Library locations incorrect, possibly inherited from Windows 10 upgrade?

I am hoping someone can point out where the issue might be. I will try to include all relevant details.

I have an annoying issue where files or saved pictures are placed in unexpected locations. From what I understand based on other discussions, this seems directly related to Library folders acting as shell wrappers rather than "real" folders, involving OneDrive and "Personal" libraries.

Online, my OneDrive backup structure is set up exactly as intended:

In File Explorer, the default top-left navigation panel lists:

• Home
• Gallery
• <user name> - Personal

Below that, it lists the same OneDrive library locations shown above.

The Issue with Quick Access
The problem occurs when I pin locations to Quick Access. For illustration, I'll use the placeholder username "Roger".

Say I have a subfolder called "stuff" located at:
Roger - Personal > Documents > stuff

If I pin "stuff" to the Quick Access menu and then click that pinned item, File Explorer displays the location as:
OneDrive/Roger - Personal/Downloads/Documents/stuff

However, the folder actually resides at:
OneDrive/Roger - Personal/Documents/stuff

While the library location works, this setup causes practical issues. For instance, when I download a file through a browser, instead of saving to Roger - Personal/Downloads as expected, the file goes to:
C:\Users\Roger\Downloads

System Context & History
I have two PCs:

• A brand new machine with Windows 11 preinstalled (the one currently having this issue).
• An older machine upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

On the upgraded machine, I had previously messed up my OneDrive backups so that everything was stored under:
I corrected that directory structure on the older PC afterward.

Could that old directory structure still be lingering somewhere in my account or profile? The new machine seems to be randomly picking it up. I have checked the registry as suggested in various troubleshooting articles, but I cannot find a way to resolve this.

I suggest that your first check needs to be the list of user folder paths in the Registry at
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
- The entry Personal refers to your Documents folder.

I suggest that you make a record of the entries by taking a screenshot:-
- Drag the column dividers on the right-hand side so you can read all the text in the Name & Data columns.


Denis

Try3 said:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

Click to expand...

indeed, and thank you for this. I had found and read this suggestion and had a look there. I'm assuming this is correct?


I did a cleanup/edit in here a week or so ago but it doesn't seem to have resolved the issue.

alan999 said:

I'm assuming this is correct?

Click to expand...

Your extract
C:\Users\Roger\OneDrive\Documents
is a perfectly plausible Data column for the Personal entry.

I think you need to decide if you want OneDrive or not.
- If not, uninstall it [there's a tutorial for doing this], or
- If you want it then I cannot help. I uninstall it as soon as I set up a new computer.

alan999 said:

I did a cleanup/edit in here a week or so ago but it doesn't seem to have resolved the issue

Click to expand...

I don't know what your cleanup/edit consisted of.
Are the Registry entries what you expected?


Denis

Try3 said:

Your extract
C:\Users\Roger\OneDrive\Documents
is a perfectly plausible Data column for the Personal entry.

I think you need to decide if you want OneDrive or not.
- If not, uninstall it [there's a tutorial for doing this], or
- If you want it then I cannot help. I uninstall it as soon as I set up a new computer.


I don't know what your cleanup/edit consisted of.
Are the Registry entries what you expected?


Denis

Click to expand...

Well, respecting your answer above: since I a) want to keep OneDrive yes, as I find it invaluable, and b) you cannot help since I wish to keep it...

my issue remains open, but I do thank you sincerely for trying to help

And it does occur to me to suggest you do not use Library folders while you are investigating the problem because they can mislead you in the current circumstances.

alan999 said:

the default top-left navigation pane

Click to expand...

Don't use that while you are trying to resolve where things are.
Go to C:\Users in File explorer and double-click on your username then use its subfolders for anything not handled by OneDrive.
And don't set File explorer to display hidden folders & files because none of them will help you and they can seriously mislead you.
For OneDrive, search the forum tutorials for the advice that I cannot provide.


Denis

---

It's really worth making time to browse through the ElevenForum Tutorial index even for topics you are currently not interested in - there's a shortcut to it at the top of every ElevenForum page [within the Tutorials dropdown list].
- At the foot of the ElevenForum Tutorial index is a shortcut to download it as a spreadsheet.
- I download a new copy each month.
- By downloading it as a spreadsheet I can benefit from Excel's excellent filtering capabilities when I search for topics of interest.
- ElevenForum tutorials are also listed at Tutorials and there's a shortcut to that at the top of every page.

You can search ElevenForum using the search box in the top-right corner of all ElevenForum webpages or using Advanced Search - ElevenForum
You can also search ElevenForum threads in many general search engines, such as Google, by adding site:elevenforum.com after your search term. For example,
Taskbar setup site:elevenforum.com

again, I greatly appreciate the focused help. Thing is... what with the creeping 'enshittification' of even search these days (I gave up on Google years ago, so we're talking Startpage, Kagi etc) I have spent so long trying to refine search terms that I might narrow down the results... I gave up!

I would ask Copilot but some wonk at Microsoft just decided to put it behind a paywall (!!!), so it conveniently craps out just before I can get any useful information out of it.

Do I want to pay for Copilot? Well... considering that this is a problem with the OS, and not really of my making, no!

I'll live with it for now, perhaps a future update will clean up whichever cache or store this is (because I'm pretty certain that's what it is, if only I knew where to look)

alan999 said:

I would ask Copilot

Click to expand...

I urge you to read the relevant forum tutorials instead.
As well as starting off as highly accurate & useful articles, they then benefit from continual improvement as Windows evolves & as members make suggestions in the tutorial threads.
I only ever go outside the forum tutorials for guidance.


Denis

Thank you - I have just downloaded said document and will search it accordingly