Can't remove, rename or copy old OneDrive folder (0x8007016B)

I was able to get rid of my old OneDrive folder by opening Powershell(admin). Then going to parent directory and using the command

Remove-Item "OneDrive folder name" -Recurse -Force

To open Powershell, press the Window key and X


You need to disable first “Files-On-Demand” feature in OneDrive:

  1. Right-click OneDrive in the System Tray Click the menu icon -> Settings -> Settings tab -> “Files-On-Demand” section -> disable the “Save space and download files as you use them” option
  2. Now run Remove-Item .\Your_Folder_Name\ -Force

If still doesn't work and you face the error:

Remove-Item : There is a mismatch between the tag specified in the request and the tag present in the reparse point

then do this:

  1. run Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
  2. run Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
  3. run Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
  4. and now on an elevated prompt run cmd /c rmdir /s /q C:\Users\Your_User_Name\Your_Folder_Name

PowerShell cannot handle broken symlink, use the hammer, use CMD.


I managed to delete the folder by using boot deleter. I just had to make sure to give it admin privileges by right clicking the .exe -> properties -> compatability -> run as admin.