Windows 10: OneDrive deleted files that weren't synced

I've been using OneDrive since I bought my Surface Book 2 two years ago.
It has always been running the background so I assumed my files were syncing online. OneDrive mostly showed that all files were up to date, so I assumed everything was all fine and good.
I also had all my files still available on my computer.


Recently, when I realized that all the files were filling up my hard drive and my computer was running quite slowly, I decided to use the "Free Up Space" command on my OneDrive files.

During the sync, OneDrive stopped responding.
I followed online guides saying that I should restart OneDrive. I did that.


When OneDrive started up again, files were gone.

Apparently in the last two years OneDrive had failed to actually upload all my files online and when I clicked "Free Up Space" OneDrive deleted them off my computer.

I have checked online, in the recycling bin, in my computer recycling bin, I've gone through every file on my computer and online. Files vanished. I don't even know the extent of all the files that are gone, because it appears to be a few from multiple files.

I have now lost years worth of school work, including original drawings, models, images, presentations, work in progress, and documents. And it is nowhere to be found.

Microsoft Support was able to see that the files never made it into the cloud, but then I stopped receiving responses from the Support team so I assume they are not intending to help in any way.

Is there ANY WAY to find these files, where they were or are, if OneDrive lost them during syncing? Or are they gone forever?

I'm angry. I'm furious actually, that the software can both show that all files are up to date and that all my data is safe online, and then SOMEHOW DELETE THE PHYSICAL FILES FROM MY PC. I've spent several days crying actually.

If anyone has any idea how I can look for these files I would really appreciate it. Otherwise 4 years of University Work has just vanished into thin air for me.

:)

 

Files not syncing to OneDrive

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

I understand that you are facing issues not syncing properly with OneDrive.

I suggest you to refer the troubleshooting steps in the article
Fix OneDrive sync problems and check if it works for you.

For more information, you can check the article to
Sync files with the OneDrive sync client in Windows.

If you are still facing the issue, I suggest you to get in touch with the OneDrive support team.

Sign in to OneDrive.com from any browser, click the ‘?’ help icon on the top banner of the page and select
Email OneDrive support. Submit your question and follow the prompts to request support.

Hope it helps.

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator

 

How does Windows 10 conversion setup offline OneDrive files by default


When I migrate to Windows 10,

• Placeholders will be deleted from my local OneDrive folder.
• Per folder selective sync will be available.

But that leaves a question…

• Will per folder selective sync be turned OFF by default at conversion?
  • This means offline files on the local OneDrive folder will be orphaned.
  • Therefore, to avoid confusion, I’d need to either (a) delete them since they’re available online and since sync is off, or (b) turn on selective sync for the folder they’re in and sync all files in the folder, or (c) do nothing if OneDrive automatically deleted them in the conversion.

• Or, will per folder selective sync be turned ON by default for folders that have offline files in them, syncing all files in such a folder?

• Or, will OneDrive try to sync all folders to my local OneDrive, overwhelming the smaller drive on my laptop?

It seems to me this would be important to know, but I've not been able to find anything on it.

 

OneDrive Placeholders are coming back, now called On-Demand Sync




"At Ignite 2016, Microsoft has just announced that it is bringing Placeholders back to OneDrive on Windows 10. Now, they are not called Placeholders anymore — Microsoft is renaming the feature to “On-Demand Sync” which makes a lot more sense than “Placeholders”.

The company demoed this feature at Microsoft Ignite today, and it works just like it used to previously. As you can see in the screenshot above, the files stored in OneDrive weighed in around 9GB, but the actual size on disk was only around 3MB which is really neat. Of course, this feature isn’t anything new as it was available back in the Windows 8 days. However, Microsoft removed the feature with Windows 10, and after lots of waiting, they are finally coming back.

In case you are not familiar with OneDrive Placeholders, it’s a pretty neat feature which lets you see all of your OneDrive files on your computer — but they are not actually downloaded on your PC. When you open them, OneDrive will download the files on-demand, saving your local space which is really useful, especially if you have a PC that doesn’t have a lot of storage.

While Microsoft didn’t announce when exactly On-Demand Sync will be available to OneDrive users, we suspect it will be available with Windows 10 Redstone 2 — which is expected to arrive early next year. "

OneDrive Placeholders are coming back, now called On-Demand Sync - MSPoweruser