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
    2018-02-15T17:59:37+00:00

    They even have a new feature in case you get a virus that encrypts all your files at once, you can instantly restore them all.

    OneDrive is doing some really great things.

    They do have the option to only store in cloud (no local copy) but that's dangerous.  If your data only exists in one place, you don't have a backup -- you just have another single point of failure.  But then, OneDrive has never been meant to be a backup -- it's just supposed to be "another hard drive".  Your regular backup strategy (File History, scheduled backups, or even a service like Carbonite) should still continue to be used, even if you use OneDrive/Dropbox/GoogleDrive/Whatever.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-02-15T17:57:07+00:00

    Good then! But it would be nice that Microsoft design some introduction graphic illustrations how  users wanna set OneDrive.

    All in Cloud - picture-icon in graphic explanation diagram

    Cloud n PC - picture-icon in graphic explanation diagram

    Only PC - picture-icon in graphic explanation diagram

    Emergency Backup - picture-icon in graphic explanation diagram

    That's some of ideas for users clearly know, what they doing.

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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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