Windows 10: How can I delete icloud from my computer without losing files

I had some pretty heavy files on my computer and for the sake of keeping them on somewhere where I could get them on other devices once I changed my main pc i uploaded these files to icloud drive using the icloud app. But now icloud’s basically drained up my pc’s storage and its all with unneeded stuff so I thought I would rather delete it. The thing is I don’t want to compromise the big files that are already in my computer by deleting icloud since all the warnings point to the icloud drive folder getting axed as well. What am I supposed to do?

:)

 

Remove iCloud Photos from Devices and Drives View in File Explorer

thank you for this soln gogreen, much appreciated! Here is a quick summary for others if interested -

Reference:

• rANa'S Blog - How to remove iCloud Photo from My Computer (9/21/14)

Steps:

1. Open regedit (Win+R, "regedit")
2. Enter key in address bar
3. Deprecate key
   • Opt A. - delete
   • Opt B. - rename something different (e.g. prefix with "_")
4. Close and re-open to observe result

Key:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{F0D63F85-37EC-4097-B30D-61B4A8917118}

thanks!

 

iCloud For Windows To Show Up on This Computer (Windows Explorer)

Hi Chris,

iCloud will not automatically be added to your Quick Access panel in File Explorer. But, you can definitely have it shown on your computer. Kindly follow the steps provided below:

• By default, your iCloud Drive folder will be in your main User folder. For example, in C:/Users/User1/iCloud Drive.
  
• Navigate to the director's location in File Explorer.
• Find the folder "iCloud Drive" and right click on it.
• Select "Pin to Quick Access" to have a shortcut permanently in the left-hand pane in File Explorer as seen in the image above.

Keep us updated if anything comes up so we can further assist you.

 

MANY iCloud Photos icons appearing in Explorer file directory. More generated every day. Folders are empty. No way to delete the icons.

I want to THANK @JackDaniels1171 for posting a solution on a related thread that helped me figure this out. I've edited his comments a bit to help others who may be suffering from this same, very frustrating problem.

As noted in my original post above, every time I logged in, a new iCloud Photos icon appeared in the left pane of my File Explorer directory. When it got to 28 entries, I screamed "Enough!" Here's what I ended up doing to fix it.

• I uninstalled iCloud for Windows.
• I opened Regedit as Administrator.
• I searched the registry for "iCloud Photos", matching the whole string.
• The first result was located in this location.

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\

• This section of the registry contained many keys. There was one "iCloud Photos" key for each iCloud Photos folder appearing on the left side of my File Explorer directory listing, but there were also entries for
  other things that should be left as is.
  Be careful!
• I resized the Regedit window in order to see the entire key so that I didn't inadvertently delete something I meant to keep.
  
• In my case, there were 28 "iCloud Photos" key entries.
• I carefully deleted each "iCloud Photos" key (and sub-keys) and moved on to the next "iCloud Photos" key. Sometimes the next key in the registry was an "iCloud Photos" key, but if not, I pressed F3 to locate the next one.
  
• I kept careful track and deleted all 28 "iCloud Photos" keys in this section.
• I pressed F3 again to search for the next entry. It was found in this section of the registry.

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\

• Like the previous section, this part of the registry included keys for iCloud Photos as well as
  other things.
• There was one "iCloud Photos" key in the registry for each iCloud Photos folder appearing in my File Explorer directory listing.
• I repeated the steps above to carefully delete each one.
• I did NOT press F3 after deleting the last entry in this section. Instead, I closed all the branches in Regedit and went to the third section of the registry directly.

-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\

• Like the other sections, this part of the registry included keys for iCloud Photos as well as
  other things.
• After carefully deleting all of the "iCloud Photos" key entries,
  I went to the fourth section of the registry directly.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel

• Like the other sections, this part of the registry included keys for iCloud Photos as well as
  other things.
• I looked at the lengthy registry ID keys that I did NOT delete in the section above. I found a corresponding entry for each one in the keys listed in this section.
• That left the "iCloud Photos" keys to be deleted. I counted them to make certain it was the same number that I had deleted in each of the previous three sections of the registry.
• I deleted ONLY the "iCloud Photos" keys. I was
  very careful NOT to delete the keys corresponding to the things I kept in the prior section of the registry.

• I exited Regedit and restarted my computer.
• I checked my File Explorer directory and noted with delight that all of the unwanted iCloud Photos folders were gone. Yay!
  

What I learned is this: For users who run
both OneDrive and iCloud for Windows, every time the computer starts, iCloud logs in and OneDrive creates a new iCloud Photos folder in the File Explorer directory. By uninstalling iCloud for Windows, I eliminated the source of the problem. (I have
better ways to back up and share my photos!) But, I still had to edit the registry to get rid of the accumulated pesky File Explorer directory entries.

All looks good now. Wherever you are, JackDaniels1171, THANK YOU!