Taking Control of OneDrive?

I like it, but then I don't! I'm stuck in limbo.
A while back I removed OneDrive per the official MS description ensuring my OD content was on my local drives. That didn't work, lots of supposedly saved data was lost.
However, I recovered most of it, but the strange remains drives me MAD. For example:

Under my PC I have a downloads folder.
But so does OD.
I can never predict which downloads folder I'm saving to and they are different! If they held the same content - replicated it wouldn't be so bad.
I have learned how to stop the desktop replicating and screwing up the desktop of the 2 PC's and one Laptop I use, (thank God for DesktopOK), but I hate the existence of "duplicate" folders which don't have the same content.

How can I fix this?
I'm getting to the point where I think I shall manually copy all my data of the main PC form both locations, format and reinstall it all.
Not sure about using OD at that point.

OneDrive doesn't sync downloads on its own, so if you have a downloads folder in OneDrive, you created it (or something did on your behalf). Move the files from one folder into the other, and ditch the one you don't want.

I just had a crazy experience with OneDrive. I tried to move the Onedrive folders back to their original locations using the Windows facility to reset location. Of course it only worked for some folders.

What I then did is as you said, I copied all the data out. Confirmed I had it all very carefully.

Then I added a new local user (Alt_Admin or any name you want), granted it Admin permissions, signed into that account and deleted the original user and its data. Once gone I created a new Local user, with admin authority with the real name I wanted. As it created this new user it asked me if I wanted to store everything locally and I said yes. I then signed into this new user. Onedrive wasn't signed into, I use task manager to stop it from starting with windows and rebooted. I then copied data in.

I left the alternate admin in case of password issue with the real user, a second set of keys to the car.

This process avoids the complete re-install.

I nuked OneDrive long ago. Since I have no intention of paying for it, it doesn't have enough storage to be that useful

OneDrive and the new Microsoft Backup Feature need to be understood and fixed. Please watch this video.

britgeezer said:

I like it, but then I don't! I'm stuck in limbo.
A while back I removed OneDrive per the official MS description ensuring my OD content was on my local drives. That didn't work, lots of supposedly saved data was lost.
However, I recovered most of it, but the strange remains drives me MAD. For example:

Under my PC I have a downloads folder.
But so does OD.
I can never predict which downloads folder I'm saving to and they are different! If they held the same content - replicated it wouldn't be so bad.
I have learned how to stop the desktop replicating and screwing up the desktop of the 2 PC's and one Laptop I use, (thank God for DesktopOK), but I hate the existence of "duplicate" folders which don't have the same content.

How can I fix this?
I'm getting to the point where I think I shall manually copy all my data of the main PC form both locations, format and reinstall it all.
Not sure about using OD at that point.

Click to expand...

Typically, your downloads folder is going to be in C:\users\username\downloads. If you right click on the OneDrive icon, click the cog in the upper right, choose Settings, under Account on the left side, you should have an option to "choose folders" on the right side., Near the bottom of this screen, it should show you Location on your PC. Mine shown here happens to be D:\OneDrive.



IF you wanted all of your downloads uploaded to the cloud and thus stored in 2 places I would
1). Manually copy everything from C:\users\useraccount\Downloads to whereever the onedrive folder is. For my example that would be D:\OneDrive\Downlods.

2). go to your previously used downloads folder, right click on it and change it's location from C:\users\useraccount\Downloads and instead point it at your OneDrive version, in my example, D:\onedrive\downloads.

Onedrive works how it is designed to work. The big issue is how Microsoft chooses to implement it when one uses a Microsoft account. Problems then arise because folks don't understand how it works nor the proper way to get rid of it if they don't want it. The proper way involves several steps that must be followed exactly and in the correct sequence. Done incorrectly can leave remnants behind that can have unexpected results.

Detailed step by step instructions have been given many times here.

Microsoft needs to create a "Welcome to OneDrive" screen during the install/upgrade/patch process that provides two options:

1. Watch this animated video to understand what OneDrive is, how it works, and then decide if you want to enable this feature.
2. Skip watching the video and enable OneDrive because you already know/understand how OneDrive works and you want to use it.

The animated video would essentially be the video shared by @TraderGary above. I truly believe that this would eliminate most of these posts/misunderstandings about OneDrive.

Since I don't need it, want it, or use it and don't want to subscribe to a storage plan or MS 365 which I also don't need, want, or use I would prefer they didn't install and enable it by default.

FrancoDT said:

Since I don't need it, want it, or use it and don't want to subscribe to a storage plan or MS 365 which I also don't need, want, or use I would prefer they didn't install and enable it by default.

Click to expand...

I'm right with you there. OneDrive is the first thing I disable on a new PC. Thank you, MS, but I am just not interested in having my files in your cloud, so quit forcing it on me.

nuspieds said:

Microsoft needs to create a "Welcome to OneDrive" screen during the install/upgrade/patch process that provides two options:

1. Watch this animated video to understand what OneDrive is, how it works, and then decide if you want to enable this feature.
2. Skip watching the video and enable OneDrive because you already know/understand how OneDrive works and you want to use it.

The animated video would essentially be the video shared by @TraderGary above. I truly believe that this would eliminate most of these posts/misunderstandings about OneDrive.

Click to expand...

You forgot 3. Disable and uninstall all traces of OneDrive.

Yeah, I just went back and rewatched that video that @TraderGary posted. I've watched it in the past, but wanted to refresh in my memory, what the problem was and why i never found it to be a problem.

At the 21 minute mark, his recommendation was to not use the Backup feature and rather manage your data yourself. i think that is why i have always gotten along great with OneDrive because that is always how I have used it. But even before OneDrive came along, it's always how I managed saving data on my PC's. I always had a data folder, or a shared drive on another computer where I organized and saved my work. I never intentionally used the My Documents, My Downloads library locations that Microsoft provided.

My OneDrive folder is on my D drive. So, it's D:\OneDrive. Whenever I make a document and save it, I manually choose between D:\OneDrive and D:\LocalData. If it's not sensitive, and I want access to it from all of my other devices, it goes to OneDrive. If it's something I don't want in the cloud, it naturally goes into LocalData.

glasskuter said:

Detailed step by step instructions have been given many times here.

Click to expand...

@glasskuter - Would you have a link to those instructions, how to properly stop using one drive. I don't think they are a tutorial, which would be nice. Thank you.

How To PROPERLY Remove OneDrive from Windows 11
(written by me and run through Brink for approvall)
When you sign in with a Microsoft account, Windows automatically sets Documents, Desktop, Pictures, and Videos folders to use OneDrive as their default storage location. These folders are NOT on your system drive in the normal location of C:\Users\yourusername, but have a default location of C:\Users\yourusername\OneDrive\

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

Note 1 - Whether this will work as written depends on what actions (if any) you took in your prior attempts to get rid of Onedrive. A user’s incorrect actions can have unwanted results so other steps may be required. That be the case, just ask. Nevertheless, your files should still be in OD until you manually delete them. Ask questions if you are unsure.
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Note 2: If you use Office 365, Office 2019, 2021, or 2024, 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 any document or a blank document, select File>Options> SAVE.

Check “save to computer by default” and choose a save folder location. Do the same for each Office app.

Please be aware that this disables the autosave/auto-recover feature in these apps as autosave works only for files in Onedrive.

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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.

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 onto your local drive. Use either of the methods here. 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
Turn On or Off OneDrive Folder Backup Syncing in Windows 11

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 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 |
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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 you do this, the files you have in Onedrive will remain there until you login to Onedrive on the Web and delete them. Microsoft OneDrive
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STEP 3: Prevent OneDrive from Starting Automatically or Completely Uninstall Onedrive

At this point, choose whether you want to disable OneDrive from autostart or uninstall it.

Option 1 - disable Onedrive from auto-starting.

1. Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc).
2. Go to the Startup Apps list in left pane.
3. Find OneDrive.exe, right-click it, and select Disable.
4. If you want to remove it from file explorer navigation pane Add or Remove OneDrive in Navigation Pane of File Explorer in Windows 11

If you want to hide it 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. Right click on it and select Uninstall. Once the uninstall is complete, on Revo’s “SCAN” page, select “advanced scan” option. Check all the leftover files and registry entries Revo finds and delete them.

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 on your system drive, while OneDrive is disabled or completely removed from your system. Remember that the files will remain in Onedrive on the web until you delete them there.

gunrunnerjohn said:

I nuked OneDrive long ago. Since I have no intention of paying for it, it doesn't have enough storage to be that useful

Click to expand...

I'm with you. I nuked it as soon as windows was installed.

And don't be surprised if you have to unlink and remove OneDrive again in the future after a repair install or major Windows update.

TraderGary said:

Please watch this video.

Click to expand...

Leo said it best, at 21:12, "Manage your Documents yourself"!!!
OneDrive, as we say in Dutch, is Stiekem!!!
Not gonna pay for it, not gonna use it!

I've used OneDrive for close to 20 years. OneDrive is the offsite component of my 3-2-1 Backup Strategy. With OneDrive all my data is synchronized on all my devices in real-time as I work and for me this is invaluable.

The easiest way to nix OneDrive is in the forum's tutorials;

Enable or Disable OneDrive in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable the OneDrive feature for all users in Windows 10 and Windows 11. OneDrive is built-in to Windows 11 by default. With OneDrive, you can sync files and folders between your computer and the cloud, so you can get to your files from anywhere -...

www.elevenforum.com

TraderGary said:

I've used OneDrive for close to 20 years. OneDrive is the offsite component of my 3-2-1 Backup Strategy. With OneDrive all my data is synchronized on all my devices in real-time as I work and for me this is invaluable.

Click to expand...

While that's great for those who like it and want to use it I would guess the majority of users don't.
Public sentiment shows a high passive usage by less experienced users driven by forced default settings, paired with widespread irritation, with many users actively trying to disable, uninstall, or block OneDrive from restarting. Microsoft has faced a lot of backlash and criticism as a result.