One Drive

Question

I have had two Pictures folders - -on one my PC and one in One Drive. Suddenly today, my PC Pictures folder has disappeared, leaving only the One Drive photos. Over 600 photos have disappeared and I urgently need them! What on earth is Microsoft doing with synching One Drive with everything? Its like you keep on reinventing the wheel and that seldom turns out well, if ever. As an Office 365 Subscriber, I do not expect to pay annual fees, only to be harassed by decisions and 'updates' which set me back, rather than move me forward. The time wasted just looking for the folder is another thing I am not expecting when I need to be working. Windows 11 - generally a step down.

So how do I retrieve this folder, as I cannot find it anywhere at all?

Answer 1

Thank you for you response. I indeed found the photos, but they are no longer in the folders/format I had placed them in and don't know for the life of me how to return them to my computer, as they were. They are a mess as everything is jumbled up. It would be a massive undertaking to re-sort them. Is there a way I can return them all of them to my PC in the same folders they were in? One Drive has set up its own folders and rearranged all my photos!!!

You may be looking at the Gallery tab in your PC's File Explorer or the Photos tab at onedrive.com, both of which are the jumbled up mess you speak of. At onedrive.com please look in the My files tab to view your folders.

If I unlink my device, will my pictures folder on my PC return to what it was?

Unlinking OneDrive will not restore any folders.

Is your Pictures folder in the My Files tab at onedrive.com? If it's in good order, it should be synced to your computer and appear in the OneDrive folder at C>Users>YourUsername>OneDrive.

If you don't want to sync new photos to OneDrive, turn off the sync and backup of the Pictures folder in Manage Backup, as shown in the second video I posted. After you turn off the backup, you can move photos from the Pictures folder in your PC's OneDrive folder to the Pictures folder in File Explorer.

Answer 2

Hi Craig -

Merry Christmas! Hope you had a great one.

Thank you for you response. I indeed found the photos, but they are no longer in the folders/format I had placed them in and don't know for the life of me how to return them to my computer, as they were. They are a mess as everything is jumbled up. It would be a massive undertaking to re-sort them. Is there a way I can return them all of them to my PC in the same folders they were in? One Drive has set up its own folders and rearranged all my photos!!!

If I unlink my device, will my pictures folder on my PC return to what it was?

Thank you,

Joyce

Answer 3

Hi, and welcome to the Microsoft Community.

Your PC's OneDrive folder is located at C>Users>YourUsername>OneDrive. Files in that folder sync and backup to the online OneDrive at onedrive.com. If you have enabled the sync of the Pictures folder at Manage Backup in the OneDrive settings, you should have a duplicate copy of your Pictures folder in the online OneDrive.

To get files back on your computer and syncing with OneDrive, right-click them and select "Always keep on this device." See the first video below.

Save disk space with OneDrive Files On-Demand

Back up your folders with OneDrive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzIA9uykIhE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xyywXnQpCU

If a file was deleted from OneDrive, it should be in the online recycle bin. Deleted files not in OneDrive go to your computer's recycle bin.

I hope that helps. Feel free to post back if you need further assistance.

Craig