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I turned the computer on today and found this mess. Somehow the default Downloads folder is merged with the desktop, though they both maintain separate contents. The system thinks Downloads still exists, the folder file path points to it, despite the name being different. I haven't changed anything in the system except for adding books to Calibre, which doesn't touch the Downloads folder. Here are my screenshots. Thank you for the help.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
OK good.. those registries are all good, so I don't think we have an integrity issue here, that means we should be able to simply rename it.
In your File explorer, right click on the Desktop folder that's actually pointing to Downloads folder path, use the rename option, and rename it back to Downloads. See if it sticks. It should as I tested on mine and it lets me.
That fixed it. Thank you! I really wish I knew how this happened, though.
You are welcome. I wish I had the answer for that one, but I don't think I would know.
These are considered system folders, so I was more concerned that the behind-the-scene relationship was changed. But luckily as you said, downloads still know where to go, and the registry values show that too. So I think the name change alone should be sufficient.
If all is good, feel free to mark the answer for this thread, or let me know if you need anything else from me.
