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Hidden Downloads folder in Onedrive

A B 0 Reputation points
2026-04-10T14:54:02.45+00:00

Hello,

When I view my Onedrive online I see a folder called "Downloads_1". There is no folder named "Downloads" appearing in the list of folders. When I try to rename the former to the latter, I get a message that there is already a folder with that name and it will not change the name.

I am not running my desktop Onedrive app.

Would this not suggest that there is a hidden folder with the name "Downloads"? I can't find it and I'd like to access it to try and find files previously downloaded but not in the "Downloads_1" folder.

I'd appreciate any help or light that anyone can shed.

Thank you.

[Moderator note: personal info removed]

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For business | MacOS
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  1. Gabriel-N 17,785 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-04-10T15:46:06.8566667+00:00

    Please note that Q&A forum is a public platform, and moderators will modify the question to hide personal information in the description. Kindly ensure that you hide any personal or organizational information the next time you post an error or other details to protect personal data.

    Hello A B

    Thank you for the details.

    When you manually change the system location of your Windows Downloads folder (via the Location tab) to point inside your OneDrive directory, this performs a Windows Folder Redirection rather than a standard OneDrive backup.

    If the redirection cannot be completed successfully, OneDrive may continue monitoring the local folder without creating the corresponding cloud folder online, which can result in the Downloads folder remaining in a persistent Sync pending state locally while no visible folder appears in OneDrive Web.

    Based on your latest findings, it also appears that a OneNote notebook named Downloads has been created in your OneDrive account. Since OneNote notebooks are stored online within OneDrive, they may not appear locally in File Explorer the same way as standard folders.

    If a notebook with the same name already exists in the service, OneDrive may reserve that name as an online object. This can prevent a folder named Downloads from syncing or being renamed correctly, and may contribute to the sync pending status you're seeing. if you're currently signed in to OneDrive on your Windows device, you may consider trying the following steps to see if this helps resolve the issue:

    • First, restore the Windows Downloads folder back to its default system location using the Location tab in its folder properties.
    • Restart Windows to ensure the folder redirection change is fully applied.
    • After restarting, remove the Downloads folder that was previously created inside your OneDrive directory (this is the redirected one, not your system Downloads folder).
    • Then resume OneDrive syncing and allow it a few moments to refresh.

    Once the redirection state has been cleared, the sync pending status should disappear, and OneDrive should release the reserved Downloads folder name, allowing you to recreate or rename folders as expected.

    Hope this information is helpful. Please give it a try and feel free to share any updates.

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

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  2. AI answer

    2026-04-10T14:54:18.7466667+00:00

    The behavior described is consistent with OneDrive having (or having had) an existing folder named Downloads, even if it is not currently visible in the folder list. OneDrive will not allow renaming another folder to Downloads while that original name is in use, so it automatically creates or keeps a folder named Downloads_1 instead.

    From the available context, there is no supported method documented to expose or manage a hidden OneDrive folder with that specific name, nor any guidance on forcing OneDrive to reveal such a folder if it is not shown in the normal folder list. The context only covers:

    • How OneDrive handles hidden files or folders that can cause sync issues (for example, “Sync pending” when a hidden file is present).
    • How to work around hidden items locally (e.g., by showing hidden items in File Explorer) when the OneDrive sync client is in use.

    Because the desktop OneDrive app is not running in this scenario, the documented troubleshooting steps for hidden items (such as enabling Hidden items in File Explorer or moving content between folders to clear sync states) do not apply directly to the online-only view, and there is no additional documented procedure in the provided material to surface or recover a hidden Downloads folder in OneDrive on the web.

    References:

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