I recently took over a small Windows network and we're in the process of phasing out the server where users' Documents, Pictures, Music, and Videos are currently redirected. We're now aiming to redirect everything back to each user's local profile on the C drive.
I went into the Group Policy Object (GPO) settings and modified them to redirect users' documents back to their local profiles. While the Pictures, Music, and Videos folders are successfully redirecting as expected, the Documents folder is being stubborn. When I run a `GPresult` on one of the workstations, it shows Pictures, Music, and Videos being redirected correctly, but it completely skips over Documents.
It's as if the previous IT team implemented some method to exclude the Documents folder from redirection. I've tried redoing the Folder Redirection GPO multiple times without success. Has anyone experienced something similar or have any suggestions on how to troubleshoot this?
2 Answers
It sounds like you might be dealing with folder exclusion settings. Check if the Documents folder is actually present within the local user profile. If it exists, that's a good sign, but you might also want to verify if there are any specific exclusions set for Documents in your GPO.
Right! I had a similar situation. The Documents folder was there but empty, and the event log indicated a creation error. After deleting the folder and rebooting, the redirect worked. Not sure why it existed empty, but it might be worth your while.
Sounds like a frustrating setup! When you adjusted the redirect settings back, did you simply point directly to a local folder or did you remove the user from the previous redirection policy? Also, if you recreate the user profile, does Documents revert to being local or does it still try to pull from the server?
Exactly! I’ve seen events where the policy failed to apply, and it said it can't create the Documents folder. It was empty in local profile, but once I deleted it and rebooted, it redirected perfectly. Probably just leftover from the previous setup.
To fix this, set the GPO option to 'Redirect to their local profile'. It might help clarify the permissions issue.
I think excluding it would just mean you aren't redirecting it at all. The issue seems to be that it’s just not redirecting despite the settings being correct since other folders are working without a hitch.