Deleting Old FSLogix Containers

Hi Michael,

The ODFC file you’re seeing is part of FSLogix’s Office Container, which stores Outlook OSTs, OneDrive cache, Teams data, and other Office‑related user state. For a departed employee, you can safely delete both the VHDX profile container and the ODFC container folder, as they are tied to that user’s SID and won’t be reused. At the AD level, once the account is disabled or deleted, there’s nothing further required for FSLogix itself; the containers are not referenced once the user is gone. The main consideration is timing, make sure the user account is fully deprovisioned and confirm no active sessions are using the container before deletion.

It’s also best practice to take a backup or snapshot before purging, in case management later requests recovery of mailbox cache or OneDrive data. Beyond that, there are no knock‑on effects, as FSLogix will simply create new containers for new users when they log in.

Harry.

1. The folder with the long SID-like name that contains the ODFC VHD/VHDX is the FSLogix Office Data File Container (ODFC). An ODFC container stores Office-specific data such as Office activation, Outlook cache and personalization, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, and related Office components for that user. For a departed user, both the profile container VHDX and the corresponding ODFC container can be deleted from the FSLogix storage location, as this data is user-specific and, in the case of ODFC, is generally re-creatable from the Office back-end services if ever needed again.
2. The context only covers FSLogix container behavior and does not describe required Active Directory actions. It only states that profile containers store the user profile in a VHDX and that ODFC containers are optional and typically used alongside other roaming profile solutions. No additional AD-level steps are documented as required specifically for deleting FSLogix containers.
3. Relevant considerations from the provided information:
   • Profile containers typically hold the entire user profile (C:\Users%username%) in the VHDX, unless exclusions or redirections are configured. Deleting the profile container removes that roaming profile data.
   • When profile and ODFC containers are used together, they can be sized and managed independently. ODFC containers are often not backed up or replicated because their data is recoverable from Office services; this reinforces that deleting ODFC containers for leavers is safe from a data-recovery standpoint.
   • Ensure that any other roaming profile solution in use is configured to exclude ODFC data if ODFC containers are used, as documented, but this is a configuration consideration rather than a prerequisite for deleting old containers.

References:

• Types of containers
• Troubleshooting issues with old, temporary, or local profiles
• User profile management for Azure Virtual Desktop with FSLogix profile containers