Forum Discussion
Removed Documents on D Drive?
I have a PC with Win 10 on C drive, but all my documents (pictures, music, documents) live on the D drive, which is a separate 3TB HDD drive on my PC. I noticed that in Windows Explorer "Documents" folder was pointing to the OneDrive folder and not the Documents folder on my D: drive. So I attempted to unlink OneDrive from my PC and told it not to sync with all my folders. A couple folders were grayed out, in particular the documents folder. So, I told OneDrive to completely unlink from this PC.
I had no idea that OneDrive was even linked in any way to the Documents folder on my D drive, however, after telling OneDrive to go away I don't want you anymore, now everything in my documents folder on my D drive is just, gone. I checked Recycle Bin, not there. I did a reset/restore to a earlier date (two days ago), but this did not bring anything in the folder back. What happened? Where did all the documents go?
It sounds like OneDrive was managing your Documents folder, and when you unlinked it, the files may have been removed or moved. Here’s what likely happened and how you can try to recover your files.
What can be Happened?
1. OneDrive Backup & Redirection:
- OneDrive has a setting that redirects your "Documents," "Desktop," and "Pictures" folders to OneDrive instead of their original locations.
- If this was enabled, your D:\Documents folder might have been syncing with OneDrive\Documents instead of storing files locally.
2. Unlinking OneDrive Removed Local Files:
- If "Files On-Demand" was enabled, OneDrive only kept shortcuts to cloud-stored files. When you unlinked OneDrive, those shortcuts disappeared, leaving nothing on your local drive.
- Some files may have been deleted instead of just being removed from sync.
How to Recover Your Files
Option 1: Check OneDrive Online
- Go to OneDrive Online
- Check the Documents folder—your files might still be there!
- Also, check the OneDrive Recycle Bin (files stay there for up to 30 days).
- In OneDrive, go to Recycle Bin (left sidebar) and restore files.
Option 2: Search for Your Files Locally
Try searching your PC to see if the files were moved elsewhere:
- Open File Explorer.
- In the search bar, type *.* and select D:\Documents as the location.
- Check if files appear in another folder.
Option 3: Use File Recovery Software
If the files are missing from OneDrive and your local drive, try recovery tools:
- Windows File Recovery Tool (Microsoft’s free tool)
- Rec uva (free and easy-to-use file recovery software)
Option 4: Check System Restore or Previous Versions
- Right-click the D:\Documents folder.
- Select Properties > Previous Versions.
- If available, restore from an earlier version.
How to Prevent This in the Future
- Before unlinking OneDrive, always check where your files are actually stored.
- If you use OneDrive, disable "Files On-Demand" so files remain locally on your PC.
- Regularly backup important files to an external drive.
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Thanks NikolinoDE,
Unfortunately this Documents folder on my D drive was not under the purview of my OneDrive. There is a separate Documents folder in my C drive that is the OneDrive folder. This folder was synced across multiple computers, including my laptop that I travel with. I was attempting to clean up my folders and files in all of my PCs and this particular HP desktop did not need to be synced with OneDrive so I set about removing it. I’m completely flummoxed as to how this could even happen. I will say the Documents folder (along with many other folders, such as Music, Pictures, Program Files, etc) were inside a former PC C drive and moved to this D drive years ago for preservation and use.
I was sort of able to get some files back as I had a backup drive, but had not been recently backed up so questions abound as to what may have been missed. I have another backup drive to check as well, but this is ominous for OneDrive and I may make effort to remove it from all my PCs if I can’t determine why/how this happened and where the files went. I will say the normal OneDrive folder that I mostly use in conjunction with my laptop is still there on my laptop and other PCs (and possibly still on this PC’s C drive) with all the files still there.
Thanks for the info. I will dive deeper into this when I get back home from my recent business trip.
