Knowledge Base:What is the lost+found directory?

Synopsis
After creating a file system, a directory called "" is created.

Environment
Any Gentoo Linux system with an ext2, ext3 or ext4 file system.

Analysis
The directory is used by file system check tools (fsck). When a system crashes and there is some inconsistency, fsck might be able to (partially) recover lost information (files or directories). It might not know where these files should reside, so it places them in the directory so that the administrator can move them back to their original location(s).

The directory is not vital. If the administrator decides to delete it, on the next run of fsck will be recreated.

Resolution
Using ext filesystem the directory is to be expected. Move away from ext-based filesystems to avoid automatic creation of this folder.