You have external file sources in M-Files and now some (or all) of those external files are deleted somehow? Have no fear, there is a method to the madness. And your files are safe.

This is what happens

• You have external file sources in M-Files and the M-Files user groups "All internal users" or "All internal and external users" do not have editing rights to some or all of those linked files
• Modifying the editing rights to something other than "All internal users" or "All internal and external users" results in M-Files taking control of the files' permissions so M-Files imports the file contents and deletes the original file from the external source
• This is to make sure the permissions set in M-Files are actually enforced. If you have a linked file on a network folder, the file may have different permissions so users could possibly edit the file from the network share even though they would not have those permissions through M-Files.

Disabling deleting linked files

Setting a registry key on the M-Files server is needed if you want to prevent linked files from being deleted. The manual tells you how: https://www.m-files.com/user-guide/latest/eng/preventing_linked_documents_from_being_removed.html

M-Files Customer Support Team, http://support.m-files.com