Apps Enable or Disable OneDrive Personal Vault

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable Personal Vault for your OneDrive account.

The options in this tutorial to enable and disable your OneDrive personal vault are no longer available.

Personal Vault is a protected area in OneDrive where you can store your most important or sensitive files and photos without sacrificing the convenience of anywhere access.

Your locked files in Personal Vault have an extra layer of security keeping them more secured in the event that someone gains access to your account or your device.

Personal Vault is available from OneDrive on the web, the mobile app, and from your Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC. You’ll need to set it up separately on each device where you want to use it.

Personal Vault automatically locks after a period of inactivity and then you need to unlock it to get at your files again. You can manually lock and unlock your Personal Vault at any time.

Reference:

Personal Vault is available for OneDrive home and personal plans, not available in OneDrive for business, or work and school accounts.

EXAMPLE: OneDrive Personal Vault







1 Open you OneDrive account page online, and sign in with your Microsoft account if not already.

2 Click/tap on the Settings (gear) icon, and click/tap on Settings. (see screenshot below step 3)

3 Click/tap on Personal Vault in the left pane, and click/tap on Enable. (see screenshot below)


4 Click/tap on Got it. (see screenshot below)


5 Click/tap on Verify your identity. (see screenshot below)


6 Select a verification method you want to use, and follow any other instructions to verify. (see screenshots below)


7 You can now set up your OneDrive personal vault on your PC.

Disabling Personal Vault removes the Personal Vault folder from your OneDrive. All Files and folders in the Personal Vault, and any items that you previously deleted from the Personal Vault will be permanently deleted, and cannot be restored from the recycle bin.

You can re-enable Personal Vault later, but it will be empty.

1 Open you OneDrive account page online, and sign in with your Microsoft account if not already.

2 Click/tap on the Settings (gear) icon, and click/tap on Settings. (see screenshot below step 3)

3 Click/tap on Personal Vault in the left pane, and click/tap on Verify your identity. (see screenshot below)


4 Select a verification method you want to use, and follow any other instructions to verify. (see screenshots below)


5 Click/tap on Disable. (see screenshot below)


6 Click/tap on Disable to confirm. (see screenshot below)


7 Click/tap on Disable to confirm one last time. (see screenshot below)



That's it,
Shawn Brink