Onedrive is horrible, invasive and impossible

Anonymous
2023-02-09T16:57:08+00:00

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.

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2023-11-01T06:34:15+00:00

Thanks for this, VJA142. I wish I had seen these before I turned on my new PC. After watching the video you suggested and Leo's The Problem with OneDrive Backup, I'm less confused and beginning to wrap my head around it. I don't use the "Documents" folder and have individual folders on my desktop where I save things, but I get the gist.

Good suggestion too about automatic updates. I have always paused updates for several weeks and do one computer at a time to manage the nasty surprises.

Hi Enerak, glad you found Leo’s YouTube videos Re OneDrive helpful, I know I sure did, the light finally came on for me. He also has a web page (ask Leo.com) where he posts articles with links to his videos. The replies to his OneDrive articles are like this forum, full of people (including some IT types) who are all experiencing issues with OneDrive.

What’s crazy is that we all PAID for this Microsoft software, with many of us having invested in new computer hardware, only to turn on our PC’s and have our digital lives literally scrambled and yanked inside out.

I’m glad we’ve had this forum to vent & share info!

Thanks, Vikki

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-11-02T20:23:39+00:00

    🙋🏻‍♂️

    Glad you're finding the video and article helpful. Yup, it's a mess. I wish it were otherwise, but there it is.

    In case it helps:

    Text/Article: https://askleo.com/the-problem-with-onedrive-backup/

    YouTube video: https://youtu.be/xtsNTwRg7iM

    Leo A. Notenboom

    https://askleo.com/about - Ask Leo!

    https://leonotenboom.com - Everything else

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-11-01T03:49:34+00:00

    I turn the synch off and it automatically turns itself back on the next time I reboot my computer.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-10-28T01:05:01+00:00

    I opted OUT of the subscription 365 to only have access to Excel, Word, etc. But somehow I found 365 in my computer files!

    My main complaint is OneDrive. I uninstalled it almost a year ago because if I deleted one photo or one document, it deleted EVERYTHING in the file! USELESS! For almost a year I was able to save to my PC without a problem, though somehow NOT by my doing, my files kept getting moved around. Just this afternoon I went to open a photograph.

    Somehow, even though I uninstalled OneDrive, it hijacked and deleted ALL my files! I found out, reading countless complaints about this exact thing happening and Europe even has them in court over it.

    I think Microsoft is stealing information from people either for 1. Project 2025, 2. Their own profit, 3. Spying to steal as much as they can. I worked hard to get the damned Windows 11. Not all of us have money coming out our asses. This is a total affront to their customers and the poorer people who can't afford to dump a system in 1 year. We need to form a coalition against Microsoft to sue them to get our information back and force them to give us all a new Windows WITHOUT a cloud storage and SAY SO UP FRONT. NOT HIDING IT IN THE BOWELS OF THE AGREEMENT. All I can say is **** MICROSOFT, they are CRIMINALS!

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-10-22T16:18:19+00:00

    Right and when you want to store files on your hard drive, onedrive uploads them to the cloud and deletes them from your computer without ever asking you.

    One would think, that instead of just starting, onedrive would take you through a setup process asking your preferences. Instead, it literally steals data from your computer. Total BS.

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