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
    2024-03-23T23:20:11+00:00

    I agree with you on this.

    Here is the link someone offered us to turn off the sync.

    Hope this helps:

    "Thanks for contacting us. To cease the synchronization, navigate to the OneDrive cloud icon located on the taskbar, then access "Settings," proceed to "Sync and backup," and finally, select "Manage backup." From there, switch the synchronization for the folders to the "OFF" position. Ref: https://answers.microsoft.com/thread/702f5536-a797-4474-9a7b-7b53beb71aab I hope this helps. Regards, Sola"

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  2. Craig Long 18,550 Reputation points
    2024-03-24T02:25:21+00:00

    Thank you all for your experiences and sharing of your solutions.

    If I may simplify what you are telling us; I have to create folders on my PC and create local folders to place my files back into.

    I should then either:

    1. rename the folders in OneDrive so that they do not by default assume the right to take all my documents to the Microsoft Cloud,
    2. have local document folders that I will save named the same as OneDrive that I use for sharing only,
    3. Bottom-line: make sure documents I don't want on MS OneDrive Cloud to be without my knowledge transfer during an "update" of my system to OneDrive?

    Will that work?

    Microsoft suggests you toggle the sync OFF at OneDrive Settings > Sync and backup > Manage backup. Then move your files back to their default locations. For example, C:\Users\username\OneDrive\Documents can be moved back to the default location C:\Users\username\Documents, etc**.**

    But if sync enables itself causing the same issue again, my suggestion is to create new manila folders at *C:\Users\username* and give them a unique name. You can use names such as "My Documents" or "Private Documents", etc. instead of just "Documents". For example, a folder with the name "My Documents" in the location C:\Users\username\MyDocuments cannot sync to OneDrive.

    1. All files within the OneDrive folder sync to the online OneDrive. There is no way to prevent a file within the OneDrive folder from syncing to OneDrive.
    2. If you are going to share files you should keep them in OneDrive. Or you can move them into OneDrive when you want to share them.
    3. Not sure what you are asking here.

    My suggestions in this thread are mainly for those who want to avoid OneDrive completely. Many users posting in this forum are members of the OneDrive Haters Club. šŸ˜šŸ˜„ We want to keep them happy using Windows OS.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-03-24T14:48:22+00:00

    How sad to have to do all this work vs just having it reinstated when Microsoft did it in a wink of an eye without any notification šŸ˜•

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-03-24T16:51:59+00:00

    Thanks! Wondering if there was something changed in the screen saver portion of Windows. I haven't noticed a problem with other files (although I wouldn't mind all my files being in OneDrive so may not notice a change.) What bugs me is having every file in the picture format files suddenly dumped into a file named Pictures under my OneDrive. I put special photos in this file so they'd run as my Screen Saver. I can manually take the unwanted pictures out, but wonder if new pictures will be added to the file again.

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