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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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

Was this answer helpful?

40+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

125 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Craig Long 18,550 Reputation points
    2023-10-13T03:23:22+00:00

    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! 🙃

    You're welcome. Here are some helpful videos: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/onedrive-video-training-1f608184-b7e6-43ca-8753-2ff679203132

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Deleted

    This answer has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The answer was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.

    Comments have been turned off. Learn more

  3. Deleted

    This answer has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The answer was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.

    Comments have been turned off. Learn more

  4. Craig Long 18,550 Reputation points
    2023-10-13T00:11:05+00:00

    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.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments