@Edwin more than one thing can cause a user to get caught in the MS Onedrive trap in one way or another. What is WRONG about the whole fiasco is Microsoft not giving users a CLEAR choice and up-front options. For users to have any control at all from the get-go, folks do not understand exactly how important it is to use a local account.(and yeah, I know. MS no longer gives a clear path to create a local account during OOBE. In fact the word LOCAL is no where to be found in OOBE.) Microsoft KNOWS that 75% or more of new computer buyers are clueless. MS takes advantage of it.. WHY? $$$$$$
Scenario 1- The user blindly follows the prompts thru OOBE and creates a MS account. Bingo, his user folders default to Onedrive automatically without his knowledge. He then copies a bunch of photos, documents, and videos into his user folders. At some point his files become read-only, he can't add any more files (to his user folder) or his Outlook email stops sending or receiving. Why? Because he's exceeded his 5gb free Onedrive limit.
Microsoft calls this type of Onedrive an unlicensed Onedrive. He finds out he has to buy additional OD storage. Some of his files will get deleted permanently if he is over his free OD limit long enough. I believe it's 6 months.
If you think about it, it doesn't take many photos or videos to reach 5gb
At one time a unlicensed Onedrive user could purchase additional Onedrive space for a nominal fee and keep on trucking (think Apple icloud here where you can get an additional 50gb of storage for $0.99 a month), but not anymore. Now when you ask to buy more Onedrive storage space one sees this.
Requires Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription. For Microsoft 365 Family users, only the account purchasing additional storage will receive the additional storage. Microsoft 365 Basic and Free accounts are not eligible for additional storage plans.
Ding, Ding, Ding. Microsoft just sold another 365 subscription to someone who may never use Office & whose only concern is not jeopardizing all the photos he's saved for the last 20 years that he thought was on his hard drive.
Scenario 2 -A user thinks he's clear because he jumped through hoops and managed to create a local account. Then he sees all the 365 free apps that come pre-installed with Windows. "Oh wow, Microsoft is giving me Office now." he says. So, he signs into them OR he installs Office 2019-024/ Office 365 which of course has to be purchased/installed using a MS account and signs into that. The user creates a bunch of documents never knowing that suite of apps save to Onedrive by default.
Scenario 3.- The user somehow manages to escape both scenario 1 and 2 and his personal folders are on his local drive . Maybe someone who actually understood Onedrive helped him get thru OOBE with a local account and he never wrote a word doc.. One day he runs across the Backup and sync screen in settings. "Wow, MS is so nice.. They're gonna backup all my files for me.," he says so he toggles it on and signs in. What happens? Those folders are physically moved inside the OneDrive folder making them "online only".
To add insult to injury, now we've got another new "Windows Backup" screen in settings too, with big bold letters "Backup your PC" If a user clicks on that, bingo, Onedrive again..
Like so many of the cases we end up seeing here, a user realizes he's involved with Onedrive and thinks just deleting Onedrive will solve all his problems, not realizing other steps are necessary. All he's doing is making it worse.
When I really get my panties in a wad is when I run across one of this forum's members telling a poster to "just delete onedrive" when there's so much more to it than that.
OK, rant over. Sorry for monopolizing your thread,
@Nickynoo, but Every time Onedrive comes up, I get incensed all over again about Microsoft's practices regarding it. For users that understand it and like it, it works great, but that is NOT the majority of Windows users.
