How to retrieve or restore onedrive files after moving folders and overwriting some files and at the same time deleted some files in another laptop due to Red X

Question

How to retrieve or restore onedrive files after moving folders and overwriting some files and at the same time deleted some files in another laptop due to Red X

Omprakash K V 20

I have backed up all my folders and files and use only few folders with always available feature. I bought a new laptop and I linked onedrive in the new laptop. while backing up in the new laptop I confronted Red X folders. Hence I deleted them hoping that the back files will be restored. In the meantime, I moved files from one folder to another in the old laptop. This effected the new laptop also. But when I checked some folders in both laptops I find the folders are updated to a back date and some folders are empty. my internet speed is around 20MB and I see onedrive still updating and some times no updating happening at all. Probably very slow. How do I find those files from 2022 (for some) to now. If I restore the onedrive, what will happen to new files created from that time and those files are scattered in folders. Is it possible to see when the folders were moved. But when I see restore point in onedrive settings, I am unable to scroll down to old dates as it stuck with date 22 Jun 26 and not scrolling down further to see when the moving happened. Or because the files are moved I should still wait for onedrive to complete the transfer process that is when I will see the folders filled up. I have win 11 pro and subscribe to MS365.

Omprakash K V 20 Reputation points

2026-06-27T08:34:47.6266667+00:00

Even after restoring twice to one week past date, it is 100% but could not be restored. There is no flexibility to select a date when I made a major change and the activity window is not scrolling to the selected date. What a waste of time and money. Data for 5 years just vanished.

Inserting screenshot

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Omprakash K V 20 Reputation points

2026-06-27T08:34:47.6266667+00:00

Even after restoring twice to one week past date, it is 100% but could not be restored. There is no flexibility to select a date when I made a major change and the activity window is not scrolling to the selected date. What a waste of time and money. Data for 5 years just vanished.

Inserting screenshot

Answer 1

Kai-H 27,135 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi, Omprakash K V

OneDrive syncs changes both ways, so deleting a red-X folder on the new laptop or moving folders on the old laptop can also change what appears online and on the other PC. The screenshot means the OneDrive rollback reached 100% but still failed to finish, so I would stop doing repeated full restores for now.

Here are some suggestions you can try:

First, pause or quit OneDrive on both laptops so no more changes are pushed while you recover. Then use OneDrive.com as the “main truth”, not File Explorer.

Check OneDrive.com > Recycle bin first. Restore deleted folders/files from there. For a personal Microsoft 365 account, deleted items are normally kept for 30 days unless the bin was emptied. Also check the Windows Recycle Bin on both laptops, because locally deleted, downloaded files may still be there.

For overwritten files, do not restore the whole OneDrive if only some files are wrong. Right-click the affected file on OneDrive.com and use Version history, then restore the older version. This is safer because a full OneDrive restore can move files created after the restore date into the OneDrive Recycle Bin.

If the Restore page will not scroll, it is recommended that you use the activity chart/slider if visible, collapse days in the activity feed, or try another browser/private window. Restore can only undo actions within the supported restore window, so files from 2022 will not appear there unless the files still exist in OneDrive, Recycle Bin, Version history, or on one of the laptops.

If folders are empty online and not in Recycle Bin/Version History, the next best step is to search both laptops by date and file type in File Explorer, then copy any found files to a new non-OneDrive folder such as C:\Recovered_OneDrive before reconnecting sync. If the restore keeps ending with “Couldn’t finish restoring”, contact Microsoft support and give the exact failed restore date, affected folder names, and the screenshot.

Please be advised that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors, including external Microsoft employees, are not allowed to directly interfere with Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited solely to providing technical guidance on reported incidents, requests, or ideas.

Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you.

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Omprakash K V 20 Reputation points

2026-06-28T10:59:44.6333333+00:00

Thank you for the suggestions. I am wondering how a folders with contents in a main folder on onedrive moved to another main folder are showing folder empty. Recently I started working directly on the onedrive (in PC) knowing that I can keep some folders on the drive and others can be in the cloud (especially workings prior to 2 years). I also reset the onedrive in old computer and new computer I restored from recycle bin because of my delete action. However, I still noted that many folders named bromium are still in recycle bin of other computer with the same size for all. I panicked and unlinked the other computer. The reset on the old computer has been done and syncing still happening. The problem is syncing is too slow or sometimes no activity. Main problem is reset of onedrive with custom date is misleading that I may think i need it for 10 days but onedrive may link to 9 days. I am looking for 18 June 26 but the activity window not scrolling beyond 22 June 26. Other than custom date it has one week three week which option does not allow to select from 18th.
Omprakash K V 20 Reputation points

2026-06-28T11:07:02.0366667+00:00

In continuation of the above, I don't have the deleted or unavailable file/folder in the computer. I am now fully depending on onedrive's syncing and further restoration to 18 Jun 26 that was when I moved the folder. It is like Client B folder with many subfolders moved to Client A folder are empty but only with folder name. Learning above onedrive is not as easy and it still occupy the hard disc space after moving files entirely to Onedrive. Moreover, restore and undo recycle bin has limitations in accessing the large number of files like more than 200K files. Initially I used onedrive only to copy the folders in the computer but the computer ran out of space and hence moved all the directories to onedrive. I have now even lost the trust on onedrive.
Kai-H 27,135 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-28T14:57:19.0233333+00:00

Hi, Omprakash K V

What you are seeing can happen when OneDrive has only restored or synced the folder “container” first, while the files inside are still deleted, cloud-only, stuck in the sync queue, or not included in the restore action yet. OneDrive Restore is also not a perfect snapshot system, it undoes selected actions within the last 30 days, and files/folders created after the restore point may be moved to the OneDrive Recycle Bin.

First, stop changing folders from File Explorer for now. Work only from OneDrive.com until the cloud copy is clear. If the old PC is still syncing slowly, leave the new PC unlinked so two computers are not fighting each other.

On OneDrive.com, open the affected empty folder, then use the Details/Information pane to check recent activity. If you can see the move on 18 June 2026, restore from the earliest activity you want to undo, not just the calendar date. Selecting an activity automatically selects later activities too.

If the activity list will not scroll past 22 June, use the activity chart/slider if available, collapse expanded days, or try Edge/InPrivate/private browsing. It is recommended that you avoid repeated full restores until the first restore/sync has settled, because large restores can appear incomplete while OneDrive is still processing changes.

Check Recycle bin online again, including the “bromium” folders before deleting anything. If those folders have the same size, they may be placeholder or duplicated restore items, but do not empty the bin yet. Restored items can return from the Recycle Bin, but permanently deleted items cannot.

For any important files that still exist, copy them outside OneDrive first, for example to an external drive or C:\Recovered_OneDrive. After that, contact OneDrive support with: “Need restore to before folder move on 18 June 2026, Restore page stuck at 22 June, restore failed/incomplete, over 200K files affected.” This is now beyond normal user-level recovery.
Omprakash K V 20 Reputation points

2026-06-28T15:30:25.8866667+00:00

Hi Many Thanks for the guidance. I have been restoring files from Recycle bin with one time-stamp to keep track of what I restored. There is a message pops out to say "nnn"files restored but not vanishing from Recycle bin. So I have given some time for the restored files to be removed from Recycle bin. As you advised I have complete unlinked and switched off the new computer. If this restore from Recycle bin works out and restores my empty folders then I am fine. I need not go to the restore the drive to certain date. Since the syncing will take time, I have already created a folder in C: so that I copied files created or modified after 18th and working from the local drive. I really appreciate your answers
Kai-H 27,135 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-29T06:16:38.9433333+00:00

Glad to hear that I can help.

If you have other questions, feel free to get back.