Synching problems with onedrive since accepting MS's prompt to make changes to my laptop

Trin San 0 Reputation points
2026-08-07T21:45:45.4133333+00:00

I have 3 laptops that share the OneDrive 1TB and Office365

2 laptops have Windows 10 and 1 laptop with Windows 11

On one of the Windows 10 and my Window 11 laptops, I'm purely using onedrive for storing data

On the Windows10 laptop that ran this update, I had a separate Documents folder with 250gb of data that I kept separate from the OneDrive and did not sync with this. When I set up OneDrive on this laptop, I created a whole new folder for the OneDrive to synch with (back in 2023). Let's call this my Original laptop.

This entire system has been working perfectly for the past 3 years.

I recently rebooted my original Windows 10 laptop (the one that has both the documents folder and onedrive folders) and before Windows loaded, I was prompted to link everything with Office365 and onedrive as well as extend support for windows 10. It gave me 3 days before I'd be reminded again.

Since I have OneDrive and Office 365 already set up and configured and having been using it for several years without issues, I went ahead with the prompt. I guess assuming that it would simply see that I have OneDrive and 365 set up, that it would recognise this and continue on into windows without any issues.

A few days later I noticed my internet was running slow and found that my laptop was synching 182gb of data.

After a bit of digging around, I found that it was synching my documents folder that contained all the old data that I wanted to keep separate.

Now, in the process of this (and unfortunately 2 days later), I stopped it and unlinked and tried pointing it to the correct folder. However, in the process I notice that it was still synching all the folders again, but to the wrong location.

I stopped, and unlinked again, and pointing it to the original and correct location. But in the meantime, the synching has copied my old file structure from the original laptop's Documents (250gb) folder from the local hard drive. And it seemed to have doubled up everything.

Now, going through my current onedrive, there seem to be many files missing and completely gone from my system. I can't seem to find them on any laptop or onedrive both local and online.

Now, I have a screwed up file system with missing files here an there, and unwanted folder structure - all with partial synchronisations.

I don't know where to go from here - please help me to return my original structure that was working smoothly before this.

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Other
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  1. AI answer

    2026-08-07T21:46:13.6633333+00:00

    The safest recovery path is to stop further sync changes first, then reconnect OneDrive only after confirming where the files still exist.

    1. Check whether the missing files are still in OneDrive online and in recycle bins.
      • Search for the missing files in OneDrive on the web.
      • Check both the OneDrive Recycle Bin and the Windows Recycle Bin.
      • Also check whether the files were moved under the OneDrive Documents folder instead of the original local Documents path.
    2. Verify whether Documents backup was turned on.
      • Open the OneDrive cloud icon in the taskbar.
      • Go to Help & Settings > Settings > Sync and backup > Manage backup.
      • Confirm whether Documents is being backed up. If it was turned on, that explains why the separate local Documents folder started syncing.
    3. Unlink the affected PC again before making more folder changes.
      • Select the OneDrive cloud in the notification area.
      • Select Help and Settings > Settings.
      • Open the Account tab.
      • Select Unlink this PC > Unlink account.
    4. Clear the local sign-in settings before re-linking.
      • Press Windows key + R.
      • Enter %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\settings.
      • Delete PreSignInSettingsConfig.json.
    5. Sign in again and choose the correct OneDrive folder.
      • Start OneDrive and sign in.
      • When prompted about an existing folder, select Use this folder only if it is the original correct OneDrive folder.
      • If the prompt points to the wrong location, select Choose new folder and pick the intended OneDrive location.
    6. Do not rename the synced OneDrive folder after sync is established.
      • Renaming the synced folder breaks the sync relationship.
      • If a fresh sync folder must be created, rename the old disconnected folder first so the expected name is available, then sync again.
    7. If the current library state is badly duplicated or partially synced, stop and resync.
      • Stopping sync disconnects the folder from the library but keeps files in both the previously synced folder and the library.
      • Then start syncing again to get fresh data.
    8. If files appear online but not locally, download only what is needed.
      • Right-click the required files or folders and choose Always keep on this device.
    9. If the issue is only that File Explorer still shows items as syncing, check for hidden or temporary files.
      • Show hidden files and folders in File Explorer.
      • Remove hidden files and folders that are not associated with files currently being edited.
      • Close open Office files and clear the Office document cache.
      • Warning: manually deleting temporary Office files can cause data loss, so only remove files that are confirmed safe to delete.
    10. If all files and folders incorrectly show syncing in File Explorer, check the Windows policy setting.
    • Cause: UseFindFirstFileEnumeration set to True is not compatible with OneDrive Files on Demand.
    • Resolution: remove that registry value or set it to 0, then restart File Explorer.
    • Warning: incorrect registry changes can cause serious problems. Back up the registry first.
    1. If the goal is to keep a local folder outside OneDrive on this laptop, keep that folder outside the OneDrive path.
    • OneDrive cannot synchronize from a local file location other than the default OneDrive path.
    • If an additional local path must feed into OneDrive, the documented workaround is a symbolic link created with mklink /d.
    • Warning: use this only if the target is the already-synchronized OneDrive directory.

    Given the missing files, the immediate priority is:

    • stop sync changes on the affected laptop,
    • verify whether the files still exist online or in recycle bins,
    • confirm whether Documents backup was enabled,
    • then re-link only to the original OneDrive folder.
    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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