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Find the file you thought you had lost.

Practical, plain-English guides for finding a file, folder, PDF, invoice or photo on your Windows computer.

How to find a lost file on your computer

Cannot find a document on your PC? Follow these simple steps to locate a lost file, even when you do not remember its name.

Find a poorly named PDF or document using words from its content, a date, company or amount instead of its filename.

Search words across many PDFs and scanned documents without opening every file one by one.

Find a photo using simple visual clues such as an object, a dominant colour or words visible in the image.

Understand how local content search can find Windows documents and photos when filenames are unclear.

Locate a file you downloaded but can no longer find using your browser history, the Downloads folder or content search.

Simple ways to locate a folder that was moved, renamed or forgotten in Windows.

Check the Recycle Bin, backups and Windows history after deleting a file by mistake.

Find an invoice PDF using the supplier, date, amount or document content even when its filename is meaningless.

Use local OCR and content clues to find a scanned contract, invoice or letter with an unhelpful filename.

Find a document by modification date, year or a date written inside its content.

Recover the location of a Word document or Excel workbook using recent files, dates, names and content.

A simple method for organizing Documents, Downloads and photos without creating a complicated folder system.

Rename one or several files clearly in Windows and use consistent names that remain easy to search.

Identify duplicate documents and photos by size, content and location before deleting anything.