Windows 10: Location is not available - can not access C drive

Today I was confronted by a error message when I tried to save a file in my Documents folder on the laptop hard drive, C drive. It states:

Location is not available

X C:\Users\XXXXX\OneDrive\Documents is unavailable. If the location is on this PC, make sure the device or drive is connected or the disc is inserted and then try again. If location is on a network, make sure you are connected to the network or Internet, they try again. If the location still can't be found it may have been moved or deleted.


The drive is Drive C on the laptop.

This does not involve a disc.

I have been connected to the Internet during this process.

The data from my C drive is available on the One Drive, so I can access it. But C drive is not assessible.

I don't remember deleting C drive or moving it in its entirety to the cloud.


How do I either recreate my C drive or move/copy my data from the cloud to my hard drive?

:)

 

Quick Access - "Location is not available"

I can’t seem to delete an unpinned folder that is listed in Quick Access in the navigation pane..
A dialogue box comes up telling me that it is not in the location that it is supposed to be in.
I have looked at the suggestions here, but they all deal with a PINNED folder on Quick Access.
I’ve tried them all, but none of them work. In my case, the folder that can’t be located is an UNPINNED folder.
I know that these unpinned folders are ones that are frequently accessed and they disappear after a while when they are no longer frequent.
But, this unpinned folder is never going to disappear, because it will never be located.



I think I know how this happened. The folder in question is the SYSTEM Downloads folder.

1. Somehow, this SYSTEM Downloads folder was moved to C:\Users\personalfoldername\Searches, so its path became C:\Users\personalfoldername\Searches\Downloads.
But, a DELL agent who was trying to help me sort things out, deleted this SYSTEM Downloads folder.
I discovered this when I clicked on the Downloads icon to the very left of the Start Menu, because a dialogue box came up that told me that c:\Users\personalfoldername\Searches\Downloads could not be found.





So, I retrieved it from the Recycling Bin. A few days later another DELL agent was trying to figure out how to get it back to being a SYSTEM folder that was listed and locatable under This PC.
Suddenly, the SYSTEM Downloads folder appeared in Dropbox because somehow the “Downloads” box at Dropbox >
Preferences > “Syncing Selective Folders” had gotten checked (I did not ever check it and after I got everything back in shape, I unchecked it and the box has remained unchecked ever since, as you see below).





I finally resorted to copying onto a flashdrive the contents of the SYSTEM Downloads folder that was on Dropbox and I then stopped Dropbox from storing the SYSTEM Downloads folder by unchecking the box. Afterwards, I put the system Downloads folder where
it should be by right-clicking on the SYSTEM Downloads folder under This PC, by clicking on Properties in the context menu, by selecting the “Location” tab in the dialogue box that comes up, and by changing the location back to c:\Users\personalfoldername\Downloads.





The folder was empty, so I then put all of the contents of the flashdrive’s Downloads folder back onto the PC into the SYSTEM Downloads folder at C:\Users\personalfoldername\Downloads



But, Quick Access still thinks that its entry for the SYSTEM Downloads folder should be at c:\Users\personalfoldername\Searches, which is where it *used* to be and when it was unpinned (which is why it is listed at the bottom, I think). But, as I said, in
the first paragraph, clicking on this unpinned Downloads folder in the Quick Access listing yields a dialogue box, telling me that it is not at c:\Users\personalfoldername\Searches\ where it expects it should be.







Note that there are two “Downloads” listed in Quick Access. The pinned one is the SYSTEM Downloads folder at the location C:\Users\personalfoldername\Downloads.
The unpinned one is the SYSTEM Downloads folder at the location where it *used* to be C:\Users\personalfoldername\Searches\Downloads (and now is no longer locatable).



I would like to get rid of this incorrect, unpinned entry at the bottom of Quick Access, but cannot because the entry is unlocatable.
So, this is my thinking to get the problem fixed, following the steps in this order:

1. Go to This PC, right-click on the SYSTEM Downloads folder to get a context menu, click on Properties,
click on the “Location” tab in the dialogue box that comes up, and then change the physical location of the SYSTEM Downloads folder to c:\Users\personalfoldername\Searches\Downloads.
(This is where Quick Access *thinks* that unpinned folder at the bottom of the list is.)



2. Then, in the Quick Access listing in the navigation pane, right-click on this unpinned folder at the bottom of the list, and click on “remove from Quick Access” in the context menu that comes up.
I am thinking that it will be removed from Quick Access since the computer now knows where it is (because of step 1) and that it will only be removed from Quick Acess and will not be removed from the computer.
Am I right?



3. Finally, go back to This PC, right-click on the SYSTEM Downloads folder to get a context menu, click on Properties, click on the “Location”
tab in the dialogue box that comes up, and then change the location of the SYSTEM Downloads folder back to c:\Users\personalfoldername\Downloads.



Will Step 2 remove the unpinned folder at the bottom of the Quick Access list?
And after steps 1, 2, and 3, will I still have the Pinned SYSTEM Downloads folder at C:\Users\personalfoldername\Downloads and will it still have all of its contents?

 

Quick Access - "Location is not available"

Have just done Windows 10 update from 8.1 - very smooth well done MS!

Have encountered one small problem. In Windows Explorer have discovered "Quick Access" list. Clicking on one folder gives pop-up box "Location is not available" . Displays path which does not exist plus some suggestions as to what might have happened. If
I right click on folder in list and select "Remove from Quick Access" nothing happens.

How do I get rid of this folder from the list?

 

c-drive not accessible, access denied

Hi,

To better understand the issue, we'd like to get the following information:

• How are you trying to access (C Drive?
• What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?
• If possible, kindly send us a screenshot of the complete error message you're getting.

Looking forward to your response.