OneDrive deleted local files and started syncing old files !

Anonymous
2020-04-03T18:14:49+00:00

Hi,

OneDrive has suddenly deleted files in local folders that was not synced with OneDrive.

I installed OneDrive a while ago on my work computer and copied a lot of different files including Visual Studio projects to the OneDriver folder.

Later found out that OneDrive was causing problems for the Visual Studio projects and even though I had marked all folders to also be kept locally it wasn't working correctly.

So I moved all of the Visual Studio projects and several other folders back to the original location to make sure I had them locally.

Time goes by, and today when I turn on my computer I notice a lot of old files have been synced to my Desktop which is synced using OneDrive.

Then I also realize that the files that I moved out of the OneDrive synced folders have suddenly appeared again and old versions from back when I initially copied the folders are being synced again.

When I look at the local folder that is NOT synced with OneDrive, many of the files are gone - just like that - GONE.

There is no way to get the files back and all my recent work is lost.

I have looked in the online Recycle Bin and the Second stage recycle bin and none of the files are there (since they were never in OneDrive but only locally).

It seems like OneDrive has reverted the old actions of when I moved the files to the local folder and now old versions from back then are being synced.

This is completely unacceptable.

I have lost all my recent work.

How do I get my local files that has now been deleted by OneDrive but which was not synced with OneDrive back?

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

124 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2021-03-03T23:03:14+00:00

    Same here. They aren't for work but I feel for this issue. I think I'm going back to google drive. -_-

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2021-02-25T17:07:15+00:00

    This same thing has just happened to me.

    I'm running Windows on Parallels but my files have reverted to over a year ago, and they were my yearly accounts.

    There must be a way to get these files back - surely.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2020-12-21T11:03:48+00:00

    Always Save everything on a separate hard-drive.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2020-12-21T10:46:14+00:00

    It's the same with me. I connected my device to my OneDrive. I have backed up my desktop a month ago so my updated files are the ones on my local. When it synced, the files on the cloud replaced the files on my local and the updated versions don't show up on version history (because they're not history! they're more recent!) so there's no way to restore them. It's also not available on the trash bin of either OneDrive and local desktop.

    Someone fix this! Happened to me twice. Wish there was simply no sync option if it's not working right

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2020-12-13T13:11:14+00:00

    I raised this problem on April 3rd 2020. Following days of downloading & uploading, re-installation, and the location and deletion of multiple copies that OneDrive generated, my own system now seems stable. 🤞 However, given that other users, such as Aiden7 today, are still newly encountering these same problems, it seems that I could be plunged into a similar crisis at any time in the future.

    As I've said before, most of the world doesn't have the kind of data speeds available to Microsoft employees.  I must say I was very fortunate in my decision to use OneDrive ONLY as a location for multiple backups and long-term storage. It does create difficulties. e.g. many tools and daily actions, such as Windows "File Open", go to the OneDrive directory first. Microsoft think that OneDrive should be the main data repository, I suspect because this would generate more revenue. 

    In my own case, my C drive is an SSD so I was using my D drive to hold all my documents, including the OneDrive folder.  I am wondering if that could have something to do with it. Windows and OneDrive seems to want to keep trying to default to C drive and it's really quite difficult to change this. It shouldn't be difficult. After all, the vast majority of Microsoft customers know as much about the inner workings of a computer as they do about Astrophysics, and many will have (much smaller) SSDs as their C drive.

    In any case, it's about time the OneDrive team had a proper look at what is being reported in this (and other "closed" threads), rather than insisting that OneDrive doesn't delete files without authorisation. I worked in IT for many years and I'm well aware of the temptation for IT pros to say, "That's impossible!" when users report a fault.

    PS Wouldn't it be wonderful if OneDrive used easily searchable text to flag copies it had made. At the moment, it adds " - copy" to the file name. Has anyone ever tried to search for that term? The presence of spaces makes it even worse. Why not add something utterly unique like"-OneXDrive", also without any spaces?

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments