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
    2025-01-26T05:52:38+00:00

    I have a sort of similar issue.Despite having enough memory for which I pay ever month,I dont know why the Desktop folder button is greyed out and One Drive has just my Document button on for back up.Is it that someone sometime back did some changes in this new laptop by taking control of it and what I see is that he made a seperate folder under my name.Now when I click on the Desktop folder there are so many files and apps like Pictures,Google Drive,documents all messed up,which is not allowing the One Drive to sync or back up.How to get this much troubling issue resolved.

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-01-26T05:43:29+00:00

    Why am I constantly and repeatedly receiving replies on the above topic,when I never raised such request.Kindly stop sending emails for the above thread. On the contrary my problem is much different.My issue is that One Drive is not backing up or syching despite me having a paid subscription for memory,which is in abundance available but whe I go to click the button for back up only my document folder gets done and the rest like Desktop etc are greyed out.

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-01-15T22:46:41+00:00

    As someone for whom Excel or Word circa 2003 is more than adequate for my needs, my current plan is to replace my Windows laptop with a Mac and use Google Sheets/Docs for what I do. I haven't dealt with Apple since back in the 90s and I have always been resistant to the control they exert over everything, but I'm beyond tired of this. Transitioning things from One Note will likely be the hardest part.

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  4. Craig Long 18,550 Reputation points
    2025-01-15T22:28:20+00:00

    If you want to save a document only to your PC, don't save it in the synced Documents folder. If the Documents folder is syncing, it is part of OneDrive. You can check if the Documents folder is syncing in the Manage Backup settings.

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