Question Storage sense makes no sense

[notaramdongeek]

I was doing an update a few days ago and I check my device to see notifications and one of them says that we turned on storage sense for you. It was on even when I was low on space, I usually back up stuff to the cloud and then delete it, but today Windows decided to really ruin my day. Now all my photos and downloads in a certain folder that I was going to back up right before this happened are gone. I never even wanted storage sense on, and I googled it to see how you can turn it off for good. A lot of people are saying it can be done, but I find that even with it off it still will turn on if you run out of disk space. I'm upset because now I lost files on my SSD. I am on Windows 10 22H2, does anyone know how to disable storage sense and ensure that it doesn't turn on? The forums or questions similar to this has different indefinite answers.
I feel that if I wanted storage sense on or even wanted my files to be deleted (I would have done it myself), It literally deleted 33 GB worth of files. This is the type of stuff that drives me to go to Linux or use an older operating system.

 

[notaramdongeek]

This would happen to me right before I back things up and I always check it daily to make sure it was off, then the benefit of the doubt happened and I was wondering why my disk space was going from 2GB to 40GB. I didn't want files deleted and this stupid mechanism that Microsoft has is really taking a turn.

 

[Colif]

Had you toggled it off in settings/system/storage?

I guess it was just trying to save space. I mean, its not a good idea to have so little free space on an ssd. They slow down when below 10% free space, and Its obvious the drive wasn't 20gb in size.
it automatically enables when drive is running low on space. Answer is to get more space. And avoid going too low.


option 3 here might work - if you on Pro you can try 2 - Backup registry before you make any changes as suggested in the fix:

3 Ways to Disable Storage Sense on Windows

Storage Sense can help clean up your PC, but if you'd prefer it didn't, here's how to disable it on Windows.

www.makeuseof.com

 

[MJS WARLORD]

This would happen to me right before I back things up and I always check it daily to make sure it was off, then the benefit of the doubt happened and I was wondering why my disk space was going from 2GB to 40GB. I didn't want files deleted and this stupid mechanism that Microsoft has is really taking a turn.

Along time ago i accidentally deleted some photos and a pal told me about a free program called recuva

https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva/download

It was a long time ago but as far as i remember you choose what type of items you want to recover.
The one thing i do remember is the items it found had strange names or numbers on them but it did find what i wanted.

 

[Ralston18]

No immediate idea about what may have happened.

However, Storage Sense targets only the Recycle Bin contents.

FYI:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...ge-sense-654f6ada-7bfc-45e5-966b-e24aded96ad5

Consider that you may still be able to recover the lost files:

https://www.handyrecovery.com/recycle-bin-recovery.html

You can easily find other similar links and, if necessary, third party tools and recovery options.

= = = =

The best hope being the last full backup hosted away from the computer/system in question.

 

[MJS WARLORD]

Had you toggled it off in settings/system/storage?

I guess it was just trying to save space. I mean, its not a good idea to have so little free space on an ssd. They slow down when below 10% free space, and Its obvious the drive wasn't 20gb in size.
it automatically enables when drive is running low on space. Answer is to get more space. And avoid going too low.


option 3 here might work - if you on Pro you can try 2 - Backup registry before you make any changes as suggested in the fix:

3 Ways to Disable Storage Sense on Windows

Storage Sense can help clean up your PC, but if you'd prefer it didn't, here's how to disable it on Windows.

www.makeuseof.com

Hi ... i did not even know windows had something called storage sense so after reading your comments i checked my settings and its turned off..... i do know that if a drives content line turns red i need to have a clear out.

 

[Colif]

I didn't realise it just did temp files and ones in recycle bin

Surely op isn't storing things in the bin? Were they in the bin?

Just curious as if not, its not SS and which case I have to wonder what it was.

What Make/Model ssd? How old?

 

[notaramdongeek]

Had you toggled it off in settings/system/storage?

I guess it was just trying to save space. I mean, its not a good idea to have so little free space on an ssd. They slow down when below 10% free space, and Its obvious the drive wasn't 20gb in size.
it automatically enables when drive is running low on space. Answer is to get more space. And avoid going too low.


option 3 here might work - if you on Pro you can try 2 - Backup registry before you make any changes as suggested in the fix:

3 Ways to Disable Storage Sense on Windows

Storage Sense can help clean up your PC, but if you'd prefer it didn't, here's how to disable it on Windows.

www.makeuseof.com

These are things that would drive me away from Microsoft, if I wanted storage sense on it would be on, I never did, the fact that it just configures itself and turn on and then delete half my stuff is just outrageous. It ignored my instructions I always told it to never run, until it changed on it's own. Plus this is an SSD it is new, and now my data is gone because not only was it encrypted but also was put with Bit-locker on. I just don't understand how Microsoft can do stuff like this.

 

[notaramdongeek]

I didn't realise it just did temp files and ones in recycle bin

Surely op isn't storing things in the bin? Were they in the bin?

Just curious as if not, its not SS and which case I have to wonder what it was.

What Make/Model ssd? How old?

No it was not the recycle bin, I never put anything there or in temp folders. I'm not that stupid. Also my SSD I don't know the name but it is a 2TB SSD and I have had it for two years (since 2023). However I realized that the stuff I was looking for that was deleted was backed up, thankfully but I just don't understand how this can just turn itself on. No wonder why people don't upgrade or update their systems to Windows 10. What's next if my drive space is too low, is Microsoft gonna ensure that Windows formats it? It was on my drive for a reason. I still have it though, backed up thankfully.

 

[Ralston18]

Take a close look at any "synchronizations" that are in place.

Out in the cloud, between servers, NAS, drives, and folders, anywhere....

If you want Folder A to always match Folder B (wherever they are) and vice versa then whatever happens in one folder will happen in the other.

 

[Bob.B]

These are things that would drive me away from Microsoft, if I wanted storage sense on it would be on, I never did, the fact that it just configures itself and turn on and then delete half my stuff is just outrageous. It ignored my instructions I always told it to never run, until it changed on it's own. Plus this is an SSD it is new, and now my data is gone because not only was it encrypted but also was put with Bit-locker on. I just don't understand how Microsoft can do stuff like this.

It falls under the heading of.....stuff happens.

Have the recovery method ready to go.