This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
I'm having an odd problem on my iMac, v11.4. I was using OneDrive to sync files between my work laptop and my home desktop with my Business 365 account. I'm logged into both my work's Microsoft account and Apple ID.
Recently our IT team made updates that won't allow me to sync between my desktop, which isn't under their control, and my laptop, which is. This is fine, and so I uninstalled OneDrive from my work account on my desktop. But now I can't delete any files that were synced via OneDrive and also stored on the server to save space. If it doesn't exist on my desktop, I can't remove the file. It asks me to log in, so I log in with an admin account on the desktop (which is the same as my work Apple ID), and even though I enter the correct password, I get an error: "The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have permission to access some of the items."
I've tried changing the permissions on the files themselves, but it doesn't help. I've tried using App Cleaner to remove all traces of OneDrive, but that didn't work either. I've basically got 12 GB of useless and outdated files stuck on my personal machine, and can't figure out how to remove them.
A Microsoft file hosting and synchronization service.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Answer accepted by question author
Ah, I tried it again after a restart, and it appears to have emptied the trash now, removing everything. Thanks for your help!
Hi asrailight,
I'm glad this issue is now resolved. If you encounter any issues while using our products, feel free to post in our community and we are glad to help.
Best Regards,
George
Hi George, thanks so much for the response.
Interestingly, I was able to move the whole OneDrive folder to the trash, but now my trash won't empty. I was able to right-click on a bunch of items and "delete immediately", but this folder and those particular contents still won't disappear. The error I get is:
“OneDrive - OneWorkplace” can’t be opened right now because it’s being used by another task, such as moving or copying an item or emptying the Trash. Try again when the current task is complete.
As far as I know though, there are no other tasks running.
Hi asrailight,
Have you seen my reply? If you have any updates, please feel free and come back to share with us.
Regards,
George
Hi asrailight,
Thanks for posting in the community.
According to your description, my understanding is after uninstalling OneDrive, you can’t delete the files in the OneDrive local sync folder. If my understanding is right, to troubleshoot the issue, I would like to know how you uninstalled OneDrive. I assume you click the OneDrive icon and select “Quit OneDrive”. After that, you uninstalled the OneDrive application on Mac, go back to the OneDrive local sync folder to delete files and the error message popped on.
If so, I can reproduce the same error message as yours. Please go to location where stored the OneDrive folder, select the OneDrive local sync folder directly and delete the whole OneDrive folder. Although you can’t delete the files/folders in the OneDrive folder, you should be able to delete the OneDrive folder.
If you have any updates, please feel free and come back to share with us.
Regards,
George