Windows 10: OneDrive Syncing with Local Documents/Pictures/Videos/Etc Folders

Hello all,

I've been searching for the last couple of weeks and haven't exactly found what I am looking for--I may need a third party app, but we shall see. I have two computers--a desktop and a laptop, both running Windows 10 Pro. My desktop's storage is basically bottomless, but my laptop's storage is much more limited (256 GB). I'm looking for a syncing solution that will mirror selected folders and files with my desktop's local Documents/Pictures/Videos/etc. folders into those on my laptop. When Windows Live Mesh was around, I used that utility to do exactly what I wanted (why did you eliminate it Microsoft?!?). Now that I have an Office 365 subscription, I'm hoping to mirror all of my desktop's Documents/Pictures/Videos/etc. folders to OneDrive, as well as selectively mirror certain folders down to my laptop. From what I gathered so far, files synced from OneDrive wind up in my C:\users\<username>\OneDrive\ folder--not exactly what I want. I've also found posts on creating directory junctions to folders in the OneDrive folder, but I haven't seen any that create a junction at the topmost special Users folder (Documents/Pictures/Videos/etc.)

Any thoughts on what I want to do? Does that make any sense at all? The exciting thing is that once I figure out my solution, I need to figure out how to apply it to my wife's setup--which is the same, except for her desktop is running Mac OS X (but she has a Windows laptop).

Thanks for any advice you have,

-Dan

:)

 

OneDrive and file explorer backward sync after latest Win10 update

After the new Windows 10 creative update, all the folders in "This PC" are syncing to ONeDrive even though they aren't selected in Which folders to sync in OneDrive. I've tested a few things and it is working backwards. All of the documents I had in my documents
folder under This PC have disappeared and the only items showing now are the items which were in the Documents folder in my OneDrive. all the other items only show up now when I navigate to Local Disk>Users>tim(me). I cannot delete documents folder either
in OneDrive or My PC.

The "Pictures folder has the green sync icon also under "This PC" but the downloads, Music and Videos do not even though Music is selected under Folders to Sync with OneDrive.

 

Help! How do I stop One Drive Sync in Windows 10?

When I choose Folders and then deselect say Documents or Pictures a warning appears that says

"If you stop syncing the "Documents" folder, it will be removed from your PC and new documents you create won't be saved to OneDrive."

This is a little scary. When it says that it will remove the Documents folder does that mean that on my local hard drive the files will be removed as well as stopping the OneDrive syncing?

I just want to turn off OneDrive.

 

Hello and welcome to the TenForums!

You can indeed use OneDrive as a cloud storage location and you can select whether or not you want your files mirrored on the PC or laptop.

Here is what I would do:

1. Have your W10 storage options set up so that the locations are all to your OneDrive: see https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3...dows-10-a.html

2. Choose which folders you want to sync onto the desktop or laptop or leave as cloud storage: see https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3...dows-10-a.html

If you look in the Tutorial index there are a number of other OneDrive tutorials you will find to be helpful.

 

Thanks Phil for your recommendation. I've actually been going through a lot of the tutorials to figure out the most ideal way of setting things up. Do you know what the difference is between the "Auto Save to OneDrive" option is in OneDrive settings and manually changing the location of Documents/Pictures/etc in the Shell Folder properties dialog? I'm assuming that with just the Auto Save option, my local Documents and Pictures folder is just going to stick around? I'm looking for an option to make the setup as foolproof as possible, especially for my wife's computers--so having files in two places may not be ideal.