Windows 10: After adding my work account to OneDrive, my local document files are all gone. How can I...

Edition Windows 11 Pro Version 23H2 Installed on ‎11/‎22/‎2022 OS build 22631.4169 Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22700.1034.0 I added my work's OneDrive account to my laptop. After, my personal OneDrive opened after never being opened before. Half of my desktop icons disappeared and my local documents are gone. I tried opening some of the applications that were still on my computer Autodesk Maya to see if my project files are still accessible. Instead, it created a whole new local folder for the application and saved it there. I found that my old files are still on OneDrive

:)

 

Document files moved to OneDrive

My first post here: Windows 10 build 19042 Ver 20H2

I don't know happened. Yesterday, I used Calibre that requires access to files in a folder in my Documents folder. But it wasn't there. All files and folders were gone and apparently moved to onedrive. I was able to move that folder back to the document folder within my user account and all of that worked okay. But why, had the files and folders been moved like that without my action. Also, how should I put my system back in order, if it is out of order?

Not only have the files been moved but the point to locations have been changed. The location of Documents is listed as "C:\Users\jvpri\OneDrive\Pictures" . Hmm...why should the documents folder have been placed within Pictures? There still exists a Documents folder within my User directory account but it was empty.

Also, some of my content on Desktop have been moved to a OneDrive/Desktop directory. There is a Where are my Files link left on the Desktop.

Because of all this, I tried to learn a bit more about how OneDrive is supposed to work, but only go more confused. So, besides solving my immediate problem, is there somewhere a good read that will simplify what I am supposed to expect from Onedrive and how to keep it all straight.

 

How to restore original Documents folder (not Onedrive's) if I had not enough space in onedrive?

It sounds like your Documents folder may have been synced to OneDrive at some point, and now your computer is configured to use the OneDrive version of the folder instead of the local version.

To restore the original Documents folder on your computer, you will need to unsync or unlink the Documents folder from OneDrive. Here are the steps to do this:

1. Open the OneDrive settings by right-clicking on the OneDrive icon in the system tray and selecting "Settings".
   
2. Go to the "Account" tab and click on "Unlink this PC".
   
3. Confirm that you want to unlink the PC from OneDrive.
   
4. After unlinking, OneDrive will ask you if you want to keep a copy of the files on your PC or remove them. Choose to keep a copy of the files on your PC.
   
5. OneDrive will then start to remove the sync relationship with your Documents folder. This may take some time depending on how many files you have in the folder and your internet connection speed.
   

Once the sync relationship has been removed, you should be able to access the local version of the Documents folder on your computer. You can then configure your computer to use the local version of the folder instead of the OneDrive version by following these steps:

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to the OneDrive folder on your computer.
   
2. Right-click on the Documents folder and select "Properties".
   
3. In the "Location" tab, click on the "Move" button.
   
4. Choose a location for the local version of your Documents folder (e.g. C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents).
   
5. Click on "Apply" and confirm that you want to move the files from the old location to the new location.
   
6. After the files have been moved, your computer should start using the local version of the Documents folder instead of the OneDrive version.
   

I hope this helps you restore your Documents folder to its original state!

Do let me know if you need further assistance.

 

Local account installation question

I'm fairly certain that Skip this step was available in 10.0.130 - the workaround in Step 20 (back button) is no longer required.

The currently known, as of 10.0.130, ways to create a Local account sign-in are

• Skip this step at the MS account creation phase
• No Internet connection during the install
• static IP (post# 2 by Fragment) - New (to me anyway)