iCloud deleted a folder on an external hard drive
So I was setting up iCloud on my PC and set a path for shared albums in an existing folder on my external hard drive, later in the day I was looking for said folder and it didn't exist anymore. I assume it was deleted in some way by iCloud and now I'm struggling to recover years worth of photos. I'd appreciate any recommendations for recovery and corrupt jpg tools.
Windows, Windows 10 (19045)