Deleted files/folders reappear as they are synced back online from client OneDrive

[ChristineStack]

We are heading towards the end of a big push to get all files in OneDrive or SharePoint.  The Finance department (VIPs) are getting very frustrated with deleted files/folders reappearing as they are synced back online from other user's sycned client OneDrives (the name of the user and date/time are listed with the file online).  PLEASE HELP.  I am also opening a ticket.

This is what we have tried:

1. Make sure all sync clients are up to date
2. Try renaming the folder/file and then deleting it from online SharePoint
   1. This did not work at all.  Both the original and the renamed files/folders reappeared
3. Checked SharePoint permissions.  There are some unique permissions on a few documents but in general the members have edit permissions.
4. GET HELP FROM THIS COMMUNITY

[#2]

Are you sure that those files were not opened on other users machines when they were deleted?

[#3]

Thanks for answering.  No they were not opened but were synced.  I opened a ticket with MS and have a call with them today.  I will report back to here.

[#4]

Did you get this resolved?

I'm having the same issue.

[#5]

I believe so but I will ask the on-prem IT Director  @Jeffrey Allen to also reply here.  This is what Microsoft suggested:

Issue Definition: The Finance department (VIPs) are getting very frustrated with deleted files/folders reappearing as they are synced back online from other user's synced client OneDrives (the name of the user and date/time are listed with the file online). 

As discussed on call, below are the precautionary steps the end users can follow on their machine to avoid files getting re synced to OneDrive:
* Make sure there is no network latency on the computer
* Make sure the Windows profile has no updates pending
* Make sure the OneDrive is up to date with the latest version installed (To install the latest OneDrive version go to https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=844652)

[#6]

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@Christine R Stack wrote:

I believe so but I will ask the on-prem IT Director  @Jeffrey Allen to also reply here.  This is what Microsoft suggested:

Issue Definition: The Finance department (VIPs) are getting very frustrated with deleted files/folders reappearing as they are synced back online from other user's synced client OneDrives (the name of the user and date/time are listed with the file online). 

As discussed on call, below are the precautionary steps the end users can follow on their machine to avoid files getting re synced to OneDrive:
* Make sure there is no network latency on the computer
* Make sure the Windows profile has no updates pending
* Make sure the OneDrive is up to date with the latest version installed (To install the latest OneDrive version go to https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=844652)

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At this time, I do believe the issue has been resolved as I haven't heard any more complaints on this for about 3 weeks.

[#7]

Could You please give some feedback, what could be the actual reason of this problem? Did You figured this out finally? Best wishes!

[#8]

@Tarmo K.  The problem did seem to go away.  I'm not sure we actually figured out what the problem was.  @ChristineStack, did we ever figure this out or did it just resolve itself?

[#9]

This issue did not go away. We delete folders and the continuously reappear over and over. I have tried the things outlined.

Also - these folders are created because we made channels in Teams. I don't want this to happen!!!! I want channels separate from the folders created in Sharepoint.

[#10]

Are these alle Windows 10 clients? So, in other words exactly the same Onedrive clients? Windows 7/8 uses a different Onedrive client, even if you have downloaded the latest version.

So I'd guess if you are using mixed Windows versions, this might give these sort of strange problems?

[#11]

In our experience - no difference unfortunately in client. Used only 8.1 and 10 clients in test environment. We noticed that changing "default" internet time NTP service refresh interval to custom setting and used same NTP time server made improvements, but we skipped further testing and closed environment before certain conclusion made. Using one only NTP server is another problem and time drifting was significant also within ~24-48h update interval. As we guessed Onedrive itself had no impact on problem, but we wait some more after next jump to testing.

[#12]

I have the same problem: reappearing folders and files after deleting them in Teams reappear after syncing the with the OneDrive sync client.

I tried the following and that helped: deleted the files and folders in Teams, opened the channel with SharePoint and deleted the files and folders permanently from the Recycle Bin. The files did not reappear in the Windows Explorer and were removed from the OneDrive sync client.

[#13]

Try This.

Make sure the Microsoft Account is VALIDATED on the computer from which the deletions are taking place.

Start>Settings>Accounts

If you see something "You need to validate your microsoft account on this computer" that could be the problem.  I had a user who was deleting files in a shared folder in OneDrive.  I watched the files being restored from another computer by watching the OneDrive sync in real time.  I had them Validate their account (text message or email) and after they did, the deletes are sticking.  The files are no longer being restored.

[#14]

Well, this seemingly worked, for awhile, but no dice.  Some of the photos we deleted still reappeared.  Now the issue is seemingly random.  Trying to nail it down.

NOTE: Photos are being deleted through the Win10 native Photo app NOT through Explorer.

[#15]

Hi we have the same issue, someone delete's a folder in onedrive then it'll sync and re-appear, drives people insane. Everyone is on windows 10 with the latest version of onedrive. Sharepoint is online not on premis.

NTP: we dont have a local NTP server but do not see time drift between machines.

[#16]

Having the same issue with a deleted document continuously reappearing from other users who have synced the library.

[#17]

We have not had this problem for a while now.  Update Windows and the Onedrive syc client for all users who have access to the files.  That seemed to fix it for us.

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@aravind murugesan wrote:

Having the same issue with a deleted document continuously reappearing from other users who have synced the library.

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[#18]

OneDrive still continues to annoy me. I've just been commissioning four new laptops so I've logged on with my Office 365 account which has a copy of Office 2016 for installation. I noticed some folders deleted ages ago had re-appeared. Specifically the "Monthly" folder here: https://i.imgur.com/ndUl4XE.png

So I hit delete on the folder. It disappears from a second but then re-appears! I got a snapshot of it missing: https://i.imgur.com/4RzaOHc.png

But a few seconds it re-appears: https://i.imgur.com/rvyRy86.png

Same thing happens if I delete the "Monthly" folder on the web. It simply comes straight back.

Having battled with OneDrive on 50+ systems now, I really do have a pretty low opinion of the fundamental algorithms used. Log onto an old computer where you haven't synchronised for a while (like a few weeks maybe months) and that computer assumes it's the master version and restores files that you have deleted since. This has caused a BIG problem by restoring a script that I had deleted from one part of my command path, OneDrive restored the old version and I accidentally ended up running it.

Seriously broken IMO....

[#19]

Ahh, I might have found this specific problem. OneDrive is synchronised in a VM and on my main PC. I was deleting it from the main PC so I tried to delete from my PC and for some reason there is access denied on one of the folders deep inside "Monthly". So what's happening is that OneDrive on my PC probably tries to delete the folder but fails due to this access denied and therefore restores it back. Big question, why access denied??? I'll reboot and have a look.

[#20]

Okay, yes that was the problem. On my main PC, something had gotten very confused in OneDrive with access denied: https://i.imgur.com/wVvwk9Y.png

After a reboot, the access denied had gone away and I was able to delete the old folders.

But the original flaw still stands whereby OneDrive restored those folders incorrectly because I happened to logon to an old computer and that version of OneDrive decided to assume it was the master version. That is just algorithmically broken 😞