onedrive deletes my files automatically

Wu, Xuan 41 Reputation points
2021-05-08T21:15:28.16+00:00

After the day that some new files were saved in onedrive, they were deleted automatically. This issue has happened 3 or 4 times in about two months. Every time the number of deleted files are large, so it is REALLY annoying and has ruined my work.

OneDrive Management
OneDrive Management
OneDrive: A Microsoft file hosting and synchronization service.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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  1. Shaf 46 Reputation points
    2022-10-28T01:18:25.197+00:00

    Why on earth is ONE DRIVE deleting my files? This is an absolute mess!

    I have been saving my documents on onedrive for a long time - and now - for whatever reason - all my bloody documents are gone!

    The "TRASH" on online one drive only goes back 1 month - where the hell are my old documents?

    This is @#$#$#$#$#$!!!!!

    5 people found this answer helpful.
  2. Shaf 46 Reputation points
    2022-10-28T01:22:46.44+00:00

    @Erin Ding-MSFT

    Please can you look into this - i have checked all settings and no where have I told the mythical onedrive to auto delete my files!

    I am having a painc here - all my old files are gone - they are not on my computer - not on online one drive - and I don't have a copy of my documents elsewhere - because - that's why I was using One Drive in the first place!

    4 people found this answer helpful.
  3. Erin Ding-MSFT 4,456 Reputation points
    2021-05-10T08:30:27.377+00:00

    Hi @Wu, Xuan

    According to your description, I have some questions to confirm with you.

    1. Are you using OneDrive for Personal or for Business?
    2. Did you share these files with others?
    3. Did you sync these files to your local machine? If yes, I suggest you Choose which OneDrive folders to sync to your computer instead of syncing all files/folders.
    4. Have you logged in to your OneDrive account on other devices?

    Please make sure you have enough OneDrive storage space.

    To avoid silently removing files from OneDrive, please click OneDrive icon>Help & Settings> Settings to check the Before many files that I deleted on my PC are removed from the cloud and Save space and download files as you use them checkboxes.
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    If you are using OneDrive for business, please check if you have created any retention policy in SharePoint admin center.

    Any updates, please let me know.

    If an Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
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    1 person found this answer helpful.
  4. David H 0 Reputation points
    2024-04-25T07:51:21.8966667+00:00

    OneDrive has just deleted a whole swathe of my files again, from a top level folder. It had happened to me before and I thought I must have accidentally performed a deletion but after today's experience, I know it's not me.

    The deletion happened after linking my account on a second local machine. An hour or so later whole folders were gone with nothing in recycling.

    The only real solution I can see at this point is to unlink accounts on local machines from OneDrive. Not a great solution, I know, but clearly OneDrive has serious syncing issues. And, as other posters with the same issue have mentioned, if you don't realise the files have gone within one month, you will NEVER see them again!

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