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
    2024-01-31T16:59:07+00:00

    So, having reformatted my Windows 11 PC just a few days ago - the only thing now complaining is OneDrive.

    The most annoying about this is that I have no use for OneDrive itself as my home PC (and therefore my home MS account) is used 99% for gaming.

    Now, I have attempted restores of game folders that I haven't played in years. Worse - folders that are still relevant becoming clogged with save game files from years back.

    A simple question. Why can't OneDrive be disabled by default and then YOU, being the user - simply select what you want to backup?

    Then when you get a new PC or a fresh reinstall, YOU being the user - simply select which folders and files that you wish to restore from OneDrive?

    It's not difficult. It would be so simple to implement. And it would actually make OneDrive useful for the majority of users who detest it.

    Stop trying to make a simple and effective solution into an automated PITA that thinks it knows better.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-01-31T17:44:37+00:00

    You might find, login, reconnect and synchronize OneDrive to your computer, find and save files to your computer; then disconnect OneDrive. I did that to recover files but then every few days I get a message to login and reconnect but I keep declining. My biggest problem with OneDrive was it would prevent me from accessing files when I needed them, it would show up as a spinning file in the folder manager, think it meant it was busy synching. Other than that it would restructure my folder system, create sub-folder with the same redundant files. I use Google's "Mydrive" for back-ups and sharing files; it's is also free for my cloud storage needs.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-01-31T18:45:17+00:00

    I finally got it tamed, got all my files on the local drive and UNINSTALLED OneDrive so hard, it's never coming back!

    And restructuring folders wasn't a problem, but what it did find is several files that said they had illegal or whatever, filenames, and couldn't be backed up. So, the files with irregular filenames are just fine on my hard drive, but not able to be backed up by OneDrive because of some characters in their filenames? That really made no sense to me. Filename rules should be the same for anything using Windows.

    I'm glad to be rid of it. I use a third-party backup anyway, so OneDrive was completely useless to me.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-02-06T15:37:22+00:00

    I've also had the problem with file names being illegal and don't understand why a name would be allowed in the first place if there is something "illegal" about it.

    My most recent issue is constant changing of the symbols on desktop folders. For the past couple of days it's randomly going between a white cloud, blue arrow, green checkmark, brown box. Sometimes if I cursor over the green check it changes to the arrow. This morning, hovering over a folder with the white cloud says it's available on this device. Hovering over the brown box says it's always available on this device. No idea what the difference is, if any. All of these folders are marked "always keep on this device."

    I've made no changes that should precipitate this other than allowing some updates a few days ago. Supposedly my files are synced and I have used only 17 percent of onedrive because I often work from portable drives. Have plenty of room left on my computer. More confusion every day.

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