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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  2. Anonymous
    2023-10-13T01:12:14+00:00

    After reading the most recent horror story on this post about the person losing her files, I went to make sure "always keep on this device" is checked for my folders, and the option is no longer there. This is infuriating. I will take the time to do some backups to portable drives now.

    I wonder if this has something to do with recent "updates."

    I found everything, was still on computer after all, I just wasn’t looking in the right place. Stumbled on all my files by accident and they are all still checked to “always keep on this device”. WIN11 is going to take some getting used to.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-10-13T01:08:34+00:00

    Omg Craig, I walked away for the past 10 days without doing what you suggested and just now looked at my WIN11 PC… everything is GONE AGAIN! All those hours of right clicking to “always keep on this device”, gone. Yes, I realize it’s not lost, it’s in the cloud… but!

    Years of photography and documents. Of course it’s now when I’m in a hurry and need access to excel docs. I located a spreadsheet I needed in OneDrive, however the updates I made in August and September are gone. It didn’t save my work. I’m just at a loss right now, up against a deadline and feel like I want to throw up. And… when I click on a folder in the cloud it takes forever to load, just to add insult to injury, even though I have extremely fast internet.

    The stress and time lost in dealing with these OneDrive issues should definitely qualify for a Class Action suit against Microsoft. HOW DARE ONEDRIVE TAKE MY PROPERTY OFF MY COMPUTER!! SHOULD NOT BE A DEFAULT SETTING. I’m a senior lady who’s never had these kind of issues with Microsoft and it’s distressing. Shouldn’t have to deal with this on a personal computer at home. Grrrrr.

    And Craig, I’m not aiming this at you, I know you’re only trying to help. I didn’t realize if I didn’t do what you recommended right away, OneDrive would hijack my life again. Sorry for venting. 😭😭😭

    My goal is to get everything back onto physical computer and completely disable OneDrive once I’m sure I have everything. Who needs this stress?

    I can help you either way: Help make OneDrive work for you or help you avoid it completely. OneDrive is built into Windows. It will grab your files if you don't take precautions.

    Determine what locations are vulnerable to its grasp and avoid those locations. Or keep files in those locations but keep the sync OFF.

    Or buy more storage and let it do its thing to back up your files in the cloud.

    Thanks Craig, I came back and deleted my rant because it seems that I’m a boomer dummy and I admit it. I found everything! All 71K+ docs & photos are still on my new WIN11 PC after all. Used to the old file paths, and wasn’t looking in the right place!

    I delayed Windows updates for now & plan to spend more time watching tutorials and learning the intricacies of WIN11 & OneDrive and how they differ from the older Windows versions.

    Thx for your patience! 🙃

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  4. Craig Long 18,630 Reputation points
    2023-10-13T01:03:49+00:00

    If I unlink to the cloud will I lose everything? It is so difficult for me to use. Can I download everything to an external hard drive? My laptop doesn't have enough space for all of it. It has been so difficult for me to find or use anything in the cloud. When I have something important to do, I can't do it. Please I really need my info and pictures. I like my new Lenovo laptop, but the cloud is making me regret that I even purchased it. My laptop seems almost useless because of all of the problems with the cloud. I have barely used my new laptop since I purchased it, because the cloud has made it almost useless for me. And if I need something, it takes forever to download one file...and if I need more than one file it is horrible. I don't want to lose everything that is saved to the cloud. I'm so devastated.

    If you lack space on your computer you should use the "Files On Demand" feature and select "Free up space":

    See this video. It's for Windows 10 and 11. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sync-files-with-onedrive-files-on-demand-62e8d748-7877-420f-b600-24b56562aa70

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