Odd Explorer Behaviour

Dominic Espadinha 6 Reputation points
2021-03-08T12:26:33.093+00:00

I have seen some odd behaviour from Explorer on a client's PC. The client saved a Word document from WhatsApp into a subfolder of Documents. The subfolder is "pinned" in Explorer. If he access the folder via the pinned icon, he cannot see the document. If he goes in via PC/My Computer - C:\Users\username\Documents\subfolder the Word document is not there. However, if he goes into his documents via the desktop icon with his name on, then into Documents and subfolder, the Word document is there! I discovered that Word is treating the document as a protected document, so I made a simple change and saved the changes. Hey presto, the document suddenly appeared! It would seem that Explorer is "hiding" protected documents - but protected documents only - from any access except through the named icon on the Desktop. Is this behaviour intentional or an error?

Office Management
Office Management
Office: A suite of Microsoft productivity software that supports common business tasks, including word processing, email, presentations, and data management and analysis.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
2,000 questions
Word Management
Word Management
Word: A family of Microsoft word processing software products for creating web, email, and print documents.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
891 questions
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  1. Emi Zhang-MSFT 21,626 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2021-03-10T07:53:05.943+00:00

    Hi @Dominic Espadinha ,
    The client saved a Word document from WhatsApp into a subfolder of Documents. Did you mean you saved the Word document from WhatsApp?
    Did this problem only appear when saved from WhatsApp?
    Try to test if you can save other files from different source to the problem folder and without the problem.
    I suggest you provide more information about this problem and I'm glad to help you.

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  2. Dominic Espadinha 6 Reputation points
    2021-03-13T19:47:21.003+00:00

    Hi emizhang-msft,
    Many thanks for your answer.
    It only occurs when saving the document from the WhatsApp app. I have tried removing and reloading the app from the M$ store, but still the same. All other files - including ones from different external sources - display correctly.
    Really strange!

    1 person found this answer helpful.