The Windows 10 October 2018 Update is a gift that keeps on giving. Not only is this new version rich in features and new additions, Microsoft also seems to have made a number of underlying tweaks.
One of which resulted in user data being deleted, which led to the company pausing the rollout.
As is the norm with major new updates to an OS, users have also reported a few other quirks here and there, some unexpected changes.
Amidst all that, is another one that can result in you losing your downloads — if you are not paying attention to the Disk Cleanup tool in this version of the operating system. Yes, the same Disk Cleanup tool that Microsoft is all intent on removing very soon.
The company is now focused on what is known as Storage Sense, which basically now supersedes the classic utility that is being kept solely for compatibility reasons.
However, bizarrely for something that is being depreciated, Redmond has decided to add a new feature to the Disk Cleanup tool that you will need to be mindful of moving forward.
As the image above shows, the Downloads folder has been added as a cleanup location for the selected disk in the Windows 10 October 2018 Update. Most people have it figured out that all of the options in the Disk Cleanup tool were very safe to select for cleanup.
However, as one user found out, it is now possible to wipe out the entire Downloads folder by mistake by selecting all the options in Disk Cleanup.
Thankfully, as noted, the Downloads folder is not automatically selected for cleanup in the legacy tool.
But considering this program dates back to the Windows 95 era, most users don’t give much thought to it when powering through this utility. The cleanup for the Downloads folder has already been added to the Storage Sense option in the Settings app, so one needs to be extra careful here.
Long story short, if you have upgraded, or are planning to upgrade to the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, then it pays to pay attention to the options you select in these tools.
The last thing we need here is more user data being deleted.
