How do I save files from OneDrive to both Windows 11 computer hard drive and external hard drive?

Anonymous
2024-08-31T18:18:30+00:00

I want to have all my files that are automatically saved to OneDrive also saved to my Windows 11 computer's hard drive and an external hard drive. I do not want to delete any of the files, pictures, documents.

I'm working with Dell Support on an issue with my laptop and they may need to reset back to factory settings. I didn't know that most of what I save is automatically saved to OneDrive, I thought my files were saving to both my internal hard drive and OneDrive. My bad...

Do I download the files from OneDrive to computer hard drive? How do I do this without losing the files from OneDrive. I want to have my files saved in three separate places. I have searched and searched many different articles and I'm either not searching with the correct question or I get to an article with a solution that makes me question if that is what I need to to. I need instructions dumbed down, written in crayons you might say.

Thank you!

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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EmilyS726 274.7K Reputation points Independent Advisor
2024-08-31T18:52:24+00:00

Hello, this is Emily.

When you use OneDrive, it usually by default turns on OnDemand feature, meaning it will turn your files into cloud copies, and what you see locally are links to the cloud files, not an actual local copies.

But you can do the following to keep those files as local copies as well.

Make sure you have the OneDrive app up and running, please follow these steps closely:

Right click on the OneDrive cloud icon on the lower right on your taskbar to go to Settings.

On the "Sync and Backup" tab, click on "Advanced Settings" to expand that section. Then under File On-Demand, click on "Download all files".

Give it plenty of time to allow the files to be downloaded from the online cloud. On your computer's file explorer, you can observe the OneDrive folder and its folders/files inside. You want all of the green checkmark icon to turn solid green with a white checkmark. Depends on how many files you have, this process can take a while, so please be patient.

Once all the files have turned solid green, these are local copies. They still sync with OneDrive, so if you delete it, it will delete it from OneDrive too.

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If you want to have them also on external drive, you will need to manually copy them to the external drive.

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-11-07T19:48:30+00:00

    Thank you Emily. I believe I have copied all of my documents to the local SD on my new Windows 11 PC following your instructions. Their status is now a green circle with white check mark. And if I right click it shows "Always keep on the device." However, where exactly are these files? With file explorer it still shows my Documents under OneDrive.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-08-31T21:18:40+00:00

    You did a great job explaining what I needed to do. Thank you so much, Emily!!

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