Oof, that's a painful situation - I feel for you. I've seen this happen before with MSYS2 installations in protected Windows directories. Here's what you can do: 1. STOP using your computer right now - any new files you create might overwrite the deleted data 2. First thing first - check your Recycle Bin. Sometimes Windows is smart enough to catch the deletions there. 3. If that's empty (which it probably is), you'll need data recovery software. I've had good results with Recuva (it's free) or EaseUS Data Recovery (paid but more powerful). 4. Pro tip: For future reference, NEVER install MSYS2 or similar Unix-like environments in Windows system folders or document directories. Always use a separate dedicated folder like C:\msys64 or similar. The reason this happened is because MSYS2's uninstaller can sometimes get confused with path handling between Windows and Unix-style paths, leading to accidental deletions outside its install directory. It's a known issue that pops up occasionally.

Quick steps for recovery:

1. Download recovery software (Recuva is a good free option)
2. Install it on a DIFFERENT drive than where your files were lost
3. Run a deep scan on your Documents folder
4. Recover what you can find Hope you can get your files back! And remember for next time - always keep backups of important files (learned this the hard way myself 😅).