File Explorer - Status column problem

Question

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

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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

Answer 3

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.

Answer 4

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.

Answer 5

Thanks very much, Les. I'm going to wait for at least a while, as the Status column has suddenly started appearing everywhere again (with the icons showing)! Maybe the earlier fix has eventually worked.