Windows 10: OneDrive - How to Stop Auto-Download of Moved Files?

Edition: Windows 10 Pro Version: 22H2 OS build: 19045.3448 Experience: Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19044.1000.0 I am a Microsoft 365 subscriber and as such have Premium OneDrive. I have two local hard drives on my computer, drives C and F. I noticed yesterday that the C drive was starting to get full, so I decided to move some of my multimedia files and folders I didn't use so often but still wanted to keep to the F drive. After I moved them, OneDrive threw up an alert, saying that it had noted that the files were no longer present on the C drive and asking if I wanted to delete them

:)

 

Windows 10 - OneDrive

Right click on the app and one of the properties has an option to not automatically start it. Uncheck, restart the computer, and it should stop. If you want to go another step further, find the OneDrive app in the start menu, right click on it and uninstall.

If that is still insufficient, there is a batch uninstaller for OneDrive available online. I can copy the code here if you need it.

 

OneDrive moved my Desktop into a OneDrive folder and removed Google Drive

To revert the shell folder locations to default, open OneDrive and do the following:

Important: Before proceeding, copy the files in those special folders to another folder or external drive. Please don’t copy them anywhere under Desktop/Documents/Pictures. This is because disabling OneDrive backup for a folder would erase the local copies of the files. Copying them to a different location beforehand will ensure that you don’t need to download them again from the OneDrive cloud.

1. Right-click the OneDrive icon in the Notification area and click Settings.
   
2. Select the Backup tab, and click Manage Backup
   
3. In the Manage folder backup dialog, click on the Stop backup link under the special folder (Desktop, Documents, or Pictures)
   
4. Click Stop backup in the confirmation dialog that appears.
   
5. Repeat the step for each shell folder you want to revert to the original location.
   

See also:

• Error “The folder can’t be moved here” Moving Documents/Pictures, Caused by OneDrive
  
• Libraries are placed in onedrive folder instead of local folder - Microsoft Community
  

 

Trying to stop uploading photos to OneDrive

Thanks Craig, your suggestions were right on target. Easy to understand, and 100% correct.

Appreciate that suggestion about moving files before deleting them..