How to reduce cloud dependency of Win 11

I am trying to reduce the cloud dependency of my Win 11 25H2 26200.8117 installation. I am sure there are tutorials in this forum to do this. Can someone please point me in the right direction?
Thanks a lot

the first thing to unlink, disable and remove would be OneDrive
this HowTo by @glasskuter is the best one available. i have set the link to post #15

then install a standalone office suit LibreOffice is very good, open source and Free.

then external drives as backup drives
im sure others will think of more ways.

best of luck Steve ..

How To PROPERLY Remove OneDrive from Windows 11

When you sign in with a Microsoft account, Windows automatically sets Documents, Desktop, Pictures, and Videos user folders to use OneDrive as their default storage location.These folders are NOT on your system drive.

If you don’t want to use OneDrive, you’ll need to carefully follow the steps below. Skipping or rearranging them can cause issues with your files and folders.

Note 1: If you use Office 365, Office 2019, 2021 or 2024 user, you need to change options in each Office app such as Word and Excel to save to your computer by default. Currently files created in these apps default to Onedrive. Open a document, select File>Options> Check “save to computer by default” and choose a save location. Do the same for each app.. Note, this disables the autosave feature in these apps as autosave works only for files in Onedrive.

Note 2: Whether this will work as written depends on what steps were taken in your prior attempts to get rid of Onedrive. A user’s incorrect actions can have unwanted results so other steps may be required. Nevertheless, your files should still be in OD until you manually delete them.

Important:
These instructions assume that OneDrive is still installed on your PC.
If you’ve already uninstalled it, for this procedure to work, you will need to first reinstall OneDrive by downloading it from Microsoft’s official site.

• sign in to OneDrive if not already signed in, and then continue with the tutorial.

STEP 1: Turn Off OneDrive Folder Backup Syncing

First, you need to stop OneDrive from automatically syncing your Desktop, Documents, Pictures, and Videos folders. This guide will also help you get your files back on to your local drive.
Turn On or Off OneDrive Folder Backup Syncing in Windows 11

You know this was successful by right clicking on a user folder>select Properties>General tab. The folder location should now be C:\users\yourusername\foldername

Only If the folders don’t automatically return to their default local location under C:\Users\YourUserName in step 1:Use the tutorials below (Option Three) to manually restore the default location of each folder and manually move your files from Onedrive into it.
Move or Restore Default Location of Desktop Folder in Windows 11

Move or Restore Default Location of Documents Folder in Windows 11

Move or Restore Default Location of Pictures Folder in Windows 11

Move or Restore Default Location of Videos Folder in Windows 11 |


STEP 2: Unlink Account & PC from OneDrive

After syncing is turned off, disconnect your account and computer from OneDrive:
Unlink account & PC from Onedrive.

Once unlinked, your files remain in OneDrive until you delete them online at Onedrive on the Web. Microsoft OneDrive
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STEP 3: Prevent OneDrive from Starting Automatically or Uninstall Onedrive

At this point, you can either disable OneDrive from autostart or uninstall it.


Option 1- disable Onedrive from auto-starting. This is my preference since Microsoft can reinstall Onedrive through Windows or Office updates. This setting tends to hold during those updates.

1. Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc).
2. Go to the Startup Apps list in left pane. (Hover you mouse over the little icons until you see the one named Startup Apps)
3. Find OneDrive.exe, right-click it, and select Disable

If you want to remove OD from file explorer navigation pane Add or Remove OneDrive in Navigation Pane of File Explorer in Windows 11

If you want to hide OD in the task tray, Settings > Personalization > Taskbar "Other system tray icons". Find Onedrive and toggle it off. Alternatively, you can quickly hide an icon by dragging it from the taskbar onto the upward-pointing arrow that opens the hidden icons menu.

Once you re-start, OneDrive will no longer launch at startup and the only place you will see it is in your start menu.

Option 2 - Uninstall OneDrive

Method 1 – Using Revo Uninstaller (recommended):
Download Revo Uninstaller Freeware Portable.

• Open Revo and look under Windows Apps to find OneDrive.
• Uninstall it using Revo, then run its scan feature. Check all the leftover files and registry entries Revo finds and remove.

Method 2 – Built-in Windows option:
You can also uninstall OneDrive through Windows settings, but this will leave some registry entries behind. Uninstall and Reinstall OneDrive in Windows 11
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Following this sequence ensures your files are safe and your folders return to their proper locations, while OneDrive is disabled or completely removed from your system.

^^^^ Durn good tutorial. I had figured out that this proper order must be done and sometimes to repair the damage/duplication/default location of the User Profile Folders by someone's monkeying around and subsequent uninstalling of OneDrive, one main step is to reinstall OneDrive and then visit the user's OneDrive account in the sky. I have to re-remember what I did fo fix it and this tutorial lays it all out.

The most recent one I worked on, the customer must have had a wild day of spaghetti throwing because she had FOUR Documents and TWO Pictures and TWO Desktop profile folders.

Thank you. SAVED.