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How can deleting a OneDrive online folder "...permanently [remove] it from your PC", as a confirmation dialog warns?

Anonymous
2023-10-18T00:42:33+00:00

In OneDrive, I selected a folder with a "cloud" icon status, right-clicked, and on the popup clicked the trash icon.

A confirmation dialog (below) appeared. It says deleting "an online-only folder permanently removes it from your PC..." Huh? If it's online only, what exactly will it remove from my desktop PC?

I'm asking because I used OneDrive briefly years ago, and not since. Now I have a use for it and want to delete files. I'm having difficulty figuring out what, if anything, is "syncd" with local files, and what is only in OneDrive. This dialog only adds to my confusion.

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

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.

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-10-19T04:00:34+00:00

    :-)

    The needed changes are in Outlook code in one case, and Cloud "documentation" in the other. Don't think they're gonna let you, me, or any mere User do that, Emily. Oh, plus some senior management changes. Not gonna let me do that, either. Satya is safe, I think.

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  2. EmilyS726 232.3K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2023-10-19T03:41:12+00:00

    As a peer user I’m in hot water for not being able to make the change for you. But feel free to ask in the community if you need help understand any of these. There are a lot of amazing active users in the community.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-10-19T03:29:54+00:00

    Thanks, Emily. Regarding Feedback, there's a thread like this regarding a message Outlook sometimes spits out, something like "Operation cannot be performed because the object has changed". Neither the offending operation nor object nor object change is identified.

    This morning I clicked "send" on an email that had been sitting open all night. I got that message, as I do occasionally.

    It presents under a variety of circumstances, e.g., if you try to move something from one folder to another. The thread started I think more than 5 years ago. Plenty of seemingly knowledgeable people have commented on possible causes. Some sound quite plausible.

    In all that time, no one identifying as being with Microsoft has said boo. Feedback, even constructive feedback, goes entirely ignored. Microsoft's aloofness is irritating.

    No need to answer. It might get you in hot water.

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  4. EmilyS726 232.3K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2023-10-19T00:16:12+00:00

    I understand your perspective, and I share the same sentiment. It's crucial to make complex technical information easily understandable for people with varying levels of tech knowledge, particularly consumers. I encourage you to provide your feedback on this specific topic through the Feedback Hub (accessible by pressing the Windows + F keys).

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  5. EmilyS726 232.3K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2023-10-18T19:05:40+00:00

    Hello Doug, this is Emily.

    This is because you have OneDrive OnDemand feature turned on. When this feature is turned on, your files are basically uploaded to the cloud storage. What you see on your local computer is not the actual copies of the files, but more of the "mirror" files - they are merely links to the online files. When you click on it, it goes to download it at that moment from the cloud to the local computerr. When you are not using it, it will then become an online-only file again. Hence if you delete it, it is deleting the actual file online, not the one on the local computer. You can read more about this feature here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/save...

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