This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
We use SharePoint Online 2013. We have many sites containing document libraries, and many people synching those libraries locally without problems. We have one user however who, through no fault of their own that I can tell, causes us problems from time to time (maybe four or five times in the last 12 months).
The problem goes like this. All of the documents in a library this user is synching will get deleted. The documents will be in the Recycle Bin of the Site Collection (not the sub-site). This user will be shown as the person who deleted the documents. All the documents will have a similar deletion date and time. On the four or five occasions this has occurred, it has happened to different document libraries on different sub-sites, although all within one site collection. I have witnessed the person synching a library and I can’t see anything wrong in what they’re doing.
I am able to restore the documents but obviously we want to stop the problem from occurring.
It occurred again today, and it was noticed quickly enough for us to follow the timeline. The user’s computer had frozen and they’d had to power cycle to get going again. We believe that the time at which they logged back on to Windows equates to the time the documents were deleted.
The user changed computers a couple of months ago, so this problem has happened to them on two separate computers. I don’t believe that this has happened to any other user.
Any ideas about paths of investigation would be greatly appreciated.
A comprehensive suite of productivity tools and cloud services that enhance collaboration, communication, and efficiency. Combining classic Office apps with advanced Microsoft 365 features, it supports both personal and business needs
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.
Hi Phil,
Since you mentioned that the time when the user log on to Windows equates to when the documents are deleted and the issue happens to the specific user account regardless of the computer, I was guessing that some user specific settings(GPO, task schedule, etc...) delete the file from local computer which results in files being deleted online as well.
However, I also noticed that this issue only happened several times in 12 months instead of reproducible every time user log onto Windows, so the setting may be not related.
Given the situation, I would suggest disable syncing library for this user and monitor to see if this issue can be reproduced. If not, we can confirm that this issue is related to local environment.
Best Regards,
Vincent