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
    2017-09-19T21:34:26+00:00

    I know how to move a file or folder. What is a registered shell folder? I tried to use the technique with my Documents Folder in C:\Users\Karl\Documents and that did not work. Guess I will keep digging.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-09-19T21:43:11+00:00

    O.K.  It worked this time. So I have to sync using only the existing One Drive folder namwes? Can I create new folder names in One Drive? Or are we limited to the ones built into One Drive initially? I am a newbie and have found it difficult to get an understanding of the basics like Ond Drive For Dummoes.

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  3. @CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2017-09-20T01:31:13+00:00

    You can create basically any folder inside the onedrive folder you want.  You can also move other special shell folders into it.  For example my Downloads and Desktop are inside OneDrive, so all my computers have the same downloads/desktops, if I download or put something on one of them, they all get it. Plus if I'm away at someone's house, I can get to my desktop/onedrive by just going to onedrive.com

    Basically nothing I need regularly is ever outside the Onedrive folder.

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