Find Lost Photos After The Upgrade To Windows 10
‘After upgrading my PC to Windows 10, I found all my photos missing from the computer. I don’t have an updated backup. Is there a way to restore my lost photos?’
Usually, Windows updates are secure and don’t result in users’ data loss. But you cannot avoid unexpected technical glitches or bugs. You may realize that your image files or other data are missing after Windows 10 update installation.
If your photos are missing from the computer after a Windows upgrade, no need to worry. There are ways you can try that can recover lost photos.
This post will share various methods to reinstate lost photos after upgrading to the latest Windows 10 version.
How to find lost photos after upgrade to Windows 10
There are various techniques to find and save the missing files in the system after the OS upgrade to Windows 10. You can perform advance search of your photos on PC. The image files might be hidden, so try to unhide them. Lost photo recovery is also possible from Windows backup. If none of these methods work, a photo recovery software might come as a rescue.
Below are the 6 ways to recover image files missing after Windows 10 upgrade:
- Check and log out of a temporary account
- Find photos using ‘Search’ in Windows
- Unhide image files after Windows update
- Restore photos from backup in external drive or cloud
- Restore photos from previous versions of Windows 10 backup
- Use a photo recovery software for lost files
1. Check and log out of a temporary account
When you upgrade to Windows 10, a temporary user account is created, which is not removed even after the update is completely installed. Thus, you may get logged in to your PC through the temporary account instead of your own profile.
Check from which account you have logged in. If it’s the temporary profile, login again.
Follow the below steps to check and log out of a temporary account:
• Open Windows Settings > Accounts.
• Click Sync your settings on the left pane.
• If a message appears that reads, ‘You are logged on with a temporary profile. Roaming options are currently unavailable’, restart your computer.
This would remove the temporary profile and you should be able to find the lost photos and other files after Windows 10 update.
In case you receive the message — ‘We can’t sign into your account. This problem can often be fixed by signing out of your account and then signing back in.’ Then too, restart your computer.
Caution: Back up your data you created since Windows upgrade before signing out of the temporary profile.
2. Find photos using ‘Search’ in Windows
If you are signed in with your account, look for the photos using the search box on the taskbar. If you don’t locate your pictures, then troubleshoot the search option in Windows 10 by following the below steps:
• In the Windows search box, type indexing.
• Select Indexing Options.
• Click on Advanced in the Indexing Options window.
• In the Advanced Options box, select Troubleshoot search and indexing link and follow the prompts.
3. Unhide image files after Windows update
It might be possible that some files are hidden. Unhide the files and see if you can view your missing pictures. Follow the below steps to unhide files in Windows:
• Open File Explorer.
• Select the View tab.
• In the Show/hide section, check in the Hidden items.
Next, use the search box in File Explorer to find your missing photos. Use the asterisk (*) with file extension. For example, *.jpeg.
4. Restore photos from backup in external drive or cloud
You are saved, if you maintain backup of your photos or at least backed your data before Windows upgrade in the external drive or cloud storage. Look for lost photos in the backup drives.
5. Restore photos from previous versions of Windows 10 backup
Lost photos recovery is also possible if you have been using ‘Backup and Restore’ feature in Windows 10. Look for lost files after Windows update in the backup created in the previous versions of Windows.
Follow the below steps to recover photos from Windows previous version:
• Go to Control Panel.
• Click on System and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7).
• Click Restore my files under Restore. Follow the prompts to save the image files at chosen location.
6. Use a photo recovery software for lost files
When none of the methods help to recover the lost photos after Windows 10 update, a recovery software is the only assured solution.
Get Stellar Photo Recovery software that can comprehensively scan through the Windows drives and partitions to recover lost pictures. It is compatible with HDD, SSD drives configured to FAT32, ExFAT, HFS+, NTFS, or other file systems.
Although Stellar Photo Recovery can restore videos and audio files, you can also search for specific image files and restore only what you want.
Steps to recover lost photos after Windows update with Stellar Photo Recovery software:
Step 1: Download and launch Stellar Photo Recovery.
Step 2: Select the location to scan for lost photos. Turn on Deep Scan at the bottom.
Step 3: Click Scan.
Step 4: Select the image file and preview the found photos. Click Recover.
Step 5: Save photos at your desired location.
Stellar Photo Recovery also has an upgraded Professional edition that can also repair corrupt and damaged pictures of various file formats, including TIFF, JPG, PNG, RAW, DNG, CR2, etc.
Wrapping Up
If you cannot locate your important pictures after upgrading to Windows 10, troubleshoot the problem using the methods given here. However, if you want a hassle-free and quick solution to the problem, trust an efficient photo recovery software, such as Stellar Photo Recovery. The advanced search engine of the software does the job for you. You can simply save the recovered photos at your desired location.
