Something Strange Going On With My Libraries

I was poking around today trying to find a file in my Downloads and Documents folders and ran into something strange. It seems that I have two locations each for my Downloads and Documents, but these locations do not hold the same data or files. They are completely different and the content of one folder does not appear in the other. They are arranged like this:





The first image has the libraries with the push pins, and that is usually where everything goes, but since I upgraded to Windows 11 last month (work machine) the files are going into the downloads folder in the second image. The two places are not the same place on my hard disk.

Can anyone tell me why, please? And how do I get the locations to point at the same folder on my hard disk?

Thanks.

C

Did you ever use onedrive? It moves data to its own folders and that can mess up libraries.

Right click them both and go to properties to see where the file path is going for them.

I dont use libraries anymore, but you should be able to move the data out of the folder and back where you want it.

Then you can remove libraries or reset it back up.

Right-click each item and check Properties, most will point to appropriate folders in C:\Users\USERNAMEHERE.

I think Andrew has nailed it. I make extensive use of Libraries:



The ones at the top left are located on OneDrive and everything else is local to the PC. OneDrive can and does work very well as long as you understand how its set up and what it is doing:

Thanks for the replies. I have checked the properties and the ones with the little push pins go to my C:\Users\Username folders and the Libraries point to a location on my C:\ drive (ex: C:\Downloads). I am not sure how this got set up this way. I had previously upgraded this machine from Windows 7 to Win 10, then to Win 11 last month when I got a new MB and CPU. Maybe it's some kind of holdover from my Win 7 days. I have no idea at this point.

I transferred the files from the libraries to the locations in the C:\Users\... folders without incident and I have found the data I am looking for. Now I just have to sort out where Windows is going to store things.

@andrew129260 @Mooly I have never used Onedrive. It's the first thing I remove from any Windows installation.

Hi,

If you install Windows 11 with a Microsoft account, Onedrive immediately moves the folders when Windows starts.
Uninstalling Onedrive doesn't change anything, the damage is done. ;'(

Check the location of your users\your_name\ folders with Regedit :
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders



PS : I always install Windows 11 with a local account to avoid this problem. Then when Windows starts I immediately uninstall Onedrive before connecting to the Microsoft account. With this there is no problem.

Shamalow said:

If you install Windows 11 with a Microsoft account, Onedrive immediately moves the folders when Windows starts.
Uninstalling Onedrive doesn't change anything, the damage is done

Click to expand...

You nailed it, and this is the most important point that most users do not understand. They think uninstalling Onedrive is all that's necessary without doing the pre-requisite steps FIRST. If not done correctly, uninstalling onedrive can result in a big mess. The entire MS account/onedrive thing is the biggest injustice MS has ever forced on the unsuspecting public who doesn't understand it in the first place.