Methods to Recover Files Lost or Missing After Restarting Computer

Windows computer users often face issues where files disappear after an automatic system restart. It’s frustrating when important files or folders go missing. Here are common reasons for data loss from a computer hard drive:

Windows updates: If you accidentally choose to restart ‘Now’ for updates, the computer reboots, and some files may disappear.

Power fluctuations: Frequent power issues can shut down the computer, causing file loss.

File transfer issues: Important files like audios, documents, videos, or pictures may be lost during transfer to external devices.

Boot sector problems: If the boot sector has issues, the PC may restart automatically, leading to missing files or unsaved changes.

Unsaved files, like a new Word document worked on for a long time, will be completely lost after a restart since the ‘Autosave’ option can’t recover unsaved files. However, for saved documents, only recent changes may be lost, and the ‘Autosave’ option can help recover them. Entire folders on the desktop may also become invisible after a restart.

To recover missing or lost files, use reliable file recovery software. Avoid saving new files to the hard drive to prevent data overwriting.

Software to retrieve missing files after computer restart:

Yodot File Recovery is a highly trusted software for recovering files after a computer restart. It’s designed to safely and quickly retrieve lost or erased files and folders from your computer’s hard drive.

With advanced recovery algorithms, it fully restores various file types, including doc, txt, exe, xls, ppt, pdf, pic, and more, from both internal and external hard drives.

It can also recover missing files from incomplete file transfers to external storage like memory cards or USB drives. The software works on all Windows OS.

Follow simple steps to get back files lost when computer restarted:

• Download Yodot File Recovery tool and install it on your Windows computer from which files are lost
• Follow the instructions to launch the product. In the main screen click on “Lost File Recovery” option to proceed



• Then the software provides all logical and physical drives present on the system
• Select the drive/ partition from which recovery has to be carried out
• On clicking next, the tool triggers scanning process on the selected drive
• Status of recovery process will be shown in Progress bar
• Next, all recoverable files will be detected and shown in list
• Make use of Data view or File type view to have a glance at various restored files



• Then, select your required files and proceed to save them
• Target a new location on the system drive to store recovered files and click on Save button

Frequently Asked Questions

1: How do I recover unsaved files after restarting?

Check if the program has an auto-recovery feature (e.g., Microsoft Word’s Document Recovery). Look in temporary folders (e.g., %AppData% or /tmp on Linux/Mac). Use file recovery software like Recuva or Disk Drill if files were saved temporarily.

2: How do I find missing system files?

Run System File Checker (Windows: sfc /scannow in Command Prompt) to repair missing or corrupted system files. On Mac, use Disk Utility’s First Aid. Reinstall the OS if needed, but back up data first.

3: How do I find missing files on my computer?

Search using File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac) with keywords or file extensions. Check the Recycle Bin/Trash, recent files, or cloud backups (e.g., OneDrive, iCloud). Use tools like Everything (Windows) or Spotlight (Mac) for faster searches.