When you open Explorer, all the libraries may be missing, and clicking the “Restore default libraries” context menu option would have no effect. For reasons unexplained, in some cases, the libraries may become hidden, and all you need to do is to remove the hidden attribute set from the “library-ms” files.
Removing Hidden Attributes from Libraries
1. Press WinKey + R, and type the following command:
CMD /K CD /D "%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries"
2. Type the following command to unset the Hidden attribute for the library-ms files:
ATTRIB -H *.library-ms
3. Type EXIT to close the Command Prompt window.
Editor’s Note: If the above doesn’t help, you may rename the default “.library-ms files” using these commands:
REN "%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries\Documents.library-ms" Documents.old
REN "%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries\Music.library-ms" Music.old
REN "%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries\Pictures.library-ms" Pictures.old
REN "%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries\Videos.library-ms" Videos.old
Then, open Windows Explorer, right-click Libraries (in the left pane), and click Restore default libraries.
Show Hidden Files in Explorer
Alternately, you can configure Windows Explorer to show hidden files, using the steps below:
- Open Windows Explorer, click Organize.
- Select Folder and search options.
- Click the View tab, and select “Show hidden files, folders and drives”
- Click OK.
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Dear Ramesh: I appreciate the detailed knowledge you put forth on this subject. Renaming the default files worked for me. Recovered the past 20 years of pictures and am very grateful. Respectfully, Renee
doesn’t work, thanks anyway