Remove OneDrive problems

britgeezer · Feb 8, 2026

OK I've given up on OneDrive, the aggravation wasn't worth the benefits - Yes everyone here told me so.
I thought I followed the removal tutorial, but I severely messed up, as ever MS tech support has more scripted silly questions and doesn't read my comments properly.

Can someone here help? I have 3 PC's I use. My normal PC, a LT (One Drive successfully removed) and my PC server to have OD removed.
On my main PC I set OD folder and files to be local only.
When I turned off OD backup my Desktop disappeared all but a few icons.
That was the only desktop file I could find, strange since most icons and folders were created on this PC. I could find anyway to restore my desktop.
In frustration I restored aback from Macrium Reflect 8 from 2 days before my misadventure - success! my desktop settings were back!
Disaster, OD was back and began to restore several thousand files and within minutes my desktop was gone again.

I tried to work with OD and again make the files and folders local, but got an error message: "0x8007016A" - cloud server provider not running?
I tried to install a new copy of OD from the MS store and got the error message "0x8004def4" - there is a newer version of OD installed!

I can live with the Macrium restored version, as long as I can kill OD. I can get my emails back and have saved my most crucial files elsewhere, but don't want OD to do its stuff before I can copy my desktop file. How can I do that? My thoughts....

Execute the restore but without connection to the internet?
1. Does OD need that?
Attempt to copy the desktop file in the 3-5 minutes before OD reverts to the trashed desktop.
1. Where is the standard location
I'm making a MS restore drive with no OD in case that is useful. But it will not have my Desktop - what a pain to reconstruct.
Is it possible to access & copy an induvial folder or file from the Macrium backup?
I'm planning to purchase the 3 PC update from Macrium, but they want me to sign into my account and when I do so they supposedly send me an email to my account - which never arrives.

Anyone that responds with solutions before the big game tonight will earn my eternal thanks

Meanwhile, for those avid "football" fans - Why is it called a touchdown when all you have to do is run across the score line or catch it there? PS: I know the answer

John aka BG

britgeezer · Feb 8, 2026

More bad news. I thought I had made my folders and files local only - turns out the complete personal storage was gone. I tried restoring from OD but with limited success.
I know I can get everything back via Macrium, but that will include OD.

Josey Wales · Feb 8, 2026

britgeezer said:
More bad news. I thought I had made my folders and files local only - turns out the complete personal storage was gone. I tried restoring from OD but with limited success.
I know I can get everything back via Macrium, but that will include OD.

Enable or Disable Move or Install Apps on Non-System Drives in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable the ability to move or install apps from the Microsoft Store on non-system drives for all users in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Apps from the Microsoft Store are installed on the Windows C: system drive by default. Users can select to move...

www.elevenforum.com

The above may help, just read through the full tut.

glasskuter · Feb 8, 2026

What procedure did you use? Not knowing what you have done and how, I can only tell you the proper way it should have been done. You might restore an Macrium image and THEN deal with Onedrive Properly.

Proper sequence of events to get rid of ONEDRIVE

Note 1: If you are an 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 a each app.. Note, this disables the autosave feature in these apps as autosave works only for files in Onedrive.

Note 2: These instructions assume that OneDrive is still installed on your PC.
If OD is already uninstalled, for this procedure to work, you will need to reinstall OneDrive from Microsoft’s official site. Restart your PC, sign in to OD, and then continue with the steps below.

NOTE 3: Note: 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.

Step 1. Turn off backup folder syncing for Documents, Desktop, Pictures, and Videos.. This tutorial tells you how and also how to get your files onto your local drive.
https://www.elevenforum.com/t/turn-on-or-off-onedrive-folder-backup-syncing-across-windows-11-devices.4321/

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 folders DO NOT MOVE TO DEFAULT LOCATION use option 3 in these tutorials to restore the default folder location and move your files manually from Onedrive into the folders.

Move or Restore Default Location of Desktop Folder in Windows 11

Move or Restore Default Location of Documents Folder in Windows 11 Tutorial

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.
Unlink Account and PC from OneDrive in Windows 11

Step 3. You can then either uninstall Onedrive or disable it.

To disable Onedrive. Open Task Manager>Startup Apps, right click on Onedrive in the list and disable.

To uninstall Onedrive, the best way is to use Revo Uninstaller Free Portable. Find Onedrive under the Windows Apps section. After uninstall completes, use Revo’s scan feature to find leftover files and registry entries and delete them. Revo Free You can also use option 1 in this tutorial to uninstall it. It will leave a few registry entries behind though. Uninstall and Reinstall OneDrive in Windows 11

Note: All files in Onedrive will remain there until you login to Onedrive on the Web and delete them. Microsoft OneDrive

Fishmill · Feb 8, 2026

Have you tried to disable One Drive....rather than remove/delete it? I had no trouble with disabling. I still see icons for it in certain places, but my files are untouched.

Stigg · Feb 8, 2026

glasskuter said:
What procedure did you use? Not knowing what you have done and how, I can only tell you the proper way it should have been done. You might restore an Macrium image and THEN deal with Onedrive Properly.

Proper sequence of events to get rid of ONEDRIVE

Note 1: If you are an 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 a each app.. Note, this disables the autosave feature in these apps as autosave works only for files in Onedrive.

Note 2: These instructions assume that OneDrive is still installed on your PC.
If OD is already uninstalled, for this procedure to work, you will need to reinstall OneDrive from Microsoft’s official site. Restart your PC, sign in to OD, and then continue with the steps below.

NOTE 3: Note: 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.

Step 1. Turn off backup folder syncing for Documents, Desktop, Pictures, and Videos.. This tutorial tells you how and also how to get your files onto your local drive.
https://www.elevenforum.com/t/turn-on-or-off-onedrive-folder-backup-syncing-across-windows-11-devices.4321/

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 folders DO NOT MOVE TO DEFAULT LOCATION use option 3 in these tutorials to restore the default folder location and move your files manually from Onedrive into the folders.

Move or Restore Default Location of Desktop Folder in Windows 11

Move or Restore Default Location of Documents Folder in Windows 11 Tutorial

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.
Unlink Account and PC from OneDrive in Windows 11

Step 3. You can then either uninstall Onedrive or disable it.

To disable Onedrive. Open Task Manager>Startup Apps, right click on Onedrive in the list and disable.

To uninstall Onedrive, the best way is to use Revo Uninstaller Free Portable. Find Onedrive under the Windows Apps section. After uninstall completes, use Revo’s scan feature to find leftover files and registry entries and delete them. Revo Free You can also use option 1 in this tutorial to uninstall it. It will leave a few registry entries behind though. Uninstall and Reinstall OneDrive in Windows 11

Note: All files in Onedrive will remain there until you login to Onedrive on the Web and delete them. Microsoft OneDrive

One of these OneDrive uninstallation posts should be a sticky somewhere.

There are too many people having problems with it.

glasskuter · Feb 8, 2026

Stigg said:
There are too many people having problems with it.

Yes, and it's going to be an on-going problem for users who use a Microsoft account from now on. They don't understand it and try to get rid of it in various and sundry ways resulting in all kinds of messes. The bad thing is we can't SEE the state of their systems so it's very difficult to deal with each mess on an individual basis. Each case is different depending on what action has been taken before they come here.

britgeezer · Feb 9, 2026

Thanks for the replies.
To explain. the driving force for me to remove OD was that occasionally (without warning) it would populate my desktop with icons from my other 2 PC's that I use. Sometimes I could recover it - most times it was a slow manual process. Also, I hated the duplication of storage folders and files. I like to decide where and how I store things. There were only a few files that I wanted to have accessible on all Pc's and I have resolved to do that manually.
What I did:

I turned off all OD backing up on my main PC.
I then started the manual process of requiring OD/Cloud files to be local, but got an error message: "0x8007016A" - cloud server provider not running?
Then I tried to reinstall OD from the MS store and got the error message "0x8004def4" - there is a newer version of OD installed!
OD isn't seemingly running but still shows as a App.
Worse than that all the files and folders I thought were now local had disappeared.
I tried the restore from OD recycle bin but although It stated it had recovered hundreds of files, no folder showed up.

As I mentioned I have a good Macrium Reflect backup - but it has the reduced or corrupted Desktop file.

Once restored, I only have a few minutes before OD starts its syncing process that kills my desktop. How can I stop that?

I've asked Macrium if it's possible to copy only certain files from a backup - but no reply yet.
So, what I'm look for is a way to stall OD from syncing while I make copies of my folders / files including the desktop (apps seem to still be there) then I can try the removal methods above.

I am an Office 365 user, so I will make the date storage changes recommended. What bummer, I liked the auto save feature.

glasskuter · Feb 9, 2026

britgeezer said:
I've asked Macrium if it's possible to copy only certain files from a backup

For sure you can copy only certain file from a Macrium image, but I would bet a dollar to a donut Macrium did not image the Onedrive files.
Macrium images OneDrive files, but only if they are physically present on your computer ("Always keep on this device"). At the time your Macrium image was made, your were not. They were stored in Onedrive ony. If Files On-Demand was enabled, Macrium only backed up placeholder files. To ensure all files are backed up, you must configure OneDrive to download all content locally before creating the image.

If your only concern was the desktop folder problem, all you should have had to do was disable only the desktop folder from being backed up to OD, move ONLY the desktop folder default location back to the system drive under C:\users\yourusername using the manual tutorial listed in post #4. Once you sorted out this desktop again by eliminating what you did not want, the desktops on other devices would no longer interfere with this desktop and anything you put on this desktop would not interfere with your other devices' desktops.

I caution EVERYONE who syncs multiple devices to Onedrive to NEVER sync the destop folder on any device because I've never seens an instance where one wants all their different desktops to be the same..

britgeezer · Feb 11, 2026

Thanks for your reply.
Somewhere in the restored image is the correct desktop file. As you say, it's probably not in the OD section since the much-reduced desktop is installed within minutes. My challenge is to stop OD from overwriting files as soon as its reinstalled. I don't want to kill it totally (yet) since OD has a lot of folders and files that are not on my local drive based on their absence after I try to make them local.
I will attempt to copy them to another drive before I try the store local only process - again.

Any clues on quickly suspending OD updates is appreciated.

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