. If you need to change permissions, click Edit and add the permissions you need to have.

This will help you gain permissions and you should be able to view the Documents folder. If you don’t, you probably have to take ownership of the file.

Solution 2: Take ownership of the Documents folder

1. Find the Documents folder, right click on it and select Properties
2. Choose the Security tab, and click on Advanced
3. In Advanced Security Settings, click on Owner tab
4. If you need to change the owner, click the Edit button and select desired User. If the desired owner is listed, select from the list and click Ok.
5. If the user is not listed, click on Other users or groups. In the prompt that appears, select Advanced. Then click on Find Now to list all users. Select a user from the list and click Ok
6. Click Ok in the Windows Security prompt and close the Properties window.

Now you’ve added the desired user as owner. Once this is done, try re-opening Documents folder. You should be able to open once you have listed the new user as owner. If you still have trouble opening the folder, you may want to look into recovery options.

The documents folder may have been deleted from the system accidentally or due to malware. It can also happen if the user account has been deleted from your system. In that case, all data associated with that particular account will be deleted.

Use Yodot File Recovery Software

In order to recover these files, you will need specialized data recovery tools such as Yodot Recovery Software. It is a great tool to recover your documents, files, folders etc. All kinds of files such as Word documents, Excel sheets, PDF’s, archives etc. can be recovered. Hundreds of file types can be identified and recovered by the software.

It is designed with a simple interface, so you don’t need any special knowledge to recover your files. Refer restore my documents folder for detailed steps on the recovery process.