OneDrive for Business unable to perform delete folder directly caused by Retention Policy
Dear Microsoft,
OneDrive for Business is one of the useful tools for cloud storage whereby end user should be able to folders (even got files inside) easily even being applied with retention policy.
Retention policy is suppose used on backend which not suppose to affect on OneDrive for Business usage. We are have 500 users getting impact on this. (and i assume all users having this issue as Microsoft support tested having this issue - "behaviour")
I was informed by Microsoft that this is by default preservation policy design behaviour, which I think this is not consider design behavior anymore as is causing the OneDrive for business folder deletion problem.Again, retention policy on OneDrive shouldn’t affect the folder deletion method as there is No Different that user can either delete all the files inside and delete the folder, or delete the entire folder directly.
Please fix this problem as soon as possible, otherwise this issue is serious discourage people to use the retention policy feature. Email me if seriously looking into this issue.
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41 comments
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Izik Warn
commented
After fully reinstalling OneDrive to ensure sync restarts, I am waiting overnight multiple nights for onedrive to process changes, then running powershell command to delete all files there within, over and over again. Get-ChildItem "C:\OneDrive\Your Name" -Recurse -File | Remove-Item
We need a script to force deletion and a triple-secure force delete forever from onedrive portal for any directory that is obviously causing slowness because of the million+ small files it has.
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Simn
commented
Dropbox does not have this issue neither does google. Perhaps it is time to vote with the feet. Perhaps this is all that MS will listen to?
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S Jorgenson
commented
I had the same issue, but i Moved it to another location that is not tied to my OneDrive location and it removed it from OneDrive
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Martin Day
commented
I have written a blog post about how rubbish Retention in SPOL is, which includes this. Yet to find a proper workaround other than sync and delete - https://martinday.co/3-ways-retention-policies-in-sharepoint-online-ruin-user-experience/
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Andre Rodrigues
commented
So I created a folder called 0001bin, and moved all the folders I wanted to delete there. problem solved as I have 4.5PB of storage available.
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michael smith
commented
How is this even a thing.. I mean how are people supposed to use this to actually store files on a daily basis if they cant delete them when needed.
Also this appears to only be an issue on the Web version.. If you use the OneDrive app on your computer you can delete the folders without any issue at all.. you can even sync up a Sharepoint Document library and delete folders there.
Microsoft you need to soft out the web based version of Sharepoint and OneDrive.
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The Striff
commented
It's worse than trying to delete.
If you have numerous document libraries in the One SharePoint online for example.
Then try to move a folder from one library to the other (even on the Same SharePoint site) it will fail.
What it does, tries to copy the folder and contents, then once done, delete the original source. Since it can't delete because of retention hold, it fails...I contacted Premier support about the inability to delete while on Retention, and their response was we want users to think before they delete,.... WTF....
So before retention policy was in place, users can delete and have no sort of backup (apart from the recycle bin) but when we do implement retention policy, now we'll restrict them.
Totally flawed backwards thinking!...
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Reto
commented
Not being able to delete folders (and lists and libraries) makes the retention policy pretty much unusable for business.
We don't want to restrict users from deleting anything, we just want to be able to keep the files after the deletion!
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Call
commented
Since i figured it out i might just post the solution.
Its a very buggy solution but it worked for me:
1. Unlink OneDrive account
2. In the OneDrive folder, make a 'new folder' and move as many folders and files into that 'new folder'.
3. If your are getting problem moving with certain files or folder. Make a new folder inside the troubled folders and make a new folder where you move your files too.
4. Keep doing this Inceptions stuff until all of the files are under a 'new folder' created by you. Optionally delete as you go deeper.
5. Go to your Onedrive file location. C:\Users\PCNAME.
6. Delete the entire OneDrive folder.
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none
commented
The ability to actually use this interface is not only limited it adds so much user time to proper file management. This needs to be fixed!!
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Snaydln
commented
i create a folder “delete please Microsoft”. Then move my all folders. I m waiting now :)
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SirStf
commented
Or at least let admins somehow delete folders overriding the RP.
People will upload stuff by accident, copy paste stuff instead of moving, make "safety copys" and duplicate stuff...
When it gets time to clean this, the RP becomes a disaster for admins.
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SirStf
commented
Retention policy should really be in the back-end, so end user does not need to concern himself with it.
For example if he chooses to delete something he should be able too, and retention policy should never the less keep those files in back-end for restore if needed. Similar to how emails are kept in hidden folders in Exchange.
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Anonymous
commented
Usually when uploading large sets of files they fail, but you cant re-upload the same folders as they will not merge, so I just rename the folder and then start over, duplicating hundreds of gigs of data needlessly and storing useless **** on Microsoft's servers. It pains me but get your **** together Microsoft.
Some people want to keep files after a user deletes it AND be able to delete a folder full of files, it doesn't seem like that big of an ask. I wouldn't even consider these things related.
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Anonymous
commented
I spent hours running Remove-PnPListItem scripts to get around this... ridiculous that users and admins can't get around this without so much hassle.
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SjoerdV
commented
Why must user experiece always be impacted when enabling a seemingly background process like a retention policy... please fix asap
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Anonymous
commented
this is the biggest piece of garbage.
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Anonymous
commented
I honestly can't believe this bug. Wow. IT works for SharePoint libraries too.
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Anonymous
commented
Either fix this or I'm back to Google drive.
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Tu Tuan Hoang
commented
There's workaround for this issue.
Open OneDrive in Internet Explorer, in the top right corner of the Internet Explorer window, look for the hamburger button (the button with 3 lines) , click on it and select "View in File Explorer". Wait for a few seconds, OneDrive will be open in File Explorer and you will be able to delete the entire folder from here.