Several problems frequently occuring with Onedrive.com

Question

Several problems frequently occuring with Onedrive.com

Daniel J 0

Hello, for the past few weeks I have been experiencing multiple issues with the Onedrive website I use on my Windows 11 HP Pavilion PC, which I will summarise below:

When I type in the name of a file I want to access in the searchbar on Onedrive.com, multiple copies of the file appear in the results, even when I know that only one copy exists in my Onedrive folder. These include copies that I have previously deleted.
On a regular basis, when I go to upload or download files or folders to/from Onedrive, it simply does not work. I have tried refreshing the page and logging out and back in to no avail. Regarding disc space, I have well over 300GB of disc space free, and I regularly empty my recycle bin, so I don't see why there should be any trouble in that department.
Equally, I am finding that the options to move files to other folders or to delete them do not appear on the options list. Sometimes, when I log out and back in to the website later on, those options reappear. But they frequently do not. I also have the Onedrive app installed on my phone, and while it allows me to upload/download files via my phone, the issue with duplicate files appearing onscreen in the searchbar still occurs. Can someone give me some advice on how to resolve these problems please?

Reza Nezami 5 Reputation points

2025-09-05T19:46:07.5733333+00:00

This is so shameful for a company like Microsoft. Why would you encourage all companies to move to one drive and you cannot have a stable product? Why distract youself with AI and lots of other stuff and not concentrate on making your traditional cloud product to be reliable? I go to work expecting the file I worked on at home on onedrive to be available, only to find out, it had failed to sync! why? God knows! Shameful!
Stephen 0 Reputation points

2025-09-29T06:55:57.1966667+00:00

I have these kinds of problems too. I'm an artist and I have a very large and well organized pictures folder with many sub folders. For months now on multiple different browsers, computers, and locations I consistently run into the issue that the ALL of the sub folders in my art folder simply do not appear. I usually have to switch the photos tab and view an image in one of those sub folders so I can use the breadcrumbs to navigate into the one of those folders. From there I can usually find what I want, but it's a huge pain to have to do that for no good reason.

The image viewer has been broke for months as well. It won't let me scan through multiple images. It will load one picture and only one picture. I have to close out and then often scroll back down view the image in the chain. Again, this is on multiple different browsers, across multiple different computer, in multiple different networks, and even using multiple versions of Windows. It is consistently broken in the exact same way in ever instance. The web interface used to work fine, but now it's borderline unusable and definitely unreliable. More often than not I end up downloading the file I need through the phone app and transferring it to the PC I'm working on from my phone rather than trying to find it in the web app.

2 answers

Your answer

Reza Nezami 5 Reputation points

2025-09-05T19:46:07.5733333+00:00

This is so shameful for a company like Microsoft. Why would you encourage all companies to move to one drive and you cannot have a stable product? Why distract youself with AI and lots of other stuff and not concentrate on making your traditional cloud product to be reliable? I go to work expecting the file I worked on at home on onedrive to be available, only to find out, it had failed to sync! why? God knows! Shameful!
Stephen 0 Reputation points

2025-09-29T06:55:57.1966667+00:00

I have these kinds of problems too. I'm an artist and I have a very large and well organized pictures folder with many sub folders. For months now on multiple different browsers, computers, and locations I consistently run into the issue that the ALL of the sub folders in my art folder simply do not appear. I usually have to switch the photos tab and view an image in one of those sub folders so I can use the breadcrumbs to navigate into the one of those folders. From there I can usually find what I want, but it's a huge pain to have to do that for no good reason.

The image viewer has been broke for months as well. It won't let me scan through multiple images. It will load one picture and only one picture. I have to close out and then often scroll back down view the image in the chain. Again, this is on multiple different browsers, across multiple different computer, in multiple different networks, and even using multiple versions of Windows. It is consistently broken in the exact same way in ever instance. The web interface used to work fine, but now it's borderline unusable and definitely unreliable. More often than not I end up downloading the file I need through the phone app and transferring it to the PC I'm working on from my phone rather than trying to find it in the web app.

Answer 1

Hi, DanielJ-2859

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Community.

I am sincerely grateful to you for the patience with which we are considering this issue

OneDrive web issues like yours, these problems often stem from browser cache buildup, search index delays (causing ghosts of deleted files or duplicates in results), intermittent service glitches, or account sync conflicts.

This can happen due to cached search indexes not updating promptly after deletions or syncs, leading to "ghost" entries. OneDrive doesn't have a built-in "refresh index" button, but you can force a cleanup.

So, you need to:

Clear browser cached and OneDrive redentials:

In your browser (e.g., Edge or Chrome), go to Settings > Privacy/Search/Cookies > Clear browsing data (select cache, cookies, and site data for the last month or all time). Then relaunch the browser and sign back into onedrive.com.
On Windows: Search for "Credential Manager" in the Start menu > Windows Credentials tab > Look for entries like "OneDrive Cached Credentials" and remove them. Restart your PC and sign back into OneDrive.
This often clears lingering deleted file references in search.

Use OneDrive's Built-in duplicate finder:

Sign into onedrive.com > Go to Settings (gear icon) > Options > Manage Storage > Click "Find and remove duplicate files." Let it scan and remove any identified duplicates (it compares file hashes, not just names).
After scanning, empty the Recycle bin again via onedrive.com > Recycle bin > Empty recycle bin.
If synced to your PC: Open File Explorer > Navigate to your OneDrive folder > Use the search bar to look for the file name or "Copy" (common duplicate suffix) > Sort by date modified and delete extras.elevenforum.comtechcommunity.microsoft.com
For deleted files still appearing: Wait 24-48 hours after deletion, as the search index can lag; if it persists, proceed to reset below.

This is a recurring interface glitch, often tied to browser rendering, shared folder permissions, or recent UI updates (e.g., migrations in 2025 affecting options).

Quick workarounds:

Relog as you mentioned—it sometimes restores options temporarily. To make it stick: After logging in, press Ctrl+F5 (hard refresh) to reload without cache.
Switch views: On onedrive.com, try List view vs. Grid view (top-right icons)—options like Move/Delete may appear in one but not the other.
For shared folders: If the file is in a shared location, use "Classic OneDrive" mode: Settings > Return to classic OneDrive (if available) > Right-click for full options like Move To.

Reset OneDrive on PC:

Search for "cmd" > Run as administrator > Type: %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset > Enter. Wait 2 minutes, then relaunch OneDrive. This resets the client without data loss and can fix web-sync issues.

If issues persist on phone: Force stop the app (Settings > Apps > OneDrive > Force stop) > Clear cache/data > Reinstall from app store.
Contact Microsoft: If no luck, go to support.microsoft.com > OneDrive > Contact us > Describe your issues (include screenshots). They can check your account for backend errors

As a forum moderator with a limited scope of knowledge, I hope you find my answer helpful. Please know that I've done my best to assist you."

Thank you for your kindness and understanding. If you need anything else, please feel free to contact me.

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Anonymous

2025-07-21T11:59:16.54+00:00

Hi, DanielJ-2859

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Community.

I am sincerely grateful to you for the patience with which we are considering this issue

Any update on your issue?

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

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Anonymous

2025-07-28T00:40:22.9733333+00:00

Hi, DanielJ-2859

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Community.

I am sincerely grateful to you for the patience with which we are considering this issue

I hope this message reached you.

This is my second time reaching out to check if your issue has been resolved. I really want to make sure your experience is as smooth as possible. If your issue persists or if you encounter any new difficulties, please share more details about the current steps you are taking. I am always happy to assist you whenever you need.

While waiting for your response, I will also be monitoring other customer questions on the forum to assist them. If you have any further questions or updates, please tag (@Sting) in the reply so I can assist you more promptly and thoroughly.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

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Anonymous

2025-09-25T23:47:50.31+00:00

Hi, DanielJ-2859

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Community.

I am sincerely grateful to you for the patience with which we are considering this issue

It's my pleasure to help you. I'm so appreciat about that.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Answer 2

If o365 desktop on a win11 PC why are you using web access?

O365/Office when installed under a Win user admin account, and run from that admin account, auto logs in when the PC is started. There is no separate login for any component.

Win search for Word > Resulting shortcut > Rt click > Pin to task bar > start Word from that shortcut (hover mouse over the shortcut gives access to the 10 most recent docs)

Same for other core components.

Start eg Word open an old doc via recents/search

Rarely any need to access OneDrive itself.

As for the mobile you need to install the individual apps from that mobile store and associate them with the MS Account used in that o365 purchase.

To upload a file to OneDrive you simply locate/copy that file to the \My Docs group on the desktop, it will auto sync. Theres no need to do anything when creating eg a new word doc, other than name that doc, it will than auto sync

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Several problems frequently occuring with Onedrive.com

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