Microsoft says it can recover missing files following botched Windows 10 update

Microsoft abruptly paused the October 2018 Update of its Windows 10 operating system after reports the new software deleted some users’ files. Luckily, there may still be hope of recovering your deleted files if you were one of the many people affected.

According to head of the Windows Insider program Dona Sarkar, Microsoft support has a few tools to reverse the effects of the update and restore your deleted files. “They have the tools to get you back to a good state,” Sarkar said in a tweet. She also suggested users who discovered missing files call Microsoft support at +1-800-Microsoft for assistance.

However, many who called Microsoft’s customer support for the fix are reporting that they’re being told the investigation into the bug that deleted the files is still ongoing and that there’s no special tool that reverses the issue so far. So, it appears that not all Microsoft tech support knows about the tools.

Other reports on the internet are detailing a different experience with tech support agents who are attempting to run System Restore on the affected computers, which requires a restore point being created before the update was installed. If that doesn’t work, the issue escalates to a NTFS file system recovery process, which depends on the missing file data not being overwritten.

Furthermore, Microsoft’s Windows 10 update history support page has been updated telling users to “please minimize your use of the affected device and contact us directly.”

Since the version 1809 release last week, Microsoft has completely halted the Windows 10 update. The company is pausing the rollout while they look into the reports of the missing file issue.