Gotchas when migrating user files to OneDrive
Standard migration tools often skip orphan files and local computer directories, forcing sysadmins to run time-consuming scripts across thousands of users to move the remaining data. Once migrated, traditional recovery workflows break because admins can no longer rely on file server backups like Veeam to restore overwritten files. It also remains unclear whether the cloud client forces users to re-authenticate automatically when their domain password changes.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since September 2026.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Implementing third-party M365 backups like CoveDid this help you?
- 2Using Entra ID Sync to manage password driftDid this help you?
- 3Relying on OneDrive version history for file recoveryDid this help you?
- 4Writing custom scripts to move orphan files into a designated parent folder before running an incremental migration.Did this help you?
- 5Using alternative migration tools like CloudMigrate.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“If a user overwrites a file, how can it be recovered? Before I could go into the back up of the file server and recover the file in Veeam but if users are instead pointing to One Drive, how would I go about getting back that file?”source ↗
“If a user changes their domain password, does One Drive automatically sign them out and force them to re-enter their updated password?”source ↗
“recently did a migration using Avepoint, but after the process, I noticed that it didn't migrate orphan files, as there isn't any parent...”source ↗
“Eventually I had to use a script to move these orphan files into a parent folder, using gam and run an incremental.”source ↗
“running a script across thousands of users is very slow and time consuming”source ↗
“tools such as Avepoint only migrate what's in the gdrive, how about the files in "my computer"”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 8How to migrate company email from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365
- 3How to backup Microsoft 365 tenant configurations
- 8Migrating a child Active Directory into a parent domain
- 3What to do when your cloud service suddenly shuts down
- 4Why do large mailbox migrations to M365 fail?
- 4Moving a virtual domain controller without a USN rollback