Dragging files from OneDrive explorer now copies them?

JohnnyGui · Jul 5, 2024

I recall dragging files from OneDrive (in windows explorer) to my PC would move them. Now it copies them instead and I don't know how this got changed.

Anyone else noticed this change?

idgat · Jul 5, 2024

Who can keep up with Microsoft's OneDrive machinations .....? Mind you, who would want to keep up with anything OneDrive ....

pseymour · Jul 5, 2024

I'm not seeing this behavior. Is the destination drive the same drive that your OneDrive files are on? By default in Windows, if you drag files to the same drive, they get moved. If it's a different drive, they get copied.

Ghot · Jul 5, 2024

The "only" solution...

glasskuter · Jul 5, 2024

You can set drag drop default action to always move. Option 3

Change Default Drag and Drop Action in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to change the default drag and drop action to always copy, move, or create shortcut for all users in Windows 10 and Windows 11. When you drag and drop files and folders in Windows, they will get moved or copied by default based on the source and destination...

www.elevenforum.com

pseymour · Jul 5, 2024

Yep, what @glasskuter said, or alternatively, I trained myself to click and drag with the right mouse button, so I always get a menu when I let go.

Spunk · Jul 5, 2024

When you Drag and Drop any file in the same drive like C:\ it just copies it. One Drive is part of the C:\Users\UserName\OneDrive. If you drag and drop a file from another drive (ie) D:\ or from OneDrive online it will Move it.

JohnnyGui · Jul 5, 2024

pseymour said:
I'm not seeing this behavior. Is the destination drive the same drive that your OneDrive files are on? By default in Windows, if you drag files to the same drive, they get moved. If it's a different drive, they get copied.

They are the same drive. Mind you I think it's normal for a file to get copied if you drag it from the web version of OneDrive file (i.e. OneDrive shown in a browser), but the file should get moved when you drag it via the explorer version of OneDrive right?

Spunk said:
When you Drag and Drop any file in the same drive like C:\ it just copies it. One Drive is part of the C:\Users\UserName\OneDrive. If you drag and drop a file from another drive (ie) D:\ or from OneDrive online it will Move it.

If they are on the same drive, it should move it. Both the explorer of OneDrive and my PC are on C:\

JohnnyGui · Jul 5, 2024

pseymour said:
Yep, what @glasskuter said, or alternatively, I trained myself to click and drag with the right mouse button, so I always get a menu when I let go.

But are you experiencing the same thing when dragging files from the explorer folder of OneDrive to your local PC? Does it get copied or get moved?

pseymour · Jul 5, 2024

JohnnyGui said:
But are you experiencing the same thing when dragging files from the explorer folder of OneDrive to your local PC? Does it get copied or get moved?

If I drag it to the same drive, it moves. Different drive, it copies.

JohnnyGui · Jul 6, 2024

@pseymour @glasskuter @Spunk

Ok, so I've found the culprit but don't know how to fix this.

Apparently for some strange reason, this issue appears after you uninstall en reinstall OneDrive. Just tested it on another device.

I have no idea why reinstalling changes this behaviour.

glasskuter · Jul 6, 2024

JohnnyGui said:
so I've found the culprit but don't know how to fix this.

May we know how you came to that conclusion.?

JohnnyGui · Jul 6, 2024

glasskuter said:
May we know how you came to that conclusion.?

I recall reinstalling OneDrive on my PC with this issue. So I tested it on another Win11 device (laptop) to see if that was the cause. Before reinstalling OneDrive on that laptop the file dragging moved them as expected. After reinstalling OneDrive it copies them instead just like on my PC.

dacrone · Jul 6, 2024

Disable the sync of the c:\users\username\onedrive folder. Reboot. Resync that location. Let us know.

BamaInArk · Jul 6, 2024

JohnnyGui said:
I recall reinstalling OneDrive on my PC with this issue. So I tested it on another Win11 device (laptop) to see if that was the cause. Before reinstalling OneDrive on that laptop the file dragging moved them as expected. After reinstalling OneDrive it copies them instead just like on my PC.

Perhaps the defaults have changed with newer installs of One Drive different than what the defaults were on older installs? They have changed default behaviors lately.

pseymour · Jul 6, 2024

@JohnnyGui I'm curious about something.... can you open a PowerShell/Terminal window, run this command and paste the results here? It will likely have your user name in it, so obfuscate that if you want.

Get-Content -Path $env:OneDrive\desktop.ini

TraderGary · Jul 6, 2024

If you delete the OneDrive application, cloud OneDrive and the local OneDrive folder are no longer linked. OneDrive cloud then behaves like any other storage drive and you can drag files back and just like with any drive.

If you restore the OneDrive application, cloud OneDrive and the local OneDrive folder are linked again, and dragging files copies them instead of moving them.

As mentioned earlier, you can go to OneDrive settings and change OneDrive to Unlinked at any time to see the same behaviour.

I've used OneDrive for more than 15 years and this is the way OneDrive has always worked.

JohnnyGui · Jul 7, 2024

dacrone said:
Disable the sync of the c:\users\username\onedrive folder. Reboot. Resync that location. Let us know.

Tried it, didn't work.

pseymour said:
@JohnnyGui I'm curious about something.... can you open a PowerShell/Terminal window, run this command and paste the results here? It will likely have your user name in it, so obfuscate that if you want.

Get-Content -Path $env:OneDrive\desktop.ini

This is what I get

TraderGary said:
If you delete the OneDrive application, cloud OneDrive and the local OneDrive folder are no longer linked. OneDrive cloud then behaves like any other storage drive and you can drag files back and just like with any drive.

If you restore the OneDrive application, cloud OneDrive and the local OneDrive folder are linked again, and dragging files copies them instead of moving them.

As mentioned earlier, you can go to OneDrive settings and change OneDrive to Unlinked at any time to see the same behaviour.

I've used OneDrive for more than 15 years and this is the way OneDrive has always worked.

I don't understand. My issue is that before deleting en reinstalling the OneDrive, dragging files from the OneDrive explorer folder to my local drive (such as Desktop) would move the file, not copy it. After reinstalling it copies them instead. So the behaviour changed.

Unlinking OneDrive would remove OneDrive from the Windows explorer which is not what I want.

BamaInArk said:
Perhaps the defaults have changed with newer installs of One Drive different than what the defaults were on older installs? They have changed default behaviors lately.

So in your case, dragging a file from the OneDrive explorer window to your local drive copies the file instead of moving it?

glasskuter · Jul 7, 2024

All you gotta do is use the tutorial I listed early in the thread to make drag and drop default action EVERYWHERE to move by default.

TraderGary · Jul 7, 2024

JohnnyGui said:
Tried it, didn't work.

This is what I get
View attachment 100783

I don't understand. My issue is that before deleting en reinstalling the OneDrive, dragging files from the OneDrive explorer folder to my local drive (such as Desktop) would move the file, not copy it. After reinstalling it copies them instead. So the behaviour changed.

Unlinking OneDrive would remove OneDrive from the Windows explorer which is not what I want.

So in your case, dragging a file from the OneDrive explorer window to your local drive copies the file instead of moving it?

Experiment as I outlined in my post. OneDrive drag and drop works differently from anywhere else in Windows. If OneDrive is not active, drag and drop works the same as everywhere. Click and drag moves what you click on from one place to the other. If OneDrive is active, click and drag always just copies, both in your local OneDrive folder and cloud OneDrive. However, if you click and drag from within the OneDrive folder or within cloud OneDrive, you can actually move the file inside OneDrive. Is that possibly what you were experiencing?

Dragging files from OneDrive explorer now copies them?

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