how to get access to user one drive files that cannot be open or denied

To regain access to OneDrive files that cannot be opened or appear denied, follow these steps depending on the symptom.

1. If Windows says "Can't open file" or "Make sure OneDrive is running"
   1. Select the Start button.
   2. Search for OneDrive.
   3. Open the OneDrive desktop app so it signs in and starts syncing again.
   After OneDrive is running, try opening the files again.
2. If OneDrive shows "This file can't be synced" or access is denied
   1. In File Explorer, right-click the problem file and select Properties.
   2. Go to the Security tab.
   3. Under Groups or user names, select the current Windows user account.
   4. In Permissions, make sure Read and Write are checked in the Allow column.
   5. If not, select Edit and grant Read and Write permissions, then select OK.
   6. Retry opening or syncing the file.
   If the file still will not sync:
   1. On the taskbar, right-click the OneDrive cloud icon and select Close OneDrive.
   2. In File Explorer, move the problem file out of the OneDrive folder (for example to **C:**).
   3. Start OneDrive again from Start → search OneDrive → Open.
   4. Wait until OneDrive shows Up to date.
   5. Copy the file from the non‑OneDrive location back into the OneDrive folder.
3. If OneDrive reports it cannot connect or online‑only files won’t open
   1. Open Windows Update and install all available updates.
   2. Install the latest version of OneDrive from the official download page.
   3. Restart the computer and sign back into OneDrive.
   4. If files are still inaccessible locally, sign in to onedrive.com in a browser and try opening/downloading the files from there.
4. If files were on an external drive and now won’t open If OneDrive files were synced to an external drive on a Windows 10 device with the Fall 2017 Creators Update (or newer), and that drive is now attached to an older Windows version, files may not open and can show errors like “The file cannot be accessed by the system.” Workarounds:
   1. Sign in to onedrive.com with the same account and download the files.
   2. On the older Windows computer, set up a new OneDrive sync connection and let it sync the content again.
   3. Or connect the external drive to a computer running Windows 10 Fall 2017 Creators Update (or newer) and open the content there.

If none of these steps restore access, verify that the correct Microsoft account is being used and that the files still exist in the OneDrive web interface (including its Recycle Bin). If they are missing there as well, there is no native Microsoft method in this context to recover them.

References:

• "Can't open file" error in OneDrive
• OneDrive shows "This file can't be synced"
• "OneDrive cannot connect to Windows" error when accessing files in OneDrive
• Unable to open content synced in a OneDrive folder on an external drive