Windows 10: Why has OneDrive backup removed my local filetree?

I have had my filesystem alive for about 3 years now. It has always stayed local. I do not keep my file tree or the setup of my PC based on my microsoft account. It was initialized local and it stays local. I have family access to Microsoft 365 including a terabyte of OneDrive storage. Since acquiring two laptops, my PC prompted me recently to sync my files. I chose to sync my documents, which contains 3 years worth of work, screenshots, and my desktop, where I store all of my computer science projects and novel work. Basically all of my hobbies. Please explain to me why my <user>/Deskto

:)

 

File History Backup and Local OneDrive Files

I know there have been a number of posts about issues with File History Backup.
File History is a nice feature in Windows 10. It serves as a file backup system as well as a convenient way to restore files to previous versions through the File Explorer.
I hope Microsoft chooses to improve the feature rather than abandon it as some have suggested they might.

I had been having problems using file history with some files not showing up in history, so I decided to do a fresh start and look more closely at what was going on.
I was moving to a new computer, so it was a good time to start over.
I erased all the files on the external backup drive (WD MyBook Duo)
and configured File History on the new computer to back up both folders that are stored only on my hard drive and the local folders that are used for the OneDrive. I did this after moving files from the old computer to the new computer, so there were
plenty of files to be backed-up. The OneDrive is configured to “Always Keep on this device” all the files that are associated with the OneDrive folders, so all OneDrive files are stored locally in a folder that is included in the File History
Backup configuration.

After configuring, I pressed “Back up now“ , the backup ran successfully, and the backup updates the files every hour as configured.
The backup is configured to “Keep my backups Until space is needed”.

After the backup completed, what I see if I either right click a file and click “Restore previous version”
or go into the File History window (click on “Restore files from a current backup” in the Backup Options window) is a listing for every file that was backed up for all folders except for the files that are in the OneDrive folder.
For the OneDrive folder, I only see files in History if the file has bee modified or moved since File History Backup was first run.
If the file has been modified multiple times, then all versions show up in History correctly, but the file does not show up in history until it has been re-saved or moved at least one time.
Is this the way File History was intended to work? Is this what others are seeing?

I would like a local backup for all my local files, even those that are on the OneDrive (and stored locally).
Files that are stored on the OneDrive are also on the cloud drive, so there is a way to recover these files, but I still expected these files to be included in the File History backup, or at least be given the option to include these files when configuring
the backup.

 

OneDrive remove excluded items

Last week when I posted here, along the way In my attempt trying to figure out how to control an unexpected flood of local downloads, I add some items to the "exclude" list Unexpected OneDrive behavior, backup warnings I see no way to remove items from that list. A search revealed nothing. There's supposed to be a Settings > File Filter option, but I don't see anything like that.

 

OneDrive moved my Desktop into a OneDrive folder and removed Google Drive

To revert the shell folder locations to default, open OneDrive and do the following:

Important: Before proceeding, copy the files in those special folders to another folder or external drive. Please don’t copy them anywhere under Desktop/Documents/Pictures. This is because disabling OneDrive backup for a folder would erase the local copies of the files. Copying them to a different location beforehand will ensure that you don’t need to download them again from the OneDrive cloud.

1. Right-click the OneDrive icon in the Notification area and click Settings.
   
2. Select the Backup tab, and click Manage Backup
   
3. In the Manage folder backup dialog, click on the Stop backup link under the special folder (Desktop, Documents, or Pictures)
   
4. Click Stop backup in the confirmation dialog that appears.
   
5. Repeat the step for each shell folder you want to revert to the original location.
   

See also:

• Error “The folder can’t be moved here” Moving Documents/Pictures, Caused by OneDrive
  
• Libraries are placed in onedrive folder instead of local folder - Microsoft Community