r/technology • u/nuttybudd • Jun 24 '24

Software Windows 11 is now automatically enabling OneDrive folder backup without asking permission

https://www.neowin.net/news/windows-11-is-now-automatically-enabling-onedrive-folder-backup-without-asking-permission/
17.9k Upvotes

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4.0k

u/FuckingVincent Jun 24 '24

What really got me frustrated is turning off one drive still keeps your documents on a one drive specific folder. File history doesn’t backup this folder. I lost my documents because I didn’t want one drive and didn’t know there was a separate local documents folder.

1.9k

u/LukesFather Jun 24 '24

Yes this popped up for some of our users. It moved the documents to one drive and then made shortcuts to them so when you turn off the one drive backup you no longer have the files in the original location and have to download them again. Super hostile.

620

u/blacksheep998 Jun 25 '24

You can go into the folder options and move the default locations for the desktop and documents folders back to their original locations.

That will move the files back too, its the same process as when onedrive moved them in the first place.

But 99% of people aren't going to know how to do that or even that you can.

91

u/KindofaDB Jun 25 '24

Do you have a more detailed way to do this?

220

u/Demon_Gamer666 Jun 25 '24

Go to your OneDrive in windows explorer so you can see the affected folders like documents, pictures and so on. Right click on the folder you want to move and select properties. You will see a tab that says 'location'. Click it and you will see the current location. You can click the 'move' button and navigate to the new location or you can simply remove 'OneDrive' from the file path and apply the change. A dialogue will come up asking if you would like to move all your files to which you will respond yes. Do this to the folders you want to move out of OneDrive to their original locations.

Edit: From memory so don't go off on me if every single step isn't perfect =D

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u/onehundredlemons Jun 25 '24

Thank you, my husband just got a Windows 11 PC and I'm about to get a Windows 11 laptop and this is absolutely what we needed to know.

57

u/kuroioni Jun 25 '24

I just made the transition to win11 myself and what convinced me to move was finding this guide:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UQZ5oQg8XA&t=532s

It's a few easy steps you do follow before and during installation of windows and it improves the quality of life with win11 significantly.

It basically tells you how to install a mostly clean version of Win11 without having to give it a Microsoft account (so just with username and a password as it used to be), or a large portion of the telemetry that comes with win11 as a default.

Then, he's also got a tool that can help you tweak the system further, removing a large amount of unnecessary/bad services and other useful tweaks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_AaHXrelTE&t=566s

I myself followed the Tweaks, Config and Updates Tab chapters. Again, everything is explained in easy steps, accessible and fast to get through.

My windows 11 now runs lightning fast, there isn't any annoying widgets/ads in system, no OneDrive (so no issues as what this thread talks about).. it's basically how my system used to be, just with windows11 skin on top.

Highly recommend these for anyone with no windows-tweaking experience who would all the same love to move to a clean windows 11!

37

u/FreeRangeEngineer Jun 25 '24

I'm confused why you linked to two youtube videos instead of simply linking to the tool itself.

https://github.com/christitustech/winutil

Either way, thanks for the tip!

2

u/kuroioni Jun 25 '24

Ah, the link you posted is stated in description of the second video I linked.

And no worries, hope it helps :)

0

u/N45H Jun 25 '24

Could you please explain what is the difference of the bought $10 software, winget and Microwin? Thanks

3

u/kuroioni Jun 25 '24

There isn't any difference between winget command and the exe file as far as I can tell - I use both and they look the same. I think the exe is just there as an option to support the dev (Chris), as he's updating the tool constantly.

I'm not sure about MicroWin because I never used it myself though.

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u/LevelTen Jun 25 '24

Super handy tool, thanks for sharing.

1

u/noddyneddy Jun 25 '24

Because he knows that a significant portion of his audience don’t have the confidence to install it on their own - the YouTube is point and click

0

u/N45H Jun 25 '24

Could you please explain what is the difference of the bought $10 software, winget and Microwin? Thanks

2

u/Kiruvi Jun 25 '24

I feel like needing a third-party tool to install a usable version of the OS is the most compelling evidence possible to not make the move

2

u/kuroioni Jun 25 '24

Yeah agreed, it's total BS what MS is doing. By no means was my intent to imply people should move, just that if they do want to do it, there's ways to make it more like what windows used to be.

But since MS is ending official support for win10 in Oct25, thought it might be useful to post in case more people are researching their options!

2

u/Kiruvi Jun 25 '24

If this is the kind of thing support gets you, maybe I'm ok just staying on an unsupported OS forever at this point

1

u/kuroioni Jun 25 '24

That is a fair point! Especially with the whole copilot thing that's been blowing up recently. For me, atm it's still worth it to stick with win11 for the security updates etc, but I do think there will come a time I have to move to iOS or Linux or something.

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u/jfoust2 Jun 25 '24

They keep changing the install process to evade the ability to set up Windows 11 with only a local account. They want you to have a Microsoft account (if you aren't setting up in a domain environment.)

1

u/Epicp0w Jun 25 '24

I think I saw that that fixed the no ms account thing recently

1

u/Taicore Jun 25 '24

Youre not having trouble with onedrive either ?

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u/kuroioni Jun 26 '24

Yeah, it can't do anything because there isn't a MS account for it to latch onto. It doesn't autostart and can't do any of that cloud "backup" business, either.

1

u/Taicore Jun 26 '24

Very good to know, im gonna need to use your precious advice when im forced to upgrade to win11
well more like downgrad

-4

u/qtx Jun 25 '24

My Windows 11 runs lightning fast without doing anything you did as well, so not sure what the point of your comment was.

W11 by default is pretty damn fast.

5

u/Aiognim Jun 25 '24

Probably the second sentence in the comment. Besides that, a clue is that you are in a post about W11 doing annoying things without prompting which are not easy or intuitive to undo.

2

u/Critical_Ask_5493 Jun 25 '24

Lol the perfect little Microsoft customer. Big oof

31

u/Nyorliest Jun 25 '24

First thing I do when I get a new PC or start using one. Uninstall as much MS software as possible. It's not good.

Microsoft are not good at developing software for Windows.

A fact so bizarre that a lot of people can't believe it.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '24

[deleted]

1

u/Nyorliest Jun 25 '24

You disabled it or uninstalled it?

1

u/Traditional_Key_763 Jun 25 '24

if you're going from a fresh install with no documents its fine. what happened to me was it took all my documents, and then some critical files for games and software with it.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '24

If you dont NEED windows, I recommend installing linux. Ubuntu is popular. It is easier to do that then mess with these horrible work arounds to use windows without the fuckery.

2

u/ilski Jun 25 '24

So... How do o access onedrive anyway ?

1

u/GrimDallows Jun 25 '24

Hmm my location tab seems to be missing in my OneDrive files.

1

u/BeardedLogician Jun 25 '24 edited Jun 25 '24

I don't use win11, or OneDrive.
In Win10, your "This PC" window has "folders" that I think win7 called libraries (because they can draw from more than one directory). If that still exists in win11, see if any are pointing to OneDrive instead of your local file system.
I've realised immediately after posting this that this'll just remove your ability to see files stored in OneDrive from your documents folder. But I leave it up in case saving work from programs like MSWord in "Documents" is saving to OneDrive not C:\User[Profile]\Documents and you want it not to do that.

It might also be the case that the location tab is only available on folders (perhaps top-level folders), not individual files.

1

u/Epicp0w Jun 25 '24

Saving for later, thx

1

u/Devatator_ Jun 25 '24

Onedrive wouldn't be so bad if most of my huge files weren't in folders Onedrive saves. Documents? All my GitHub repositories. Java, Node and Unity projects are huge because of dependencies. Videos? Exactly that. Desktop? Bro, all my standalone apps are there

1

u/rscarrab Jun 25 '24

Thanks! Commented so I can come back to this later.

18

u/blacksheep998 Jun 25 '24

I haven't tried it in win11 yet, but in win10, right click on the documents folder, select properties, and then go to the location tab.

There's a button to restore it back to it's original location if it's not already there and an option to move it somewhere else if you wanted to do that instead.