Real location of OneDrive folder in Windows 10

Question

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.

Answer 1

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