Windows 11 - documents folder is linked to onedrive instead of the pc storage. can't unlink it.

Anonymous
2022-08-26T22:34:31+00:00

I recently got a new laptop and I'm not sure how windows 11 works. I noticed that my documents folder was just my OneDrive, which i don't want.

When i tried to redirect it to the main storage, i get:

I'm not sure how to get it to work.

I don't want to unlink my onedrive completely because i use it often to transfer files.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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Brian Tillman 27,030 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2022-08-26T23:08:01+00:00

Hi. I'm Brian and I will do my best to help you.

Go into the Settings on OneDrive, select the Backup tab and uncheck Documents (and Desktop and Pictures if you wish) and those folders should get moved back to their position under C:\Users<youraccount>, unless you've manually created folders of the same name, which is not the correct approach.

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-02-29T21:11:38+00:00

    yeah, I managed to delete the contents of both Documents and Pictures by deselecting the "Backup" option for those folders. it's not obvious that is what will happen. Sigh. Luckily I had everything still on another laptop.

    I'll take some blame because Laplink PCMover warned me about the cloud stuff before I started the transfer to my new laptop which I stupidly ignored. They offer the option to create a local folder in the preamble instead of using the OneDrive location.

    But as an aside, the comingling of these folders and their contents amongst multiple machines I find maddening. I guess if one starts from scratch and knows this is what will happen one can manage. but if you have a bunch of existing machines, it can be a mess unless one plans it all out and have an option to sort into different machine directories if that's what one wants.

    Now I'm stuck having to manually go through everything and see what's duplicated in the cloud. Argh.

    FYI. I'm using TreeSizeFree to figure out where all the files and directories actually live.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-02-21T22:00:55+00:00

    I posted a link to a YouTube video that shows the process

    The settings for OneDrive are in the System Tray on your computer. The right side of your taskbar has the system tray. You may have to click the little ^ to see the hidden icons. Look for the one that looks like a cloud. Right-click on it and go to settings

    There is a sequential process that needs to be followed. If you don't follow it in that order, it will screw things up

    Before you attempt to unsynch and unlink Onedrive get an external drive on which to backup all your data in

    Desktop

    Documents

    Pictures

    If you don't backup it up you run the risk of losing that data.

    Watch these videos first to get an idea of the process that is involved in getting your Computer back to normal before OneDrive hijacked all of your files.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=119bYD_A9mI

    and

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A39B6H9T2uE

    Very important to backup those files first

    Windows 11 and Windows 10 process vary slightly however, you must follow the right sequence.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-02-21T16:15:12+00:00

    There is no "Location" tab in the properties of my one drive. I'm using Windows 11.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-02-21T16:10:41+00:00

    Unfortunately, this response does not tell us where to find "the Settings on OneDrive." I went to "Settings" but there is no "OneDrive" menu item from there. So where do we find this????? I must say, it is VERY, VERY frustrating to see how hard Microsoft is working to break our will and get all of our documents in their cloud.

    When you click on the yellow file explorer folder, it opens a window. On the left side of that window you will see a "Home" button (whatever that is, I don't know), and below that you will see a cloud with "your name - Personal". Right click on that and in the list that opens, "One Drive" will be listed. When you place your arrow on One Drive, another window will open and Settings is listed in that. Click on "Account" on the left side of that window and there is a "Chooses folders" option. I know nothing about Windows 11 so this is as far as I can take you. Click on the "choose folders" option and read what it says. At this point, I really don't know what to do. In my opinion, Microsoft has really F'd up Windows and only computer EXPERTS can make out what to do. Windows used to be great but not any more!

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