Win 10 Windows Explorer in a mess

[arthur brogard]

I went to my downloads folder to sort it out. Filtered for *.pdf and got a few hits. Started moving them out and it went well for a while and then I started getting error messages. 'cannot find', 'no longer located at...'
So I left the filter and went looking.
Yep, they show up in an ordinary listing of the folder.
But they cannot be opened or moved.
so I've got a corrupted downloads folder.
Is there some fix for this>

 

[Bighorn]

Before reinstalling Windows I'd try one of the third-party file managers like FreeCommander, Total Commander, MultiCommander. Even the old File Manager from Win3.1 can work. I like Total Commander enough to have bought it, others are free. There's also a Registry edit about Copy to and Move to so you choose a folder as the destination for the functions, check the Tutorials here or on www.tenforums.com. A good source I use for third-party programs is www.majorgeeks.com, haven't had an infected download over several years.