Desktop has disappeared from Quick Access and Home screen

Since experimenting with OneDrive and deciding against it (see Selecting drives to sync with OneDrive) and removing it, I have lost Desktop from Windows Explorer. How can I set it up again so that it appears on Quick Access n Windows Explorer. I found how to access the default items that appear there - (Home the Up arrow in bar above that and various folders appear there including Desktop. However right clicking on Desktop results in

probably because after uninstalling OneDrive, checking files were safe elsewhere, I deleted the Desktop folder named above.

I can create a Desktop folder anywhere I like but not how to show it on Quick Access nor for it to appear on my PC Home screen.

How can I change the location back to wherever it is supposed to be?

@Sigurd

I don't DO OneDrive at all, so I dunno if this will help or not... but I do know it won't hurt anything and can be un-done...

Option 1, step 4 to ADD the Desktop folder. Option 2, step 4 to remove. <---- the "Windows" Desktop folder


The error dialog you've shown, looks like it's referring to the copy of the Desktop folder stored on OneDrive.
If you've removed OneDrive... it's probably no longer accessible.
I would think that re-installing OneDrive, would get you access to that Desktop folder, again?

Another option would be to restore Windows from a backup, if you have one.
That would get your OneDrive back, and give you the option to copy everything on OneDrive, before removing it, again.




I do know that if you intend to remove OneDrive, you need to make sure you have "local" copies of everything stored on OneDrive, before the removal.
If it were me, and I had used OneDrive, but decided to remove it, I would do something like this...

1. Make a new folder on another drive, or even a USB stick, named something like Grrrrr
2. Then I would copy everything that I had on OneDrive to that folder.
3. THEN, I would remove OneDrive.

There may be a quick easy way to do this... but I don't know what it would be.


In my case, I removed OneDrive the day I installed Windows 10 or 11, before I ever thought about using it.

Also This PC\ Local Disk (C:) \Users\ your name \ Desktop. Right click and select "Pin to Quick access".

@Sigurd

This pic says to me...



That on the D:\ drive you have a folder called St Bees Priory Documents. And IN that folder you a folder or location called: OneDrive. And IN the OneDrive folder or location you have a Desktop shortcut or whatever.

The way I understand Windows is that if the thing you want is INSIDE a OneDrive folder or location, and you've removed OneDrive, then you can't GET to that Desktop location.


Like If I wanted to access shell32.dll which is located in C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll, and I had removed the System32 folder... then I wouldn't be able to get to shell32.dll, because I've broken the "path" to the shell32.dll file.

The history of this is that I needed to setup a laptop in the Priory to archive documents that should be centralised and kept long term.
I thought that OneDrive would be a way forward but decided it was too easy to inadvertently delete data. Before removing it I made sure that all data on it was secure, either in folders that OneDrive did not have access to or backed up on other disks. So no data loss incurred in removing OneDrive. What I hadn't realised was that somehow the Desktop that appeared on this Priory folder on my PC when I synched that folder with OneDrive the Desktop either overrode or it moved the default one, so when I deleted it I in fact deleted the default Desktop. Not a problem data wise as I only ever use it to hold temporary or copy files files and never the original ones. Hope that makes sense!
So basically you are correct. I don't know where the Desktop has gone to. I can find it or a copy via Search on Explorer but not move it to Quick Access and Home page.
Trying the tutorial you pointed me too didn't help unfortunately, but thanks anyway.

Sigurd said:

I don't know where the Desktop has gone to

Click to expand...

This is why OneDrive is evil incarnate.







As long as you still have the data... it might be time to do a clean install, and just kill the MS daemons from the start.
Do an exorcism with REVO Uninstaller (free)...
REVO Link...

Ghot - I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks so!

A while back, I tried to make a pic of a priest with a cross, battling a vampire called OneDrive.
But I couldn't find a good enough... priest with cross vs. vampire pic to work with.
So I had to fall back on the old... bullet holes in the computer pic.

Networking and WiFi is another black art.

Restore default location of desktop folder.. Use option #3