removing downloaded files from windows 10 How to Stop Windows 10 Deleting Files Automatically. on this page, you'll find handy solutions to restore deleted files on Windows 10 and stop Windows 10 from deleting files without asking. Workable Solutions Step-by-step Troubleshooting Fix 1. Stop Windows Defender Open Windows Defender > click Virus & Threat protection > click Exclusions. Full steps Fix 2. Turn off Storage Sense Go to Settings > System > Storage > toggle Storage Sense to "Off". Full steps Fix 3. Uninstall faulty updates Open Control Panel > click Programs and Features > click View Installed Updates. Full steps. Q: Windows Defender Keeps Deleting Files. " Hi, I' m having an issue that my computer is automatically d eleting files without asking me for confirmation. I use some programs with .exe extension . But W indows defender reads those as a virus, and it deletes them while I still want them! H ow do I stop W indows defender from deleting files that I want to keep? " Are you having the same issue that Windows defender keeps deleting files, such as downloaded videos, documents, or .exe programs? Or is your Windows 10 automatically deleting downloaded files and data without asking for confirmation? Although it sounds senseless, it is true. Windows 10 may keep deleting programs and documents after restart because of the defender or the new storage sense feature in Windows 10. But, you don't have to worry since you can easily recover deleted files Windows 10 using a professional data recovery tool, after that, you can use the helpful methods demonstrated below to stop Windows from deleting files automatically. Part 1. Restore Files Deleted by Windows 10. If your important files got removed or deleted by Windows 10 and you can't get them back anyhow, don't worry. One of the best file recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard can simply recover your lost files within three steps. It allows you to restore files deleted from the recycle bin, HDD, SSD, USB flash drive, external hard drive, digital camera, and more. Now, download and install this software on your PC and follow the next steps to restore the removed files deleted by Windows 10. Step 1. Select a location and start scanning. Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, hover on the location where you lost data, then click "Scan". Step 2. Preview and select the files. Wait until the scanning completes. You can use Filter or search bar to find lost files. Step 3. Recover lost data. Then choose a location to save the recovered data, and click "OK". You should store the data in another place instead of the original one. Part 2. Fix Windows 10 Automatically Delete Files Error. After getting all your lost files deleted by the Windows system, now you can follow solutions here to fix Windows 10 from deleting files problem. Method 1. Stop Windows Defender from Deleting Files Automatically. 1. Open "Windows Defender" > Click on "Virus & threat protection". 2. Scroll down and click "Virus & threat protection" settings. 3. Scroll down to "Exclusions" and click "Add or remove exclusions". 4. Click + plus icon to add an exclusion and select File, Folder, File Type, or Process, then specify the exact files, folders, or even file types that you don't want to get them deleted or removed by Windows Defender. 5. Save all changes. If you don't want Windows Defender to remove the .dll files, click "File Types" and type in the .dll and .exe file extension, click "Add". After this, those files that you’ve set to be excluded won’t be removed or deleted again. Method 2. Turn off Storage Sense to Stop Windows 10 Deleting Files Automatically. Storage Sense in Windows 10 is a new feature. When you enable it, Windows will automatically delete unused files when the computer is low on disk space. For instance, it can automatically delete files older than 30 or 60 days from the Recycle Bin or delete temporary files to free up some space. It also can delete older files in the Downloads folder. But If you don't want the Storage Sense to delete files by itself, you can change its default settings to prevent Windows 10 from automatically deleting files when you want to keep them. Step 1. Open the "Settings" app. Click the "System" > "Storage". You can flip the Storage Sense switch to "Off". Step 2. If you don't want to disable this feature totally, you can re-configure Storage Sense by click "Change how we free up space automatically". Step 3. Click the box under "Delete files in my recycle bin if they have been there for over" and select "Never". Also, click the box under "Delete files in my Downloads folder if they have been there for over" and choose "Never". Method 3. Uninstall Faulty Updates that Delete Files on Windows 10. As we all know that sometimes the newly installed Windows system would remove or delete files on the computer without asking you for permission. It seems that if you’ve installed an incompatible or faulty Windows 10 update, it will remove or delete your files on PC. SO the most straight-forward way is to uninstall the faulty updates that remove files on your Windows 10 computer. Here are the detailed steps about how to uninstall faulty updates: Step 1. Press Windows + X keys and select "Control Panel". Step 2. Click "Programs and Features" and select "View Installed Updates". Step 3. Click the "Installed On" column header to sort the updates by dates. Step 4. Locate and right-click on the large-sized, major updates that you’ve recently downloaded, and select "Uninstall". Step 5. When the uninstall process completes, reboot your PC. PS: If you want to install the latest Windows 10 update, you can refer to Microsoft Windows 10 update official website to download Windows 10 ISO and install it on your PC then. How to Remove Junk Files From Windows 10. The longer you use your computer, the more it accumulates files that you likely do not need. Cleaning out those junk files can improve speed and performance. But how do you know what is trash and what is treasure? Learn how to remove junk files from Windows 10 and keep your hard drive clean without harming your PC. The Benefits of Removing Junk Files From Your Computer. Leaving files and programs on your computer that you don't need wastes precious space. It makes your machine work harder than it needs to. It can also slow down your computer, as it has to dig and sift through these files to find what it needs or use resources to update applications you no longer use. Before You Begin. System Restore is a Windows tool that essentially allows you to take your computer back in time. If you should inadvertently delete a file that you still need, performing System Restore could save you. Before you start taking out the trash on your Windows 10 PC, make sure that System Restore is enabled. Follow up by creating a system restore point that you could revert your system to in case you accidentally delete something important. Enter control panel in the Search box and select Control Panel app in the search results. Select System and Security and then select System if your Control Panel window is in Category view. Select System if your Control Panel window is in Icon view. Select System Protection in the left pane. The System Properties window will open. Make sure Protection is set to On for the System drive. If not, select the drive and then select Configure . Select Turn on system protection and then select Apply . Select Create next to Create a restore point right now for the drives that have system protection turned on . Type a word or phrase to describe the restore point. The date and time will be added automatically. Select Create . When the process is complete, a message stating The restore point was created successfully will appear. Select Close . You can restore your system to the current settings in the future, if need be. Managing the Recycle Bin. The Recycle Bin will store deleted files. If you decide you need one back, it's easy to go in and restore it. However, as space fills up, Windows 10 will begin to permanently get rid of those files, beginning with the oldest ones first. If you are certain you don't need any of the files currently in the Recycle Bin, you can empty it to make room for more. Press Win + D or select the space at the very right end of the taskbar to access the desktop. Right-click the Recycle Bin . Select Empty Recycle Bin . Select Yes to confirm that you want to permanently delete the items. Trashing Temporary Files. Temp files are also junk that you can clean off your computer. You can use a Windows 10 setting to automatically get rid of temporary files for you. Go to Start > Settings > System . Select Storage in the left pane. Turn on the toggle switch under Storage . Select Configure Storage Sense or run it now . Under Temporary Files , select Delete temporary files that my apps aren't using . Choose a frequency in the drop-down lists under Temporary Files . These allow you to choose how often Windows will delete temp files in your Recycle Bin and your Downloads folder. Select Clean Now if you want to delete these temporary files immediately. Exit the Settings window. The Disk Cleanup Tool. Disk Cleanup is an integrated tool in Windows. Running this tool simplifies the task of getting rid of junk files in Windows 10, such as previous software installations, Recycle Bin contents, temporary files, and thumbnails.