Remove "Start back up" option in file explorer

Hello,

In the latest release of Windows Insider Home Preview (I have an option everywhere I go in file explorer to "Start Back Up", clicking on it leads me to the onedrive dialogue to back up folders. This is incredibly annoying and I cannot find out how to disable it, even though all my backup features are off.

(Preview build 23481)

I agree about this being annoying. This "Start Backup" button appeared in my Windows Explorer for the first time a couple of weeks ago - Windows 11 Pro 22H2 build 22621.2428.

The button isn't always there; it depends on the folder. For example C:\users<username>\Documents, if I'm in this folder or a subfolder I will see the "Start Backup" button. Same for C:\users<username>\Desktop. I also see the button on my Pictures folder which is on my D: drive, not under C:\users.

I use OneDrive but I keep my OneDrive folder separate from the other folders in my user folder like Desktop, Documents, Downloads, etc. I don't want to back up everything I have saved on my PC, I like to have control over which files are backed up.

I get why MS wants me to back up everything on their cloud - if I use up all of the free OneDrive storage I'll then be forced to buy a subscription for more storage. The "Start Backup" button is meant to facilitate this. In other words, the button is essentially an ad, and like most ads the idea is to generate accidental clicks. Windows 11 becomes more like Freemium software with every update.

I shouldn't have to stop using OneDrive to make this button go away. MS needs to fix this, or at least give us an option to turn it off.

I couldn't agree more. I use OneDrive, but I do not want this Backup functionality.

Even if I did want it, the last place I would want the "Start backup" button is up there taking up address-bar real-estate. Now my address is impossible to navigate via segmented portions of the address (folder icons), forcing me to edit manually as text (which is so 1990s), or use other more primitive methods (backspace to go back a single folder-level at a time).

When foisting new functionality on users, don't funk up existing functionality.

Chris

I found that the only way to persist this after a reboot was to adjust the permissions. I tried setting the value to {null}, empty string and removing the value entirely. In each case, the value was reinstated automatically after a reboot.

You can't adjust the permissions on the value itself, you have to do so on the key (in my case HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StorageProvider\OneDrive). There are several inherited permissions, so I disabled inheritance and set all permissions to read-only after setting the string value to {null}. This seemed to resolve the situation and persist the change after rebooting.

Step-by-step for anyone interested:

1. Open registry editor (WIN+R > regedit > OK)
2. Go to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StorageProvider\OneDrive
3. Double-click / right-click and modify the value called StorageProviderKnownFolderSyncInfoSourceFactory
4. Set the value to "{null}" (without quotes)
5. Click "OK"
6. Right click the OneDrive key (HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StorageProvider\OneDrive)
7. Select "Permissions..."
8. Click "Advanced"
9. Click "Disable inheritance" (button near the bottom left)
10. Confirm if prompted
11. Click "OK"
12. In the "Group or user names" section, go through each one and untick the "Allow" checkbox for "Full Control". I initially tried just disabling "Full Control" for SYSTEM, but in the end disabled it for my local account and Administrators, too, because the change wasn't sticking. My end result was that nothing in the list was allowed "Full Control" to this key.
13. Click "OK"

Done :) and massive thanks to @djkrose, @michael kohlman1 and @Fxzx micah, whose contributions each led to success for me.

FYI: In respect to the comment that this is not a OneDrive issue, I've been discovering a host of other Windows apps/components that are trying to get users to use OneDrive for backup. See the following image for a prompt in Excel to schedule a backup to OneDrive.

This thread is about the button in "Start Backup" Windows Explorer and how it's positioned in any annoying locations, one that sometimes interrupts the functionality of the address bar in Windows Explorer.

But it's clear to me from indications elsewhere in windows that this is a marketing move in the area of cloud storage. At least in Excel, I can click the close 'x' (not shown) at the far right of the yellow bar. I don't know if there's a way to tell Excel to stop showing me the backup option at all times, but a quick search on the web shows that this is just as much a mystery as the Windows Explorer button.

We should all be unhappy with Microsoft's foisting this on us without the ability to disable it.

Chris