I recently noticed that the files in my Home/Desktop folder are gone, including several GOG games I installed through Heroic. Heroic now reports that the games are unavailable, so this is more than missing desktop icons. I may have lost a Yakuza 0 save, although the Heroic prefix directory in my home folder still exists and might contain the save data.
The only recent changes I can think of are a Linux update two days ago, installing DVD playback codecs, attempting to reformat a USB drive, and switching between KDE Plasma, Cinnamon, and another desktop environment. I also briefly had repeated Wi-Fi prompts and a KDE permissions request from kded5. Could switching desktop environments or an update have moved or deleted the Desktop folder? What should I check before reinstalling anything, and how can I recover the files or prevent this from happening again?
2 Answers
Desktop icons are only shortcuts, but if the files are also missing from Home/Desktop, this is not just an icon problem. Before reinstalling the games, check the file manager's Trash and search your home directory for the game folders. A disk-usage analyzer can help locate large directories if they were moved rather than deleted. Also check whether another desktop environment created or selected a different Desktop directory.
Heroic may still have the game prefixes and save files even if the installation directories disappeared. Check the prefix locations and the game's usual save-data directories before assuming the playthrough is lost. If the files truly were deleted, avoid writing more data to that drive and look into recovery from backups or a recovery tool; reinstalling games first could overwrite recoverable data.
I checked the expected locations and the game folders still appear to be gone, but the prefix directory is still present. I will inspect the save files there before reinstalling anything.