Bug: Root “By Folder” view in Multi-Tenant Admin does not show documents

[DannyMurphy]

Describe the Bug

When navigating to Multi-Tenant Admin → Documents → By Folder, the root-level view does not display any documents, even though documents exist in the system and appear under other views (e.g., All Documents, By Type, or within folders).

Expected Behaviour
The root “By Folder” view should list all documents that live at the root level (i.e., not assigned to a folder).

Actual Behaviour
The root-level folder appears empty.
Documents only appear once you drill into folders or use alternative views.

Steps to Reproduce
1. Log in as a multi-tenant admin.
2. Go to Documents → By Folder.
3. Ensure documents exist at root (i.e., assigned no folder).
4. Observe that no documents are displayed.

Environment
• Multi-Tenant Admin UI
• "payload": "3.62.1"

Impact
Cannot view or manage root-level documents in the intended folder view, causing confusion and requiring alternate navigation paths.

Additional Notes
• Subfolder navigation appears to work normally.
• Other document views display the records correctly.
• Also cannot create new documents in the root level only new folders

Link to the code that reproduces this issue

https://github.com/payloadcms/payload

Reproduction Steps

Steps to Reproduce
1. Log in as a multi-tenant admin.
2. Go to Documents → By Folder.
3. Ensure documents exist at root (i.e., assigned no folder).
4. Observe that no documents are displayed.

Environment
• Multi-Tenant Admin UI
• "payload": "3.62.1"

Which area(s) are affected? (Select all that apply)

plugin: multi-tenant

Environment Info

> epd-digital-guide@1.0.0 payload /Users/dannymurphy/Dev/epd-digital-guide
> cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=--no-deprecation payload info

npm warn Unknown env config "verify-deps-before-run". This will stop working in the next major version of npm.
npm warn Unknown env config "_jsr-registry". This will stop working in the next major version of npm.
npm warn Unknown env config "_react-admin-registry". This will stop working in the next major version of npm.

Binaries:
  Node: 24.3.0
  npm: 11.6.0
  Yarn: 1.22.19
  pnpm: 10.19.0
Relevant Packages:
  payload: 3.62.1
  next: 15.5.6
  @payloadcms/email-resend: 3.62.1
  @payloadcms/graphql: 3.62.1
  @payloadcms/next/utilities: 3.62.1
  @payloadcms/plugin-multi-tenant: 3.62.1
  @payloadcms/richtext-lexical: 3.62.1
  @payloadcms/translations: 3.62.1
  @payloadcms/ui/shared: 3.62.1
  react: 19.0.0
  react-dom: 19.0.0
Operating System:
  Platform: darwin
  Arch: arm64
  Version: Darwin Kernel Version 25.0.0: Wed Sep 17 21:35:32 PDT 2025; root:xnu-12377.1.9~141/RELEASE_ARM64_T6020
  Available memory (MB): 16384
  Available CPU cores: 12