I apologize if this post is long and tedious, but OneDrive is driving me nuts and I need some help and guidance.

As discussed in another post, I recently (and disgustingly) uninstalled OneDrive, only to have it take some of my data files with it. I was able to replace the missing data files since I had them backed up on a flash drive.

But now I just learned that OneDrive is still a folder located in:
C>Users>Username>OneDrive
The problem is that this OneDrive folder contains my Desktop, Documents, and Pictures data folders and files. Furthermore, any new Documents or Pictures files go into this OneDrive folder.

For example, if I prepare a Word document and save the document, it will be saved in:
C>Users>Username>OneDrive>Documents>Word
Rather than in this desired location:
C>Users>Username>Documents>Word

As another example, if I add a folder to my Desktop and later go looking for it, I won't find it in:
C>Users>Username>Desktop
Instead it will be in:
C>Users>Username>OneDrive>Desktop

So I guess my question/concern is...can I move my Desktop, Documents, & Pictures folders/files where they should be and then safely delete this remaining OneDrive folder? And I guess an associated question is...why did this folder remain after I uninstalled OneDrive?

Thanks in advance...

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

That can be a pain even with One Drive uninstalled. The simplest solution I've found is to use 'Save as' or 'Save' under the file tab. This method will allow you to select 'This PC' from which you can select any local save location you want.

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Yes, you can change the default folder locations and then move/copy your files from the \OneDrive location.
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-move-default-user-folders-new-drive-windows-10#:~:text=How%20to%20change%20default%20user%20folders%20on%20Windows,remaining%20folders.%20...%208%20Open%20Start.%20See%20More.

If new files are still being saved to the \OneDrive location, use the following to change that in OneDrive settings:
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/make-windows-8-1-save-documents-locally-onedrive

Once you've confirmed that it is working as desired you can remove the files from the \OneDrive location.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Thanks, Steve. I'll click on your references as soon as I get back from a luncheon engagement.

But I am curious...will I then be able to delete the OneDrive folder?

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

As long as One Drive has been uninstalled the folder can be deleted.

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Steve, I read your two articles...man those get complicated fast, at least for me.

Since new files are being saved to OneDrive, it looks to me like the Registry change (#3) in your second article is the best way for me to go. Or perhaps the Group Policy change (#2), although I've never messed with Group Policies.

Your first article delineates a 19-step process for moving user account folders from the OneDrive folder to local folders. To me, this seems like an overkill. What's wrong with the simple process discussed below?
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If the three folders (Desktop, Documents & Pictures) currently in my OneDrive folder contain the up-to-date data files, why can't I do a simple Copy/Move to get these data files from the OneDrive folder to my local folders? As an example, why can't I first delete the Word files contained locally in C>Users>Username>Documents>Word and then Copy/Paste my Word files from the OneDrive folder to this local folder?

I would then do this for all applicable folders & files. Once I've confirmed that it is working as desired, then I could simply remove the files from the OneDrive location, after which I could delete this OneDrive folder itself so that it wouldn't bother me any more.

Unless I'm missing something, this process I just described seems much simpler than the 19-step process described in your first article and the Registry process described in the second article.

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

This really does not need to be complicated as you can do it straight through Word's options.

Open Word and start a new document. Does not need to be anything special as you are just starting a document to get the menu bar at the top. Once the menu bar is available click on File then Options at the bottom. When the Options dialog comes up click on Save in the left pane. Now just check the image below. Click OK to save the settings. After you have the settings correct just copy the files in the One Drive folder to the location you selected. Delete the One Drive folder as long as One Drive has been uninstalled.

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Jay, I will try your suggestion. But why are all the posts not fitting in the screen? I have to keep using the arrows on the bottom to see the entire post content.

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

Jay, your suggestion worked great for Word. But I have many other files where I'm not finding it so easy. These folders/files include: Desktop, Lotus, Quicken, RoboForm, Turbo Tax, Pictures, etc.

And then what do I do about all my files that have previously been saved to the OneDrive folder. I need to get them moved to their local folders. Will the process I described in my response to Steve not work?

EDIT: Once I delete that OneDrive folder, it should no longer be a Save destination. But I don't want to delete it until I get all the files moved out of it (via Copy/Move).

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

You are probably at a lower screen resolution and a link in a previous post does not fit causing the screen to widen. I don't see this but I'm running a 4K resolution. I believe that it is probably a Link that Steve posted that is causing your screen to stretch. With his permission I will fix using the URL BBCode as I did with the link in this post.

Just copy/paste any files you want to move from One Drive to where you want. Except for the One Drive App copying anything in the One Drive folder to cloud storage there is no difference between it and any other folder. Just to be safe DO copy/paste not a move so you will still have the files in the One Drive folder until you proof that all is OK with the copied files. Just copy each group of files to where you want. By the way the 'Desktop' folder would be copied to C:\Users\username. As to other apps such as Lotus, Quicken, RoboForm, Turbo Tax, Pictures, etc. copy to where you want and look at the apps settings looking for a default save location. If there is no such settings just use Save as instead of Save and select the proper location in the resulting save dialog. Many apps will use the last selected save location as the default automatically. Such Libraries such as Pictures and Music you may need to change the library locations to where you want. Since I don't use Libraries it is probably best that I just post the following link for you to read. If the images don't match just right click on the Library you want to move and select Properties. There will be a Location tab.
Library locations

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Thanks, Jay. That guy Shawn Brink does post some good tutorials. He is from Oklahoma, which is right next to Arkansas, lol.

How are you able to not use Libraries. That's another Microsoft thing that I guess I don't fully understand/appreciate.

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

The second article I linked is certainly more complicated and I probably should have held off on that one. It really refers to how to change the behavior when OneDrive is installed and in use *and* it has been allowed to move the Default folder locations for Windows.

I believe that you have uninstalled OneDrive already, yes?

The first article is the one I recommend, despite Jay's recommendation to deal with it on a program by program basis.
The steps outlined in the first article for changing the Default folder locations for \Desktop, \Pictures, \Documents, \Music, \Videos, etc. that are now pointing to the \OneDrive folder within your User folder instead of directly in your User folder as you prefer. You should be able to follow the steps from the section "Restore default folder location" in the article for each of the folders currently within the \OneDrive folder. Note that you may still need to update the default SaveAs location in some apps as mentioned in that section of the article.

Once you have changed the Defaults for the folders and moved your files, you can delete the OneDrive folder -- as long as OneDrive has been uninstalled.

It is worth noting that OneDrive defaults to taking over your folders when set up, but that can be changed. I personally don't let OneDrive take over the folders, but I point OneDrive to folders that I want backed up to the Cloud and therefore available to me on other devices. On my wife's computer I did let OneDrive take over the folders so that her files get backed up automatically.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

You are quite welcome.

As to not using Libraries I just don't. I have folders on my D: data drive for my music, documents, pictures and such. I pin such folders to my task bar. Since I have a link to File Explorer on the task bar the folders I link actually become a sort of menu when I right click on File Explorer. Some, such as 'Applications' actually contain sub folders which are grouped by type. May not be the way most would do things but works REALLY well for me. I guess right clicking on File Explorer on the task bar is basically my Libraries list without the actual Libraries trying to control things.

Here is what I get when I right click on File Explorer on the task bar.



Here is an example of my selecting Applications from the above list. Each icon is a folder with specific apps that apply.

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Some good points, Steve. I just chose to not use One Drive nor the Library system and what I do works well for me.

As to backups and access to data between my 6 systems I use GoodSync to keep data up to date between systems and also have the 'Network' icon in the right click of File Explorer in the task bar per my previous post. The 'Network' icon allows me to access any data on another system as long as both systems are up and running. LOL! I have a seventh system running Linux Mint that is not included in this but I just haven't bothered. I could probably add it to my network links but haven't tried as it is mainly just a toy for me.

I guess that I actually DO use a Library system but I set it up under MY control instead of Windows control. I just prefer to have as much control of my system as possible. In my humble opinion I sort of think that Microsoft is taking to much control as to how a system is used. To be honest I will, sometimes, take action on my systems for the sole purpose of taking control for myself instead of letting Microsoft control how I use my systems. LOL! It's just a case of 'different strokes for different folks'.

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Steve, yes I have uninstalled OneDrive. That's why I was so surprised to see the OneDrive folder containing some of my folders and files.

Before I delve into your first article, I would still like your comment on a process I mentioned earlier; specifically,
If the three folders (Desktop, Documents & Pictures) currently in my OneDrive folder contain the up-to-date data files, why can't I do a simple Copy/Paste to get these data files from the OneDrive folder to my local folders? As an example, why can't I first delete the Word files contained locally in C>Users>Username>Documents>Word and then Copy/Paste my Word files from the OneDrive folder to this local folder?

I would then do this for all applicable folders & files. Once I've confirmed that it is working as desired, then I could simply remove the files from the OneDrive location, after which I could delete this OneDrive folder itself so that it wouldn't bother me any more.

Unless I'm missing something, this process I just described seems much simpler than the 19-step process described in your first article and the Registry process described in the second article.

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

@ Jay & Steve - The process I proposed in the above post didn't work. After I copied/pasted all the folders in OneDrive to local folders, I deleted the OneDrive folder and then rebooted. Not only did the OneDrive folder again appear (but with no content), I couldn't get to any of the folders that I had deleted. Thank goodness I had saved the folders, so I copied them back to the OneDrive folder.

So I am back where I started. I either live with OneDrive or I try the 19-step process proposed in Steve's first referenced article. I've got to think about this, as this situation is wearing me out..

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

You can certainly go ahead and copy/move the files to your desired locations in your \User folder, out of the \User\OneDrive folder and then delete the \OneDrive folder.
However, if Windows is pointing to the \OneDrive folder location for the Default folders, you will still need to take steps to restore the desired Default folders.
Taking the extra step to reset the Defaults per the steps in the article avoids any potential problems. I'm not concerned about the \Documents, \Pictures, and such as you would simply need to do Save As when saving a file from a program that expects to find the \OneDrive location. The \Desktop is possibly the issue.
A test to see where the Desktop files are being saved to would be to copy a file to the desktop and then right click on that file and look at the General tab to see where the file was saved - \Users\%username%\Desktop (what you want) or \Users\%username%\OneDrive\Desktop (what you don't want).

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

I see that you posted while I was typing my last response.
When you removed OneDrive, I suspect it removed the OneDrive application, but it is still active and running. Go to Settings and then Accounts, then Windows Backup. Is Sync settings set to On? If so, that's OneDrive in Windows.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=how+do+i+sync+my+settings+in+windows+10%3f&filters=guid:%224026102-en-dia%22%20lang:%22en%22&form=S00028

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Steve, yes Sync settings was set to On. Does that mean my process would have worked if I turned this setting Off?

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

I believe that you still may need to modify the default folder locations, but I am not sure as I have never switched a PC from using OneDrive to sync and control the User Folders to not using OneDrive.

Now that you have turned off sync, try the test I explained in my next to last post:

"A test to see where the Desktop files are being saved to would be to copy a file to the desktop and then right click on that file and look at the General tab to see where the file was saved - \Users\%username%\Desktop (what you want) or \Users\%username%\OneDrive\Desktop (what you don't want)."

If new items to the Desktop save to where you want (\Users\%username%\Desktop) you should be okay. Also, if you have now disabled OneDrive Sync in settings, you should be able to delete the \OneDrive folder and it should not come back.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Steve, unfortunately the test file was saved to the \OneDrive\Desktop folder.

Today I implemented my process where I deleted all the folders & files in the OneDrive folder. Then I deleted the OneDrive folder itself. But after I rebooted, two bad things happened (EDIT: even though Sync was disabled)
(1)The OneDrive folder reappeared, although it was now empty
(2) My desktop reverted to the default one showing the 5 basic icons, i.e., all the icons that I had installed on my desktop were missing. Since I had saved my desktop to a flash drive, I was able to copy it back to my OneDrive; after another reboot, all was well on my desktop.

I guess at this point I will just live with OneDrive, as I find the 19-step procedure in your first article to be rather challenging and tedious. But thanks to you and Jay for all the help and guidance that you provided.

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

This is for input from Steve. BB, don't act on this without seeing his input first...

@Steve: I've been considering posting this for a while but have hesitated hoping that other possibilities would resolve. It has been a long time since I've installed Office 365 but, if not mistaken, there MAY be options during the install that MAY fix this issue. I think you probably get my drift as to uninstalling Office and doing another install. First, even though it has been a long time, I'm almost positive that during the install there is an option to only save files locally. I think the phrase is something like "Save to this PC only". You have to read each install screen to see the option but I'm 99.9% sure that it is there.

Also, I believe that you can do a custom install which MAY allow to disallow One Drive from being installed. What I'm thinking here is that a new install, excluding One Drive, MAY make the necessary registry changes to not allow One Drive default settings automatic without having to go through hoops.

Any thoughts on this? I mean I have Office 365 installed and do have a one drive folder on my data drive which I just deleted to see if it comes back as I think it has been there for like forever but empty. At the worst I can't see how doing this can cause any harm and could possibly help.

Any thoughts? I'd be quite willing to uninstall Office 365 and install again to be able to get proper screen shots. Shoot, a removal and a new install is a minor thing for me. What do you think?

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Interesting point, Jay. Personally, I don't use Office 365...I still use (and like) the old Office for Home and Student 2016.

Here's an interesting post I found tonight:
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/onedrive/how-to-disable-onedrive-and-stop-it-from-coming-up-when-i-use/m-p/3948642

What now scares me about deleting my OneDrive folder is losing my desktop like before.

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

You just save the desktop folder to a flash drive or whatever to have as a backup that can be restored.
Other than that let's wait for Steve to respond...

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I did save it on a flash drive. It also resided in C>users>bbarry>desktop. But I didn't know how to get to either one of these when I rebooted. All I got on a reboot was the simple default desktop.

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BB
http://barrypatch.net