Lost files while copying/pasting...

The Recycle Bin is in the C:\ drive and is usually the last item in your Navigation Pane in your Windows Explorer.

There are several other places you can look for your files. First, open your Start Menu and search your Recent Items list.

Then, if not there, go to the REAL Recent Items folder located at:
C:\Users/USERNAME/AppData/Microsoft/Roaming/Recent Items. There you will find a long, long list of all of the last several months' worth of recent items.

If your moved files were in WLM then you should look in the Deleted folder, and if you haven't set your Deleted folder to delete instantly, they should hopefully still be there. If not there, also check your Drafts folder and for good measure, your Sent and Junk folders.

If you still can't find them, do a Search or an Advanced Search by file name or some key words in the files.

Hello and thank you so much Imperfect!


I found the lost files at Search!!! Just as you suggested to do. I’m so happy and so grateful to you for your very thorough answer!!!

But...how do I copy them into a folder? They are all hypertext and can’t highlight and copy...

Thank you so much again, and for this new question? :)


Most gratefully, Adela

Hello there, Adela.

What you need to do after you find a file you want to move to another folder is to right click the file(s) and click on Cut/Copy and then go to the folder you want to have them, right click an empty space on that folder and click on Paste.

Then your files will me moved/copied into the new folder :)

Hello Punkster and thanks so much!

I'll do as you suggest but...is there no way to copy or move all of them at one time? I have quite a few of them!

Also, and in case I need this in the future, could you and/or Imperfect or someone else in this great forum tell me how to get to the following link or other similar ones?:

C:\Users/USERNAME/AppData/Microsoft/Roaming/Recent Items

BIG THANK YOU BOTH!!! :) Adela

Yes, there's a way to move/copy them all at the same time, if you want them all to be selected for copying/moving, just press CTRL (hold it there) and press "A", it'll select all items in the folder, if you DON'T want to select them all, you click any empty space in the folder and while holding the click, drag the mouse around to create a "selection square", any files within that square will be selected, from there you could delete them, copy them, cut them, move them.. the list goes on and on :)

AppData is a hidden folder, there's a reason why it's hidden, so i'd suggest you don't go through that folder unless you need to, and you could always find it in the "Search Bar" :)

Punkster said:

Yes, there's a way to move/copy them all at the same time, if you want them all to be selected for copying/moving, just press CTRL (hold it there) and press "A", it'll select all items in the folder, if you DON'T want to select them all, you click any empty space in the folder and while holding the click, drag the mouse around to create a "selection square", any files within that square will be selected, from there you could delete them, copy them, cut them, move them.. the list goes on and on :)

AppData is a hidden folder, there's a reason why it's hidden, so i'd suggest you don't go through that folder unless you need to, and you could always find it in the "Search Bar" :)

Oh thanks so much, Punkster, I immediately went to to do it, but...it doesn’t let me highlight one or more items in any way, including Ctrl + A, because, as mentioned, they are hyperlinks and open at the mere slight touch of the mouse.

So I clicked on “More results” and here I can highlight and copy or move one or more of them; however each file title comes surrounded by text: above by my email address and below by a few lines of the text in the file, and it would take a lot of work and time to clean out each item...

It seems I’ll have to choose between doing one by one, or take a lot of time and work doing them together then cleaning out each title...What was Microsoft thinking when they invented this terrible email program so full of glitches???

I’m now in the process of transferring my emails to Thunderbird in which process, unfortunately, it is when I lost the many files in each of their folders. Thanks to you and to Imperfect, I’m retrieving them, but still must continue with the complicated transfer and will kiss WLM goodbye forever...Perhaps in time I could do away with all of Microsoft too by getting Open Office?...

Thanks very much again also for explaining about AppData! :) Adela

Hey Dude, have you lost some of your important files after cutting/copying operation then don't worry. Just follow the following steps. Firstly, try to search inside your Trash folder, if not found. Go for backup option, yes, if you have a proper backup of your lost files then you can easily be able to restore them back. But, if none of the above steps come for your rescue then opting for an effective file recovery software is the best option for you. I too had tried this tool and get my files that get lost after cutting/copying process. So, if you also want to recover your lost file. Try it and solve your problem.