Why am I getting so many copies of files on my PC and in Onedrive?

I am still having issues with Onedrive. Folders empty on my PC , several copies of recent files in folders both on PC and in cloud but old flies missing in both. Thank goodness I have an Idrive backup - but why is Onedrive recently causing these issues? see an example below - snipped from my Onedrive documents folder

Have you piddled with your onedrive settings on ANY of your machines. I do not think that Onedrive would create copies itself but it would point to your settings or credentials in one of your synced machines is creating those duplicates. You would have to narrow it down to that device and find out what settings are messed up.
Assuming you have made no changes to your onedrive sync settings on any of your synced systems I would start by looking at credentials.
Open Search, type Credentials, select Manage Windows Credentials from search results.
Look for Onedrive Cached Credentials. Remove any there.
Restart. You may have to login to onedrive again.

You will then have to deal with the duplicates. I would do this using onedrive on the web.

Memsahib said:

but why is Onedrive recently causing these issues?

Click to expand...

I had it happen several times, to put it simply, onedrive is dumb. But to be fair, if it is not sure, which files are accurate, it keeps both files, that is sort of good, but I always managed to remove the new versions though. Just disable sync and re-sync it again to fix it.

I have seen some issues with OneDrive with a few of my clients when they couldn't find their documents but did get them back for them. The Backup issue may also be a problem since it appears to be tied in with OneDrive. I don't use OneDrive as I have a NAS on my system and I don't travel where I need access to data on-the-go.

Thanks for responses but nothing seems to work. I have been checking my users\myname\ document and pictures folders on my PC and many of the folders are still there but all empty. I use IDrive and file history to back up so can recover them but need to know why it is happening. I understand that Win 11 saves everything into Onedrive automatically but if I want to be able to access without internet connection will they be available in the Onedrive personal folder? At present I create a Word document and it is automatically saved to Onedrive documents then I save the doc to users\myname\documents so that I can access when internet down. I have Onedrive logged out at present and only open it and log in occasionally to sync new files with the cloud - will documents - pictures still be automatically saved to Onedrive on my PC and accessible? In other words do I need to save to both Onedrive Personal and users\name etc? I hope that makes sense. On win 10 it all seemed to work ok but very confusing on Win 11. Really appreciate all your responses. Oh and will try the minitool to clear duplicates once I find a way to stop making so many!!

TairikuOkami said:

I had it happen several times, to put it simply, onedrive is dumb. But to be fair, if it is not sure, which files are accurate, it keeps both files, that is sort of good, but I always managed to remove the new versions though. Just disable sync and re-sync it again to fix it.

Click to expand...

I've never had that issue with OneDrive and i've been using it for years.

Memsahib said:

In other words do I need to save to both Onedrive Personal and users\name etc?

Click to expand...

My take on it? It depends upon your needs, because I don't travel for business which OneDrive, iDrive, Google Drive or any of the other iterations ["the Cloud"] provided by third-parties/programs would be useful in accessing files back in the office from any other computer I don't use it. For access by any number of computers where I repair them I store needed files on a NAS drive attached to my network and Map a folder on it.

Memsahib said:

I have been checking my users\myname\ document and pictures folders on my PC and many of the folders are still there but all empty.

Click to expand...

As for those folders in C:\Users\USERNAMEHERE\, they are the defaults with Windows installation and also are there for any other Users created on Windows, many Windows-based programs will look for them and store needed information as needed, part of the User Profile. Individual programs have settings available to save to a different folder if desired.

Also involved in the situation is quality of the Internet service, if out wouldn't have access to files only on the Cloud.