Two Computers, Two Different Uses, and OneDrive Merges These Different Desktops

Anonymous
2025-01-16T06:41:01+00:00

I have two laptops. One is a Razer Blade that I use for gaming. The other is an older Lenovo that I use for programming & accounting. As you might expect, each computer has very different apps installed. But... my Desktop folder is stored under OneDrive and the OneDrive Settings will not allow me to unselect the Desktop folder from being synced.

So, for some reason, Windows thinks desktops must be sync'ed even if the different laptops' apps and uses are very different...?!?!

As a result, I have two laptop desktops where about half of the Desktop apps are non-working shortcuts because I installed them on my other laptop.

And I do share a lot of my folders (e.g., Pictures, Documents, Music,...) between these computers. I just want to disable the Desktop folder from syncing. I do not want to have two different accounts, one for each laptop.

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

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  1. Ramesh 180.4K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-01-16T17:54:02+00:00

    Hi Peter,

    I'm glad the info helped.

    Thanks for the update.

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-01-16T17:49:59+00:00

    Thanks! That moved my system's Desktop from OneDrive to my user drive and cleared up my desktop.

    There's a prompt before it will save the new settings:

    Then save and close:

    And this is the RegEdit query after the changes showing that Desktop's location has been moved.

    Thanks!

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-01-16T17:20:06+00:00

    This is what I see when I try to unselect the Desktop folders in the OneDrive Settings dialog box:

    As you can see, the Desktop folders are checked and greyed-out.

    Here are the results of the query you requested:

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  4. Ramesh Srinivasan 85,090 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-01-16T07:34:35+00:00

    Hi Peter, This is Ramesh.

    What happens when you attempt to uncheck the Desktop folder from being synced? If you get any errors when doing so, please post the screenshot here.

    Also, let's check the shell folder settings. To do so, from a Command Prompt window, run this command:

    reg.exe query "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders" | clip

    (The above command queries the shell folder registry settings and copies the output to the clipboard.)

    Paste the contents (Ctrl + V) from your clipboard into your reply window.

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