Quite often, many owners of Android devices when viewing the contents of an internal drive or removable media (SD card) using file managers encounter the LOST.DIR directory. What kind of folder is in front of us in this case, let's try to figure it out. In conclusion, some tips will be given on whether it is worth deleting, moving or renaming it.
LOST.DIR - what is this folder: main purpose
If you look at the files contained on the memory card or in the absence thereof, the incomprehensible LOST.DIR folder immediately catches your eye. Not all users have a clear idea of what role it plays.
Let's see what's what. First of all, it is worth noting that the Android operating system is essentially built on the principle of the Linux OS, in which there was (and is) a special command to restore files or check the fsck disk.
By analogy, Windows also has such a system command. This is chkdisk. And this is not only a comprehensive verification tool, as most users believe.
As already clear, the command itself is designed to check the disk or logical partition, but the result is stored in a strictly defined place. Almost the same thing is observed in the case of the LOST.DIR directory. What kind of folder is created in the partitions? Yes, just a file storage in which copies of objects are created if the user, for example, for some reason removes the card from a mobile device. Roughly speaking, this is a kind of data warehouse.
By the way, the same applies to removing the SIM card from the smartphone, when the Google account is temporarily deactivated. But many probably noticed that after changing the number, but when you log in using your username and password, some files are restored quickly and in full.
Therefore, the LOST.DIR folder on Android can be empty and take up to hundreds of megabytes or more. Probably, it’s not worth explaining that everything depends only on the number of user files, both in the internal memory of the device and in the memory of the removable card.
Why is the LOST.DIR folder created and where is it located?
The folder itself during normal operation of the Android device is not initially created. As mentioned above, such a temporary storage system creates and places objects when extracting cards. However, this is not the only reason.
In some cases, a directory can be created automatically during system failures, for example, during file copying, device shutdown during some active process with files, or simply when the “OS” itself hangs.
Actually, the directory itself is created only in two root directories: either it is a folder on the internal drive (if the card is not used), or the same folder on the SD card. Moreover, each of them is solely responsible for the data stored on each of the above devices.
LOST.DIR folder on a USB flash drive or internal drive: safe deletion
In principle, looking at the size of the directory, many users decide to get rid of it. But here it is worth paying attention to the fact that you should not underestimate the role of this folder. Sometimes, when using the default settings, rather than manually selecting the location, backups of the system or user data can be stored here.
Therefore, before you start deleting a folder, you need to check its contents - you never know, or maybe the necessary files are saved there, which then will be impossible to restore. Applications can be restored from the same Google Play service (Play Market, Android Market). But if the user's files or the same contact book was registered on one of the two storage media with the subsequent removal of data from the SIM card, then you will have to think about the appropriateness of such operations.
Here we are a little and figured out the directory LOST.DIR. What kind of folder and why it is created, I think, is already clear. Now a few words about the removal. By and large, if it does not have any critical data for both the system and the user, it can be “demolished” quite simply, using any file manager or the system’s own tools for this. Nothing terrible will happen. It is worth noting only that when repeating situations associated with incorrect operation or forced completion of file processing processes, the folder will be recreated automatically. The user does not even know about this (the notification system does not give about this, but works in the background).
Conclusion
Now it’s at least a little clear what the LOST.DIR folder means and what it is for. As you can see, nothing will be particularly critical in removing it permanently. But you need to do this only if the owner of the mobile gadget does not need the data contained in it, as well as backup copies of files and folders or created system images for subsequent recovery.