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
    2016-08-01T04:37:42+00:00

    Shawn,

    Thank you!

    Excellent idea concerning delaying any synchronization until things have settled down.

    I am assuming from what you stated in your response (#3) that I still need to go into the Documents (or any other folder that I'm currently syncing not under Documents) properties and change the location to One Drive Documents folder before I start syncing... just as I did for the original setup on my current PC.

    Concerning folders which are not already under Windows by default - will One Drive create them on my HDD and sync when I start the One Drive process? Specifically folders and files that I have under the "Public" folder on the Cloud.

    Again, thanks for the very appropriate suggestions in your first response.

    Regards,

    John

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  2. @CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2016-08-01T13:16:33+00:00

    I am assuming from what you stated in your response (#3) that I still need to go into the Documents (or any other folder that I'm currently syncing not under Documents) properties and change the location to One Drive Documents folder before I start syncing... just as I did for the original setup on my current PC.

    Absolutely correct.

    Concerning folders which are not already under Windows by default - will One Drive create them on my HDD and sync when I start the One Drive process? Specifically folders and files that I have under the "Public" folder on the Cloud.

    Right on as well.  When sync begins it will create all the folder structure first, so almost right away you'll see a bunch of what appears to be empty folders, then it will start syncing down copies of the files.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-08-02T22:38:58+00:00

    Shawn,

    OK... I've got everything ready to go.

    Is there any real advantage to installing Win10 on my 480GB SSD other than boot speed?

    Are there other advantages that would make it worthwhile to install the OS on the SSD? If so, how do I move the default file storage folders over to my WD 1TB HDD (as you mentioned in step 2) so that they don't take up space on the SSD?

    Ideally I would use the SSD only for applications that would take advantage of the speed... such as games.

    Again, thanks for your help here!

    John

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