Windows 10 no longer automatically deletes Downloads files on cloud backup

Microsoft is adjusting the auto cleanup feature in Windows 10. The operating system is less likely to remove files from folders such as Downloads. Users had indicated to Microsoft that this was happening too often.

The changes are in a feature called Storage Sense. Microsoft made the changes in Windows 10 2004 preview build 19640: the May Update. The main change in this is that Microsoft updates the cleanup tools for unused files.

Storage Sense, unlike Disk Cleanup, can automatically delete unused files on users’ PCs. Windows 10 will then delete files if they are not open after a certain period of time. Microsoft is now adding an option to Storage Sense that will no longer delete files if the Downloads folder is linked to a cloud provider for backup purposes, for example.

Microsoft also introduced a feature in Windows 10’s May Update that it had been testing in Previews since last year . The Downloads folder was removed from the Disk Cleanup tool. The folder was unchecked in the tool by default, but users sometimes accidentally checked that box.