Onedrive is horrible, invasive and impossible

The "manila" icon folders you put at *C:\Users\username* cannot go to OneDrive.

Thanks Craig! Appreciate the recommendation and I’ll be doing this!

You're welcome.

These are the folders that will sync to OneDrive when the sync is enabled at OneDrive Settings > Sync and backup > Manage backup.

This will be the basis of the lawsuit against Microsoft. The company intentionally describes and advertises their service using the following term to mislead users.

Back Up your files: (definition)

2. 

COMPUTINGmake a spare copy of data or a disk.

Without my knowledge or consent, when I plugged in my new Dell computer and signed in to my MS 365 account, all my files were put in a cloud including copies of driver's licenses, passports, and family medical records. I thought okay, I'll just take them out of the cloud, which as we now understand also deletes them from the desktop.

I have gone back and forth about a dozen times in emails with MS techs. Some of their advice caused all of my files to disappear from my computer. I asked repeatedly if there is a way to choose what to backup and got no answer from MS. I've had a tech at my home twice, and he finds there is no way to manually backup or choose what files to backup. We decided to quit onedrive. I now have duplicates of files and paths still pointing to onedrive, so I will have to get more help with this. Research that I have been working on for years has been convoluted and possibly lost due to multiple duplicates.

I've been working from home for over 30 years and have never had problems like this. I'm used to figuring out solutions, but this is beyond absurd. I simply bought a new computer to replace my 10-year-old machine and am now in this nightmare.

I’m responding because I’m in nearly the exact same situation as posted above. Just purchased a new Dell XPS computer which I was planning to transfer all my documents, photos, email pst files, work documents, etc.. from my 2015 WIN10 computer but everything on my old computer is suddenly jacked. I guess after some updates OneDrive took over and removed lots of my personal stuff off of my personal computer which I WOULD HAVE NEVER GIVEN PERMISSION FOR! Years of photography, tax docs, personal letters, emails, work docs, personal history just GONE! I found some but not all my photography in the OneDrive cloud, but a lot seems to have disappeared.

Like Enerak above I’ve been working from home for 30 years, have had many PC’s with many versions of Microsoft, and have always been able to navigate software and/or hardware issues on my own, even upgrading graphics cards & hard drives in the past.

For the last 18 months I had switched to mostly working on a MacBook & iMac PC for more creative endeavors, and now was ready to focus on Dell PC’s and get back to work.

However currently I feel like I’m in a dystopian nightmare and don’t have the mental bandwidth, time, nor energy to deal with this OneDrive fiasco. It’s 4:00 am and I’m unable to sleep, worrying about how I can get my computer life back together on my PC and get rid of OneDrive. Microsoft should not be causing such complications and sleep loss!

It’s criminal to me that Microsoft has software that not only highjacks and removes your personal property out of your control, but makes it nearly impossible to get it back. If feel like OneDrive’s tentacles are strangling me and it’s completely unfair and should be illegal!

Hi. Welcome to the Microsoft community.

All I can suggest is to turn off the backup of your folders. Go to the white cloud icon on the taskbar > Settings > Backup or Sync and backup tab > Manage backup and stop the backup of your folders.

If you don't do that first before unlinking your account and uninstalling OneDrive then your files will still point to OneDrive. So stop the backup (sync) first and then unlink your account from OneDrive by going to the cloud icon on the taskbar > Settings > Account tab > Unlink This PC. Lastly, you can uninstall OneDrive.

I hope that helps.

• Craig

This does not fix the issue of Microsoft storing user's sensitive information without their knowledge or consent, as default. I have the same problem and it seems like microsoft goes out of their way to make it obfuscate what is being stolen from users.