This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
I often do work on files (Word and Excel) while not connected for the internet, sometimes for a couple weeks while traveling. Then when I do have internet, OneDrive keeps replacing the updated files with older versions it has stored. I lose weeks worth of work. It is so frustrating. How do I recover the lost work? Why does OneDrive replace newer, updated versions with the old ones?
Second, when I disconnect OneDrive, although I have it set to keep all files on my laptop, I no longer have the folders or files on the laptop. I go to Windows Explorer and Documents and Pictures folders are gone. Also, I go to This PC>Window>Users and there are no folders, no files.
A Microsoft file hosting and synchronization service.
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.
I had the same issue: booted laptop that was turned off for several months and OneDrive overwritten all newer versions of files with the versions from the laptop. Thanks Joel for your advice - I was able to save a lot of work by going online and downloading newer versions from the history. As mentioned by previous people, using history from Explorer did not work.
I gather that opening an old version on another device before OneDrive syncing is up-to-date is one of the problems. OneDrive file updating stops when the file is open. So, if you start working on the old version before it is current, then OneDrive is confused and saves that old version, thinking that it is the latest version.
Definitely, the editor must close to sync. After you close the editor, do you see the changes uploading at the cloud icon on the taskbar? Don't shut down your computer until OneDrive is up to date.
I don't work for Microsoft. I suggest you type "feedback hub" into the Start menu and send feedback to Microsoft. Also, Email the OneDrive support team directly and let them know.
One more short description of how it happened to me, just in case someone in Microsoft wants to fix the problem.
Edited a file on my laptop for weeks, saving periodically. Apparently OneDrive didn't get any of these versions because the file was still open in the editor. Then, looked at the file on my Android phone. Didn't edit or save. Then checked on laptop, was told unable to sync file due to being open in the editor. So I saved the file & closed the editor. Immediately OneDrive overwrote the newest version (on the laptop).
Now if I *had* edited the file on my phone, that file would be the newest version, and this would be right (if I'd not later saved on the laptop, which I did).
However: (1) OneDrive should be backing up my saves of the file, whether the editor was closed or not, (2) At the instant I closed the editor, the (just) saved version was currently the newest, even though OneDrive may have been confused about the mod time on the version it had sent to my phone, & had planned to overwrite the one on my laptop when it could, IT SHOULD HAVE CHECKED THE MOD TIME on the laptop file before overwriting, discovered which was newer, and backed up the new one.
My guess is that this behavior is completely replicable. No excuse to not get a fix.
You can use the "Free up space" feature to ensure that only the latest version exists in the cloud since it is the only version. That's just a workaround, though, and not what you really want.
I'm not sure how this would have been a work around. It would appear that upon booting up the less frequently used laptop that still contained an old version of the document, Onedrive uploaded that old version and removed all trace of the latest version from the cloud.
Then when I booted up my regular, daily use laptop, Onedrive downloaded that old document from the cloud and erased the current one that still existed in the laptop.
So I appear to have gone from having the latest version on one laptop as well as in cloud, along with old version on less used laptop, to old version on both laptops and in cloud and all trace of newer version removed.
This morning I had just updated the file. and usually update it daily . suddenly in the evening. I realized that the file was replaced with a older version file from 3veeek ago. It mean I had lose my 3 week data. very frustrated. Had check the history file . however the version are old version.