How to remove duplicate folders from SharePoint sync

Question

When sync'ing with SharePoint the sync starts normally on sync folder.

However, over time our staff find sync Folder (1) and sync Folder (2) are appearing.

I can replicate this in SharePoint sync by stopping the sync and starting again and answering NO when asked to use the existing folder.

This is not what the users have done, it appears though that SharePoint sync(One Drive) has decided to start again

So far we have had 1 staff member delete this folder on her laptop, and we had to restore the site documents.

My testing/reading is NOT showing an easy way to reset this without resetting the entire profile.

I thought if I could reset the SharePoint sync once a week, it might be a handy workaround.

Any suggestions advice would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Dear David,

Good morning!

Thank you for posting in the Microsoft Community. We will be happy to help you. We are investigating your situation and will update the thread shortly.

I appreciate your patience and understanding and thank you for your time and cooperation.

Sincerely.

Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

Dear David,

Good day! Thank you for posting your query in our community.

Based on your description, when a user sync SharePoint with OneDrive application, duplicate folders appear.

To help you better, could you please provide information for us?

1. Please provide some screenshots of the problem for us.
2. If this user try to sync SharePoint on another device, will the same problem happen?
3. Do other colleagues have the same problem on their device?

Appreciate your cooperation in advance.

Sincerely,

Jazlyn | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 3

Here are 2 screen shots showing the duplicates.

It only happens for SharePoint sync, rather than OneDrive (i thought it was the same thing)

There are approx. 3 users with the same reported symptoms

I've looked through logs and registry, tried resetting OneDrive

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft OneDrive\onedrive.exe" /reset

The only way to remove duplicates I have found is in order

1. check in OneDrive settings and stop the sync if needed
2. check in explorer that the cloud icon is not there
3. manually delete the folders

Answer 4

Dear David,

Thank you for the reply.

Since the problem happens to other users as well, we assume that the problem may be related to the backend.

Given this situation, more resources need to be involved in the issue in your environment. I suggest you follow the steps in the article to open a ticket, this is the most efficient way to fix the issue in your environment. Because the engineers in the related team have more permission and more resources than us to help check it from the background and collect the log remotely, they will continue to investigate this issue further and provide suggestions for you.

Appreciate your understanding.

Sincerely,

Jazlyn | Microsoft Community Moderator