Do you need help & advice with Tech Tips / How-To or Microsoft 365?
Usually because someone dragged them. If your business runs on Microsoft 365, your team probably opens SharePoint through the synced folder on their PC, the one that looks just like any other Windows folder. Drag a file out of it to “copy” it, and it can move instead. It leaves the shared library, everyone else loses it, and nobody realises why.
I was in a meeting and we were chatting about people not using Windows Explorer efficiently to copy and move files around. So I did a quick whistle-stop tour of the simple method I’d give your team. It’s 90 seconds.
Why does dragging lose shared files?
Because a drag might copy or it might move, and in the synced folder it just moves it. On your PC that folder shows up as OneDrive, but for a business account it’s your team’s SharePoint library. You can hold a key while you drag to switch what it does. It’s confusing. There’s a better way.
How should staff copy files instead?
- Hold down the Windows key (bottom left of your keyboard) and press the left or right arrow. That lines up two Windows Explorer folders next to each other.
- Select what you want using the Ctrl and Shift keys. You can select multiple files and folders at once.
- Press Ctrl+C.
- Go to where you want to put them and press Ctrl+V. That makes a copy, and the originals stay in SharePoint where everyone can find them.
Ctrl+C, then Ctrl+V. That always copies.
What should you do as the owner?
Send this video to your team. The point is to stop people pulling files out of SharePoint by dragging them somewhere else without realising it. If a file has already gone missing, ask whoever looks after your IT to check the SharePoint recycle bin before anyone starts recreating work.
If that’s helpful to you and your team, let me know. And if you need more help with managing your IT, reach out to me.
Last reviewed: 4 October 2026.
