unable to delete anything on my sharepoint files

Question

hello everyone something off is happening to my account it feels like an permission issue or something i cant delete or do anything on my drive cloud files , says i dnt hve permissions

neither i can delete on cloud/browser or on the one drive sync app on windows ...someone please kindly help

Answer 1

Hello @Aditya Yadav

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A forum and sharing those screenshots. I can totally see what you mean. The delete, rename, and move options are completely gone from your menu.

When those buttons pull a disappearing act across your files, it almost always means there is a restriction or compliance rule placed on your account or that specific folder.

Here is what is likely going on and how you (or your IT team) can fix it:

1. A retention policy or hold (Most common)

 Sometimes organizations set up Retention Policies or Preservation Holds to lock data and prevent deletion for legal or backup reasons. When this is active, Microsoft 365 literally hides the delete button so files cannot be removed.

An administrator needs to log into the Microsoft Purview compliance portal, go to Data lifecycle management > Retention Policies, and see if your account is on hold. If it was a mistake, they can exclude you from the rule.

2. Your permissions were changed

If this is a shared SharePoint folder (and not your personal OneDrive), your access level might have been bumped down to View or Read-only. This lets you look at and download files, but stops you from making changes or deleting things. A site owner or admin needs to open the SharePoint site, click the gear icon > Site Permissions > Advanced permissions settings, and check your access level. They will need to give you Edit or Contribute access to bring the delete button back.

3. The site is locked or storage is full

If the SharePoint site or your OneDrive is completely out of storage space, or if an admin put it into a Read-Only lock state, everything freezes. You lose the ability to add, edit, or delete anything. An admin needs to go into the SharePoint Admin Center to see if the storage is at 100 percent or if the site is locked down. Since all of these fixes require admin access, you will probably need to pass this along to your IT support team. If you want, you can share this Microsoft article with them which explains the retention hold issue: Learn about retention for SharePoint and OneDrive | Microsoft Learn

Hope this information will help. Let me know if you still facing the issue after follow these instruction.

Answer 2

The behavior is consistent with not having delete permissions on the SharePoint/OneDrive content, or with a service‑level restriction such as retention or a read‑only state. Use these checks in order:

1. Confirm permissions on the site and library

• Ask a SharePoint or Microsoft 365 admin to verify the permissions on the site and your OneDrive.
• In the site or OneDrive, an admin can go to Settings → Site permissions → Advanced permissions → Check Permissions, enter the account, and confirm that it has a permission level that includes Delete (for example, Edit or Full Control).
• If the account does not have a permission level that includes delete rights, the admin must grant appropriate permissions to the file or site.

2. Check for access issues on the account

• If this is a SharePoint site or another user’s OneDrive, the admin should follow the manual fix steps:
  • Determine the correct permission level for the account.
  • Use Check Permissions to see effective access.
  • If needed, remove the user from the site and then re‑grant access to refresh permissions.

3. Verify there is no site/user mismatch on OneDrive

• If this is the personal OneDrive for work or school and the owner cannot manage their own files, there may be a site user ID mismatch.
• An admin can use the documented automated fix for “site user ID mismatch in SharePoint or OneDrive,” or, if a new UPN was created, delete the new UPN and restore the original one so the OneDrive ownership and permissions are correct.

4. Check for retention or read‑only restrictions

• If permissions look correct but delete is still blocked everywhere (browser and sync client), the admin should check whether:
  • A retention label or retention policy is applied that prevents deletion of items or folders.
  • The tenant or site has been put into a read‑only state at the service level (for example, due to storage quota or an administrative/tenant restriction). In that case, only a Microsoft 365 admin and, if needed, Microsoft Support can remove the restriction.

5. If the file is flagged as malicious

• If specific files are blocked as potentially malicious, they can usually still be deleted:
  • Select the file in OneDrive/SharePoint and choose Delete from the toolbar.
  • If delete is not available even for malicious files, this again points to a permission or service‑level restriction that the admin must resolve.

If, after these steps, delete is still unavailable for all items, the Microsoft 365 admin should open a support ticket from the Microsoft 365 admin center so Microsoft can check for tenant‑level restrictions on SharePoint/OneDrive.

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References:

• Unable to delete items in SharePoint and OneDrive
• Access Denied or You need permission errors in SharePoint Online and OneDrive
• What to do when a malicious file is found in SharePoint Online, OneDrive, or Microsoft Teams
• Delete a file, folder, or link from a SharePoint document library