When I look in my vault in the File Explorer I can see all of the files. When I browse to a file location using the command prompt and list all files in the directory it doesn't display all files, only ones I've viewed already. Selecting a file in the File Explorer and loading a preview makes it visible in other locations.

I'm writing a macro for Solidworks that looks through every file in the vault and returns the file path for a selected part, but like the command line it fails to load files that the user hasn't personally viewed yet.

My theory is that the files are stored in a database and while I can see them in File Explorer they aren't actually stored on my computer in any capacity. Only when I select a file is it saved onto my computer and made visible at the command line. Is there a way for my code to know a file exists when it can't see the file in its own directory?