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. @CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2018-06-12T20:49:48+00:00

    If you login to a new computer with the same account, the files will indeed to that computer. That's the beauty of it. 

    You can also reach the files anytime from your phone with the app, or from any other computer by going to the OneDrive.com site.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-02-15T19:16:26+00:00

    Now I'm starting to feel as though we are getting somewhere!

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  3. @CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2018-02-15T17:51:11+00:00

    All files remain on the cloud unless you delete the file.  If you computer burns in a fire, crashes, drops into a puddle, gets a virus, or anything else, it doesn't matter.  Your computer's copy of the files isn't the only copy (you have extra copies online, plus any other computers, plus you can still use regular backups -- I prefer "Windows File History" built-in tool).

    And even if you accidentally delete a file and even empty your recycle bin, the file is still safe because you can go to onedrive.com to restore the file also (there is a separate recycle bin there).

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