Computer Basics · Files & Folders · Lesson 5 of 5

Challenge: Grandpa's Lost Photo

Help Grandpa Joe find a lost birthday photo and keep it safe.

Grandpa calls for help

Your grandpa Joe calls, a little upset. Yesterday he downloaded a photo of his grandson's first birthday from a family website. Today he can't find it anywhere.

He also says he cleaned up some old junk files this morning. He is worried he lost the photo for good.

You tell him not to worry. Most lost files are just in a different place than we expect.

You sit down at his Windows laptop. The desktop is showing, with the taskbar along the bottom. First, you need to open the app that shows all his files and folders.

A crowded Downloads folder

You click Downloads on the left. It is packed with hundreds of files, some from years ago.

Grandpa remembers one thing. The file had the word birthday in its name. Looking at every file one by one would take all afternoon.

Not where you expected

The search finds nothing. Then Grandpa says it again. This morning, he deleted a pile of files he thought were junk.

You open the Recycle Bin from the desktop. There it is: birthday party.jpg. Luckily, he did not empty the bin.

You right-click the photo to bring it back to the folder it came from.

Keeping it safe

The photo is back in the Downloads folder. Grandpa is very relieved.

But the Downloads folder is where he cleans out junk. You want to put the photo somewhere it belongs, so this does not happen again. He also wants to find it quickly next time.