Forum Discussion
Deleted SharePoint folders keep reappearing
We are having problems with a number of folders in a SharePoint site accessing via a link in OneDrive which seem to have multiple lives. When we delete them from one user's laptop (OneDrive app) or Via the web ui, then other user's laptops recreate the soon after. This happens whether or not there are files in the folders.
I have today had to re-delete 100s of folders. Each time I do, another user's laptop puts them back again. Sometimes the recreated folders are tagged with the user's laptop name as a tag eg: FolderName-ComputerName - I think this is when the original FolderName was already re-created by another user's laptop.
No sync errors are reported on the user's laptops.
There is no "odd" configuration. All the users are "Members" of the site.
We've had this happen for one or two folders in the past but in the last two days it's gone crazy.
Any clues about what's happening and how to stop it?
- Hello,
This seems to be a Teams site you are working with? Could you upload an image of the channels you have on that site? Then also an image of the folders you are mentioning?- Hi.
No - it's not a teams site. Just a plain old no-frills site used for file sharing. So there are no channels involved. The site has no plugins, apps or automation - it's just an out-of-the-box site connected to each user's OneDrive using the "Add shortcut to oneDrive" feature.
Sadly, our security policies wont allow me to screenshot our business folders - for obvious reasons.
But, using dummy names: I can explain how it looks. In our site's Documents root folder, we might have a "Folder1" and "Folder2", each with a selection of subfolders (and some have files, others not).
When we delete "Folder1", then it re-appears (complete with it's subfolders), and SharePoint's "Created By" gives the name of another member of staff. Other copies like "Folder1-Fred", "Folder1-LAPTOP1" are also in the habit of just appearing (and again: each one is being created by different staff members). The re-created directory tress are usually empty of files (just the directories get created) although in some cases a small number of the original files also reappear.
This is NOT the result of clicking "restore" in the recycle bin, by the way - the directory is still in there.- I have not seen this type of bug before. Would it be possible/allowed for you to have a MS Teams meeting and share your screen? I could perhaps try to recreate the scenario in my dev environment. It does feel like a unique issue for your tenant, have you made a ticket to MS?
