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Ghost Files

Clowie Silubrico 0 Reputation points
2026-03-02T17:24:56.6466667+00:00

Problem Description: I am experiencing a persistent issue where deleted files continue to appear in my OneDrive "Home" and "Recent" views as "ghost" entries. Despite the files being permanently deleted, the shortcuts remain visible and cannot be removed manually.

Technical Details:

  • File Status: The files do not exist in "My Files" or the "Recycle Bin." Searching for the file names returns "No results found."

Error on Access: Clicking the files results in a "404 File Not Found" or "Item does not exist" error.

Missing UI Options: When right-clicking or clicking the three-dot menu on these specific entries, the "Remove from list" or "Hide" options are completely missing. Only "Open" and "Share" (which both fail) are visible.

UI Glitch: The selection circle/checkbox does not appear when hovering over these specific ghost entries, preventing bulk actions.

Steps Already Taken:

Cleared browser cache and performed a "Hard Refresh" (Ctrl + F5).

Tested in Incognito/Private browsing mode (issue persists, confirming it is server-side).

Checked the "Shared" tab (both "With me" and "By me"); the files are not listed there.

Attempted to remove the entries via the Microsoft 365 (Office.com) portal; the "Remove" option is also missing there.

Created 20+ new "dummy" files to push the ghost entries down the list; while they moved down, they still remain in the "Recent" database.

Requested Action: Please trigger a re-index of my OneDrive "Recent" metadata or provide a way to force-clear broken links that no longer have valid file IDs.Problem Description:

I am experiencing a persistent issue where deleted files continue to appear in my OneDrive "Home" and "Recent" views as "ghost" entries. Despite the files being permanently deleted, the shortcuts remain visible and cannot be removed manually.

Technical Details:

File Status: The files do not exist in "My Files" or the "Recycle Bin." Searching for the file names returns "No results found."

Error on Access: Clicking the files results in a "404 File Not Found" or "Item does not exist" error.

Missing UI Options: When right-clicking or clicking the three-dot menu on these specific entries, the "Remove from list" or "Hide" options are completely missing. Only "Open" and "Share" (which both fail) are visible.

UI Glitch: The selection circle/checkbox does not appear when hovering over these specific ghost entries, preventing bulk actions.

Steps Already Taken:

Cleared browser cache and performed a "Hard Refresh" (Ctrl + F5).

Tested in Incognito/Private browsing mode (issue persists, confirming it is server-side).

Checked the "Shared" tab (both "With me" and "By me"); the files are not listed there.

Attempted to remove the entries via the Microsoft 365 (Office.com) portal; the "Remove" option is also missing there.

Created 20+ new "dummy" files to push the ghost entries down the list; while they moved down, they still remain in the "Recent" database.

Requested Action: Please trigger a re-index of my OneDrive "Recent" metadata or provide a way to force-clear broken links that no longer have valid file IDs.

Sample correlation ID when opening the said 'ghost' file. Correlation ID: 131cfca1-902f-b000-dc5c-2be947d341d7

Date and Time: 3/2/2026 9:24:21 AM

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Windows
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  1. EmilyS726 235K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-03-02T18:01:56.9933333+00:00

    Hello

    What you described is actually expected even though not ideal, and not something you will be able to fix on your end.

    These files listing serves as a record, not the actual file itself. Right now there's no feature available from OneDrive to remove it. It is a product limitation.

    I am afraid this is something you need to post to the feedback portal instead, so it gets to the product team https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback

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  2. AI answer

    2026-03-02T17:25:07.8266667+00:00

    This behavior matches a back-end issue where OneDrive/SharePoint still holds references to items that were renamed, moved, or deleted, which is why clicking them returns a 404 and they cannot be removed from the Recent list.

    There is no client-side way (browser, Office.com, or OneDrive UI) to force a re-index or clear these broken entries when:

    • The items no longer exist in My files or the Recycle Bin, and
    • The Recent entries cannot be selected or removed.

    Because the 404 indicates the underlying items are gone and the UI options are missing, the only viable path is escalation to Microsoft support so the service team can investigate and clean up the corrupted references in the OneDrive/SharePoint service using the correlation ID and timestamp provided.

    Actionable steps:

    1. Contact Microsoft 365 support from the account’s tenant.
    2. Provide:
      • The full OneDrive URL.
      • Several example ghost item names.
      • The correlation ID and exact date/time already captured.
    3. Ask support to investigate 404 errors for these items and to repair or clear the stale entries in the OneDrive/SharePoint back-end.

    If support determines the items were part of a deleted site or library, they may also check whether any restore options (such as restoring a deleted site or library) are relevant, but in this case the primary need is to remove the invalid references, not to restore content.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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