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

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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

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-01-07T17:12:35+00:00

    How do I move my files back to my PC! I have tried! Also, have lost files trying to do this.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-01-06T20:28:37+00:00

    Truly this should be illegal. They changed it from backup to default backup to moving your data from C drive to ONEDRIVE. This is absolute horse ****. I'm looking at my fiance's laptop and I am sure, like me, she got these pressurey notices to try and force me to windows 11 and one day I saw that she was on windows 11 so it tricked her into upgrading and changed the defaults. Such ****!!

    Unsuspecting users who have no understanding of file locations are deceived into moving their data and eventually, we know they will charge you for that data. Unbelievable!!

    The worse issue is that I DO NOT SEE a Desktop available for her C drive now. It only has a one drive desktop. So it's either eliminated or hidden somewhere. I would really like to meet the engineer who made this decision. I do not have enough hours in my day to be a student of microsoft in order to keep up with the changes, and why? Keep us one one standard platform and quit moving things around. It just wastes peoples time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-10-13T02:23:44+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.

    Now using the info above, I was able to copy the Documents folder back to c:\Users{username}\Documents and then delete the folder from the OneDrive path, and now all is well again. I will have to do the same for the other folders as well. (Pictures, Desktop, etc).

    Thanks for everyone's help.

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

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  4. Craig Long 18,550 Reputation points
    2023-10-13T01:09:04+00:00

    Documents folder still syncs with OneDrive. So turning it off seems is not the complete solution. I am not sure how to get it to stop. Do I have to physically move that folder and its contents from OneDrive, to the C;\Users\username\ folder?

    If the sync is OFF at OneDrive Settings > Sync and backup > Manage backup then you can move the files back to the folder at C:\Users\username\Documents.

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