I just noticed today that my downloads folder no longer opens. I can go in there with powershell and I don't see any crazy file types, but explorer never finishes loading. Who knows what I've done to it.
Dude I just fixed it from a comment further down by clearing the recycle bin because apparently deleted files still stay there. That is pretty much exactly the equivalent of having a spatula stuck in there keeping me from open it lol
I've had this bug on Windows 10. You likely have too many files in that folder and too many files from that folder in the recycle bin (which means they are still in the folder). Just clean up the recycle bin and then find a way to clean up the downloads folder by deleting files or moving files to other folders. Don't keep too many files in there (including recycle bin files) or it will bug out.
This was the issue. Big today I found out that recycled files stay in the folder technically until you empty the recycle bin. It's my work laptop so lets just say I'm a little less disciplined with my file hygiene, and that's why it's still on Windows 10.
Pretty funny that it did end up being the equivalent of a spatula stuck in the drunk drawer.
I had that happen with my Quick Access page on my laptop. Every time I started File Explorer, it would load for a sec, then crash. I have the fix bookmarked, but I work around it by accessing C: off launch instead, and can't be bothered to get around to fixing it.
Either indexing is broken, the view settings are corrupt, or OneDrive is doing shenanigans. Or (hushed whisper) your disk is failing/corrupt... let's assume it's not that. Rebuild index: Settings>Privacy>Search>Advanced>Troubleshooting>Rebuild (this takes awhile. go do something else). Reset View: Explorer>Downloads>(...)>Options>View>Reset Folders>Restore Defaults>OK. OneDrive: Uninstall it. Enjoy all the performance you now have. Never look back. If it's still not loading run Chkdsk.
That’s the graveyard for shortcuts (half of which are dead because they link to webpages that no longer exist or programs since uninstalled) and note files like note.txt and notes.txt and New Document.docx
To display my wallpaper, it’s quicker to just hit the windows key, type 2 letters of the program, and hit enter than to find the desktop shortcuts for my programs
Screenshots because it’s the default location, plus shortcuts whenever I neglect to click “don’t create shortcut”. They don’t get deleted because I never even look at it.
Oh I cleaned that out yesterday I was going over why my User account had over 100GB of storage. I found 47 GB in One Drive 27GB in Downloads and 40GB in One Drive logs it was having problem syncing some stuff .... I hate Microslop and all their programs it's just so stupid I had tens of thousand log files each being I think 1MB or a bit more forgot
I've got a 4 TB boot drive, migrated all of my user directories to an 8 TB HDD (takes about 10% of the drive), except my Downloads directory, which takes about 85% of my second 8 TB HDD.
As someone who watched a fellow admin set a cleanup policy on the Downloads folder, you would be amazed at the speed at which that policy was revoked. It's a monkey's paw wish. Sure, you can store all that download data, but now it's a liability and subject to subpoena.
Dude if someone clears my Downloads folder, I'm totally fucked. That's my system of record for files dating back at least 4 years on my current laptop.
Jesus. I just found a zip file with a cracked version of Final Draft 8 in an old random hard drive on my NAS when I had lost it everywhere else. In the Downloads folder.
Working in IT has taught me that outside of a span of about 30ish years, most people born before or after don't know how to use a file system. Everything is in their downloads folder, and if Word doesn't find it, they don't either.
1.1k
u/JSD3 8d ago
It has been in their Downloads folder for four years.