Fix: One Drive Permission Issues

A bug in Microsoft’s OneDrive has created system wide malfunctioning for many of the Microsoft users. The application is believed to have affected the files and folders that are either dependent on or stored in the personal files and folders of users. The effected files and folders can include office programs, games, personal settings and quite literally anything stored within these affected folders. If you too have been denied permissions to save and/or modify personal files or folders, then read on.

The root of the problem is as mentioned, OneDrive. By default, the application might have access to all of the folders and files on your computer and that’s what we have to change. In the following guide, we will be sharing a workaround that will allow you to regain access to your files and folders. Please be notified that what follows is a series of steps that need to be followed categorically to ensure desired results:

As a first step, we need to go to the OneDrive settings. To do so, right click on the icon in the taskbar, and select “Settings”.

Now in the main “Settings” tab, uncheck the box that says “Let me use OneDrive to fetch any of the files on this PC”.

Also uncheck the “Start OneDrive automatically when I sign in to Windows” checkbox. From the “Account” tab, uncheck all the checkboxes related to syncing.

Restart your PC now.

Go to the OneDrive folder on your file explorer. Now click on “View” in the File Explorer menu and towards the right hand side, you should see an option that says “View Hidden items”. Check it.

Delete each and every folder that you can find in the folder. If you have permission issues while performing the action, right click within the folder, select Properties. Move over to the “Security” tab and click on “Edit”. Under the “Permissions for authenticated users”, check the box next to “Full control”. Try deleting again.

Restart your computer.

Now open file explorer again. Right click on “This PC” and select “Manage”. Now click on “Shared Folders” under “System Tools” and then double click on “Shares”.

Here you should see a bunch of folders that have been created by OneDrive. For most of the users, we expect there to be both “Documents” and “Pictures” folders up there. Right click on each of the folder and select “Stop sharing”.

Restart your PC again. [Note: It might seem tiring to restart your PC over and over again but it’s absolutely necessary that you keep on restarting as mentioned, for this method to work]

Now to ensure that there don’t remain any conflicts, we will ensure that the HomeGroup sharing settings are just like we want them to be. Press “Windows key + A” to invoke the “Action center”. Click on “Settings”.

Now click on “Network and Internet”

In the right hand side, scroll down till you find the “Related settings” section. Click on the “HomeGroup” link present there.

Now in the window that appears, click on the “Change what you are sharing with the HomeGroup” link.

You will be shown a window with a bunch of folders and their respective permissions. Ensure that against both “pictures” and “Documents” the option “Not shared” is selected. If currently it’s “Shared”, change it.

Restart your PC again.

Open the file manager via the start menu again and right click on “My PC”. Select “Manage” again.

Now from under “System tools” select “Shared folders” again and double click on “shares” present on the right side. Choose to stop sharing the documents and pictures folders.

Restart your computer.

Go back one window to the “Shared folders” section within computer management. Right click on “Shares” and select “New share”

Via the sharing wizard, browse to the location where your actual “Documents” folder is located and select “Okay”. Follow the on-screen instructions to continue until you reach to the “Shared Folder Permissions” window. Here, select “Customize permissions” and then click on the “Custom” button.

Within the “Share permissions” window, you will find a box in front of a field that says “Full control”. Check it. Then click on “Add”. Then “Advanced”, then “Find now” and follow that by double clicking on “Administrators” (THIS IS NOT ADMINISTRATOR BUT THE PLURAL).

Make sure “Full control” is selected again.

Now move over to the “Security” tab and make sure that your username is listed there with all the permissions (“Administrators” and “system” should also be there).

Restart your computer.

You need to repeat the steps from 17 to 25 for the “pictures” folder as well if applicable to you.

Via your file explorer, navigate to where your shared folders are located.

Right click on the “Documents” folder and select “Share->HomeGroup”. Do the same for the “Pictures” folder.

Restart aregain.

Once rebooted, press “Windows key + A” to invoke the action center. Click on “Settings”.

Now go to the “Network and internet” tab.

Click on “Change Advanced sharing options” to ensure that the file and folder sharing was still enabled.

Go back to the “Network and internet” tab and from under “Related settings” choose “HomeGroup” again. Click on “Change what you are sharing with the HomeGroup” and ensure that the folders are being shared.

Yes, this was an extensive guide but the roots of OneDrive have been engraved so deeply into the operating system routines that simply disabling it doesn’t fix the problem. Some people suggested to use Task manager to disable OneDrive from running on startup and while that does stop OneDrive from starting with the initial boot, it doesn’t stop it permanently. A simple mistake like opening a document via a Microsoft office application from within a OneDrive folder will make the application start right back. Once it does, the permissions provided to save or modify the folders will disappear once more.