Windows 11 or Onedrive has moved all my files into Onedrive. What is going on?

Anonymous
2023-10-04T10:54:25+00:00

A couple of days back I found that somehow all my files and folders on my Win 11 PC under C:\users.. have suddenly been moved into my Onedrive.
I keep many files under local storage intentionally so that they DON'T get uploaded into Onedrive. Now I see all these files being uploaded into Onedrive, which I DON'T want.
I have been using Onedrive for over 2 years.
How did this happen? How do I reverse it?
Microsoft, you are too much!

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
Craig Long 18,550 Reputation points
2023-10-13T02:51:52+00:00

"So here is my supposition: OneDrive, by default, at some update in the last few months, automatically turned on SYNC, and my Documents folder (and Pictures and Desktop) all got moved to OneDrive folders.

I since then, used the info here to turn off the sync of these folders. But that did not move them back, so they continued to live in OneDrive and continued to sync."

Yes. The OneDrive folder is always there even when you uninstall OneDrive. However, if OneDrive is uninstalled, then it no longer syncs to the online OneDrive.

"PS - I am assuming that if you turn sync on, it moves those folders from the username folder to the OneDrive folder."

Yes, that's right. There is no problem leaving them in the OneDrive folder unless they start syncing again.

"But if you turn sync off, it does nothing, as it does not move the folders back again. And the only thing that will sync in OneDrive, are the actual folders and files in the OneDrive folder structure. Hence why you have to manually move the folders back again."

Yes

To stop the "Sync and Backup" of your folders, go to Manage Backup in the OneDrive Settings. In Windows 11, you will find Manage Backup at OneDrive Settings > Sync and Backup tab > Manage Backup.

"C:>Users>username>ManilaFolders" is a good location on the C drive to hide data from OneDrive**.** An external drive and a separate data partition are great ways to avoid OneDrive.

Create and format a data partition

If sync turns on by itself or OneDrive reinstalls without asking, you may want to avoid the Documents folder and the other standard folders.

A YouTube video explaining more about this is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yXgyrsqraE

Was this answer helpful?

40+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

136 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Craig Long 18,550 Reputation points
    2025-01-15T22:25:33+00:00

    This platform was initially designed as a forum for "users helping other users." I'm one of them, and I don't work for Microsoft.

    The OneDrive settings are confusing, especially Choose Folders, which Microsoft should completely overhaul. Even the experts get it wrong with how that works.

    OneDrive backup is often enabled without user consent, which can cause data loss if it gets full. Microsoft doesn't make it easy unless you pay for cloud storage.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2025-01-15T19:11:50+00:00

    Great Answer Craig, But as fara as I am concerned Microsoft has STOLEN those files that were confidential. And when I use my excel in the evening, during storms or outages, I always save to PC as excel will not save my data. My yearly update is coming for office and they charge me 100.00 now for that and I will be asking for them to put the files back as it is a lot of work to copy and paste and actually illegal for them to take documents that are private. they probably have some thing I said yes to without understanding and no where at the beginning of windows 11 did it state that pc files would be moved so we can pay more for on drive. I paid for my surface, I pay for excel and I feel this is a violation of privacy. Anyone ready to confront them yet?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  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. Anonymous
    2024-09-25T11:56:14+00:00

    i guess block them

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments