i do not wish to use onedrive at all. am i just out of luck?

Question

i do not wish to use onedrive at all. am i just out of luck?

Anonymous

i recently built a new computer, and ended up with little to no recourse but window 11.

If i wish my files to be stored in the cloud, i will put them there - with dropbox or google drive. but it seems that i cannot have a desktop folder, a my documents folder, or a PICTURES!!! folder that isn't tied to microsoft's onedrive cloud storage.

the problem:
i've spent all day moving files, trying to create desktop shortcuts to non-onedrive folders i made and it all either ends with MY folders being empty, or magically linked back to onedrive through the short cuts. it changes the shortcuts i make from c:\user\name\my documents to c:\used\ondedrive\my documents.

IT CHANGES THE SHORTCUTS. to make sure i can't bypass it.

the question:
is there any way that i can use software i paid money for to put files on my computer where i want them to go, without them being linked to this onedrive cloud nonsense?

i did not ask for onedrive. i do not want onedrive. it's as invasive and desirable as kudzu.

i'm beginning to loathe windows 11 and everything about it even more than windows 10.

is there anything i can do about this? one upon a time you could actually change the location and names of a lot of the system folders, but i can't even find that option anymore.

i do not have office. the menu's below didn't give me the option to pick my problem being onedrive without picking office as the product.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Answer accepted by question author

EmilyS726 275.9K Independent Advisor

Hello,

Yes, this can be done, but for now, please do NOT move any files at all until you go through the steps here first, as any move (delete, change, etc) can be synced and I do not want you to lose files.

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Is your OneDrive currently running? If so, on the taskbar lower right, find the OneDrive cloud icon, right click on it, go to Settings > Synce & Backup tab > Manage backup. Turn off all folders there.

Then go to Accounts tab > Unlink this PC.

Then go to Windows Settings > Apps > Installed Apps, uninstall OneDrive.

Restart the computer.

Now, you can move files around if you need to.

==============

If OneDrive is already uninstalled and you cannot do those steps above, Please type regedit in the search on the taskbar to launch registry editor, and go to this path, then take a screenshot and share in your reply.

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

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2 additional answers

Answer 1

Les Ferch 10,376 Volunteer Moderator

things like that should never be default.

Totally agree!

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Answer 2

i tried hitting the reply button on EmilyS726's answer, but it would not allow me to reply.

thank you so very much. it worked perfectly exactly as you said.

a note for others - as soon as you hit the 'unlink this pc' button, onedrive's set up app instantly pops up. ignore it. just carry on with the instructions provided here by EmilyS726, uninstall and reboot.

Brilliant. my day just got so much better.

onedrive could be a handy tool, but people should be given the option, and should be given the option what folders it affects.

things like that should never be default.

thanks you so much for the fix.