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Module · Files & documents

Files & documents, in depth.

"My files disappeared" usually isn't data loss. Fixato finds out what really happened — a OneDrive redirection, a cleanup schedule, a broken association — and shows you the proof before touching anything.

In plain language

A file that won't open, documents that seem gone, an "access denied" out of nowhere — these feel like disasters and rarely are. Fixato reads what Windows actually did with your files and explains it plainly. Showing you, with proof, that your files are safe is the single most reassuring thing this product does.

Under the hood

Filesystem and shell forensics: association registry, real file-content identification, OneDrive folder redirection, recycle-bin provenance, Storage Sense schedules, owner/ACL analysis. Repairs reset per-user choices — they never force a default app.

Proof, not panic

It shows you where your files went.

Search by name fragment across the recycle bin (with origin and date), your profile, OneDrive and Office autorecover — then the honest explanation.

  • Very often nothing is lost — and it proves it.
  • The real cause named: redirection, schedule, association.
  • Nothing is changed without your yes.
FixatoFiles & documentsExamplefound
Desktop files
redirected to OneDrive · all present
safe
Downloads
Storage Sense deletes after 30 days
explained
invoice.pdf
association repaired · opens again
repaired
Recycle bin
3 files · origin & date shown
recoverable
What it checks

What really happened to the file.

All read-only. The diagnosis comes before any gesture, so the fix targets the actual cause.

Where your files went

Searches by name fragment: recycle bin (with where it came from and when), your profile, OneDrive, Office autorecover — the honest answer to "my files disappeared".

Named toolfind_lost_file

OneDrive redirection

Whether Desktop or Documents were redirected to OneDrive — the usual truth behind an "empty" desktop: nothing is lost, it moved.

Named toolget_folder_redirection_status

Is Windows deleting on a schedule?

Whether Storage Sense is emptying Downloads or the recycle bin automatically — the case where files really were removed, by a setting.

Named toolget_storage_sense_settings

What the file really is

Reads the actual content behind the extension (renamed, empty, double extension) and what Windows has registered to open it — and whether that program still exists.

Named toolsidentify_file_typeget_file_association

What can open it, already installed

Programs already on your PC that can open the format, plus the honest official source for it — never a "download this converter" site.

Named toolsfind_openers_for_extensionlookup_file_type

"Access denied", explained

Names the owner/permission cause, and the exact program holding the file open when that's the blocker.

Named toolsget_file_access_problemfind_file_lock_holder

When the program is the problem

Outlook slow to start, Word crashing at launch: reads the state of Office and its add-ins — the classic cause — before anything is touched.

Named toolget_office_health

Each name above is one of Fixato's named tools. The agent picks from that closed list — it can't type a command of its own. The complete list is published with the licence.

What it repairs (with your yes)

Then it fixes the mechanism, gently.

Your confirmation first, and it never forces a default app — for that choice, it takes you to the right Windows screen.

Repair a broken association

Resets a broken per-user "open with" choice so double-click works again — for vital extensions that refuse to open.

Named toolrepair_file_association

Stop scheduled deletion

Turns Storage Sense off when it was silently emptying your Downloads — here the frequent direction is off, not on.

Named toolset_storage_sense

Disable a faulty Office add-in

Turns off a single add-in — the classic cause of an Outlook that takes a minute to start — reversible, one add-in at a time.

Named toolset_office_addin

Repair Office

Runs Microsoft's official quick repair: works offline, touches neither your accounts nor your files. Save and close Office first — Fixato tells you before it starts.

Named toolrepair_office

Each name above is one of Fixato's named tools. The agent picks from that closed list — it can't type a command of its own. The complete list is published with the licence.

Safe by design.

Diagnosis is read-only. Every change needs your explicit confirmation and is logged on your machine; system repairs are preceded by a restore point — or they're blocked. See security & safety.

Run a free diagnosis

Honest diagnosis is free. No account needed.