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
    2024-09-23T21:47:43+00:00

    Never heard so much nonsense in my life. Microsoft should have just as easy a "FIX" as they had when they hijacked all our data.

    Just a quickly as you transferred everything to one drive you should be able to replace back on my computer. OH, and by the way, to all the rest of the world, Sync, means that we would get files stored on both our hard drive and One Drive. This way if the internet goes down, as it always does, we can still access our files, and then "sync" later when the internet is back, and also have the benefit of accessing our files when away from the computer via a nice little feature called One Drive. It does not take a techy to figure out what "sync" means, and it does not take a genius to figure out that Microsoft wants to hijack our data so we have to go to them to get it. Or worse, glitch loses all our data or we get hit with ransom ware. (Microsoft claiming it is not their fault) What is so hard to figure out that I want my data here and available and I will back-up to external hard drive for safety and security ?

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  2. 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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  3. Anonymous
    2024-01-17T22:28:47+00:00

    Really ticks me off!!!! Bought a new computer, transferred files from the old to the new and my new computer is completely messed up!!!

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  4. 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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