Issue with Offline Files on Windows 7

Question

One of our users has changed the folder structure on a server. A user that was using offline files to sync that folder had made changes on their offline copy, and then when they connected to the network, it synced, and apparently deleted all the offline-created files.

Is there any way to recover these files ?

User has Windows 7 32bit.

Answer 1

Having been in touch with Microsoft Support, it turns out that this is a bug in Offline Files.

Effectively, don't use it for folders you share with other people, only use it for syncing home directores.

Synctoy is a better choice for syncing, as it gives a more granular control over the synced files.

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Answer 2

You could try ShadowExplorer do get on the files on the client.

ShadowExplorer allows you to browse the Shadow Copies created by the Windows Vista/7 Volume Shadow Copy Service. It's especially thought for users of the home editions, who don't have access to the shadow copies by default, but it's also useful for users of the other editions.