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File Explorer - Status column problem

Anonymous
2023-04-18T09:47:55+00:00

Hi all,

In File Explorer on my Windows 11 laptop, the Status column is often missing or empty when I'm viewing folders that are synced to OneDrive. In other words, sometimes the column (including its heading) doesn't appear at all, and sometimes the column is there but it has no icons. Sometimes it's OK.

This was just an occasional problem at first, but it's been getting worse in the last couple of days. In the past, I could always fix it by restarting the laptop. Today, I've done several restarts (and tried shutting it down and switching it on again), and the problem hasn’t gone away at all.

I've tried right-clicking on the column headings, then selecting 'More' and then ticking one or more of the 'Status' items in the list (there are three of them!). But this just adds empty columns, and it only works for that specific folder anyway - I wouldn't want to have to do this for every folder.

A few minutes ago, the Status column was empty for the top-level folders (e.g. C:\Users[…]\OneDrive […]\Documents), and completely missing for the lower-level ones. Now, it's completely missing everywhere except the main C:\Users[…]\OneDrive folder.

OneDrive itself seems to be working OK all the time. If I click on the cloud icon in the taskbar, it shows the most recent syncings and (when appropriate) says 'Your files are synced'.

Does anyone have any advice, please? (N.B. If you suggest altering registry files, I'm not sure whether I'll do this unless it's very simple and very safe.)

Thanks and regards,

Graham

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Les Ferch 10,326 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-04-18T14:16:16+00:00

    If you want to ensure that the OneDrive sync Status column is displayed in all folder views, everywhere, you can do that using WinSetView:

    When you go to add the "Status" column, you will see that there are three of them. You want the last one listed that shows "StorageProviderUIStatus" when you hover the mouse over it:

    As for whether that Status (StorageProvideUIStatus) column actually shows correct information in Explorer is another matter and I have no experience in that area, as I don't use OneDrive.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-06-24T02:33:50+00:00

    I have a brand new laptop running the current version of Windows 11 Pro, and this issue has been driving me nuts. I eventually completed a full reset of the PC, but even that did not solve the issue.

    I just found this June 7th Windows blog post: Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23475 | Windows Insider Blog

    Under Known Issues [File Explorer]: [NEW] Sync status icons for files backing up to a storage provider are not reliably displayed.

    Maybe someday we'll have a solution for this annoyance.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-04-18T20:34:48+00:00

    Hello! I'm Cristiano. I'll try to help with this issue.

    One thing you could try is resetting the File Explorer folder view settings. To do this, open File Explorer, go to the View tab, and click on Options. In the Folder Options window that appears, go to the View tab and click on the "Reset Folders" button. This should reset all folder view settings to their default values.

    If that doesn't work, you could try resetting the OneDrive sync client. To do this, right-click on the OneDrive icon in the taskbar and select "Close OneDrive". Then, open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows key + R, type "%localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset" (without the quotes), and press Enter. This should reset the OneDrive sync client.

    If neither of these solutions work, you could try reinstalling OneDrive. To do this, open the Run dialog box again, type "appwiz.cpl" (without the quotes), and press Enter. In the Programs and Features window that appears, find Microsoft OneDrive, right-click on it, and select "Uninstall". Then, download and install the latest version of OneDrive from the Microsoft website.

    I hope one of these solutions works for you. Let me know if you have any other questions or if you need further assistance.

    Best regards,

    Cristiano

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-04-18T11:39:50+00:00

    Hi Nada,

    Thanks for your suggestions.

    I checked for Windows updates, and there were no pending updates.

    Then I ran the System File Checker, and got this response after the second step:

    'Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them. For online repairs, details are included in the CBS log file located at windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For offline repairs, details are included in the log file provided by the /OFFLOGFILE flag.'

    At first, this seemed to have fixed the problem, but it started happening again after I restarted the laptop. Then I ran the System File Checker again; this time, it said 'Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations', and the problem was still happening. Please advise.

    Regards,

    Graham

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-04-18T10:42:20+00:00

    Hello Graham,

    My name is Nada I'm here to help you.

    I'm sorry that you are experiencing this issue, and I will try my best to assist you.

    It would be best to start by making sure that your Windows is up to date, this will help File Explorer to function properly. Kindly check if you have pending updates in Settings. You can use this link as your guide: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/upd...

    I would also recommend for you to try using the System File Checker tool.

    This will scan any system files that might be causing the problem. Here is the link where you can follow the steps: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/usi...

    I hope this helps! Feel free to reach back in case you have more questions. I'll be more than happy to assist you.

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