Using One Drive to automatically back up My Documents folder

Anonymous
2014-05-28T20:37:52+00:00

Hello 

I would like to automatically sync the My Documents folder to One Drive. What is the best way of achieving this ?  The online information on OIneDRive does not make this clear 

Tony

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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@CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2014-05-29T03:22:52+00:00

Perhaps the easiest way is to set the Documents folder to be saved inside your OneDrive folder.

  1. If you don't already have one there, create a folder named "Documents" inside your OneDrive folder.
  2. Right-click the original Documents folder (not the one created in step 1), and choose Properties
  3. On the Location tab, click Move, and choose the Documents folder you created in step 1.
  4. Confirm that you want to move your Documents folder.

You'll still see a Documents folder inside your C:\Users\Tony folder, but it's actually become a redirect -- anything put there will actually be inside OneDrive (both on your hard drive and, of course, synced up to OneDrive cloud).  You can even do this for your Desktop folder and other special shell folders that have a location tab on their properties.

Windows 8's Internet Explorer already syncs your bookmarks, but if you have a PC using 7 or older, this is also a great way to sync your bookmarks (Favorites).

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@CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2014-05-30T21:58:38+00:00

The "Restore Default Location" button won't be available, but you will certainly be able to put Documents back to the proper location if you decide to do so later.  That warning is actually a bit of a stretch.

It's possible (although incredibly unlikely), that you would have to go set the Documents folder path correct in the registry, but even that is actually pretty quick and easy if you needed to.

In the registry, this value controls which folder is considered the "documents" folder.  It's under HKEY_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-04-01T09:01:22+00:00

    Shawn, I did not see the post where you explained how to use a redirect of sorts for my documents.  I am interested in changing the my documents folder to the local path (D:) for the NexGen OneDrive folder on my computer. And concerned about whether this has been tested and known to function without issue?  To me it seems very straightforward to make this association such that when a file is saved or opened in an application it would default to the location of one's user files. Thanks in advance for your response

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-03-26T03:52:23+00:00

    Perhaps the easiest way is to set the Documents folder to be saved inside your OneDrive folder.

    1. If you don't already have one there, create a folder named "Documents" inside your OneDrive folder.
    2. Right-click the Documents folder, and choose Properties
    3. On the Location tab, click Move, and choose the Documents folder you created in step 1.
    4. Confirm that you want to move your Documents folder.

    You'll still see a Documents folder inside your C:\Users\Tony folder, but it's actually become a redirect -- anything put there will actually be inside OneDrive (both on your hard drive and, of course, synced up to OneDrive cloud).  You can even do this for your Desktop folder and other special shell folders that have a location tab on their properties.

    Windows 8's Internet Explorer already syncs your bookmarks, but if you have a PC using 7 or older, this is also a great way to sync your bookmarks (Favorites).

    Shawn 'Cmdr' Keene \[MVP\] replied on

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    Perhaps the easiest way is to set the Documents folder to be saved inside your OneDrive folder.

    1. If you don't already have one there, create a folder named "Documents" inside your OneDrive folder.
    2. Right-click the Documents folder, and choose Properties
    3. On the Location tab, click Move, and choose the Documents folder you created in step 1.
    4. Confirm that you want to move your Documents folder.

    My question in response to this post is:

    I am trying to set up an automatic back up system for my documents.  However, if I place all my documents in the one drive folder, does that mean when I don't have wi fi or internet service, I won't be able to work with my documents, since they are not technically on my lap top?

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  3. @CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2016-03-11T17:41:15+00:00

    When you link it in this way, the two folders aren't just copies of each other:  they literally are the same folder.  The file doesn't exist in both places, you just have two ways to reach it.  This is called a symbolic link (sometimes symlink).

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