Real location of OneDrive folder in Windows 10

I specified a custom location for the personal OneDrive folder while installing the OneDrive client in my Windows 10 Pro v1903. I placed this folder in the root of the drive D. After using this folder for some days I found that not all apps like backup software work with this folder correctly. It seems, the OneDrive folder I see in the Explorer is a virtual folder and all my files are not really stored on the drive D, which causes the problems I have.

The Explorer itself tells me that my OneDrive folder is on the desktop:

, but my desktop does not show this OneDrive folder.

I also can't find OneDrive in the system Indexing Options dialog - though the files in my OneDrive folder are indexed by the system.

The file manager Total Commander I'm using shows the OneDrive folder like a reparse point too:

So can anybody tell me how the OneDrive folder is implemented in Windows 10 and whether it is possible to find the real location of my files inside this folder? I am afraid my files could be stored on the system SSD drive, and I would want to avoid this and save my files really on the HDD drive D for several reasons.

1 Answer

The OneDrive that appears under the Desktop is a namespace junction, similar to the user folders that appear under This PC, that 'points' to an actual file system location. The registry entry that places it on the Desktop is:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}

and, if the location of the OneDrive folder was changed from its default, you should see your D:\OneDrive path as the data for the value named {A52BBA46-E9E1-435f-B3D9-28DAA648C0F6} under:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

OneDrive does some unique things with attributes, one of which is setting the L (link) attribute on its actual file system folders, and that is probably confusing Total Commander.

The best way to determine a folder's or file's location in the file system is to view its Properties dialog or add the Folder Path column to a Details view in File Explorer.

EDIT: The dir /ad command distinguishes between directories & reparse points:

C:\Users\keith>dir /ad Volume in drive C is Windows Volume Serial Number is F057-590D Directory of C:\Users\keith
08/19/2019 04:12 PM <DIR> .
08/19/2019 04:12 PM <DIR> ..
10/26/2018 01:42 PM <DIR> .cache
07/21/2018 06:37 AM <DIR> .gimp-2.8
07/21/2018 06:37 AM <DIR> .thumbnails
07/19/2019 08:49 PM <DIR> AppData
07/19/2019 07:51 PM <JUNCTION> Application Data [C:\Users\keith\AppData\Roaming]
07/19/2019 09:31 PM <DIR> Contacts
07/19/2019 07:51 PM <JUNCTION> Cookies [C:\Users\keith\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCookies]
08/16/2019 05:38 PM <DIR> Desktop
08/09/2019 04:12 PM <DIR> Documents
08/12/2019 05:59 PM <DIR> Downloads
08/14/2019 09:18 PM <DIR> Favorites
05/15/2019 11:20 AM <DIR> Google_files
08/17/2019 10:59 AM <DIR> IntelGraphicsProfiles
08/14/2019 09:18 PM <DIR> Links
07/19/2019 07:51 PM <JUNCTION> Local Settings [C:\Users\keith\AppData\Local]
07/21/2018 02:22 AM <DIR> MicrosoftEdgeBackups
08/14/2019 09:18 PM <DIR> Music
07/19/2019 07:51 PM <JUNCTION> My Documents [C:\Users\keith\Documents]
08/14/2019 09:18 PM <DIR> mycontacts
07/19/2019 07:51 PM <JUNCTION> NetHood [C:\Users\keith\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts]
08/17/2019 11:01 AM <DIR> OneDrive
08/21/2019 04:39 PM <DIR> Pictures
07/19/2019 07:51 PM <JUNCTION> PrintHood [C:\Users\keith\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts]
07/19/2019 07:51 PM <JUNCTION> Recent [C:\Users\keith\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent]
08/22/2019 01:33 PM <DIR> Sandbox
08/14/2019 09:18 PM <DIR> Saved Games
08/21/2019 06:18 PM <DIR> Screenshots
08/14/2019 09:18 PM <DIR> Searches
07/19/2019 07:51 PM <JUNCTION> SendTo [C:\Users\keith\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo]
07/20/2019 10:52 AM <DIR> Standalone Programs
07/19/2019 07:51 PM <JUNCTION> Start Menu [C:\Users\keith\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu]
07/19/2019 07:51 PM <JUNCTION> Templates [C:\Users\keith\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates]
04/30/2019 11:48 AM <JUNCTION> TESTJUN [\??\C:\users\keith\documents\recipes]
08/14/2019 09:18 PM <DIR> Videos
12/23/2018 09:18 PM <DIR> Work 0 File(s) 0 bytes 37 Dir(s) 692,424,450,048 bytes free