How to stop OneDrive from copying all files onto PC drive?

Question

Hi everyone,

My computer ran out of physical space and when i checked the space usage, it appears that onedrive have created a copy of everything it stores in relevant folders on hard drive of my PC, namely the largest folders were documents.

I have still ample space on onedrive and i dont have physical space on my PC.

When i tried to stop sync of one drive onto PC, following the steps in the tutorial: Account => Settings => Choose Folders , i cannot unselect the folders, they are all ticked and grey, i.e. i cannot make the active selection, they seemed to be preselected (i dont know how and why) - see image.

Any ideas what i should do now to try a stop onedrive copying everything into harddrive?

Thanks,

Yulia

Answer 1

Do you happen to have your account sync settings configured in Windows? Go to Account protection in WIndows. Click on the manage sync settings link. Then under OneDrive folder syncing click Set up syncing and clear the things you don't want synced.

Answer 2

Hi @Yulia

After enabling Backup for some folders, the synchronization of these folders may not be cancelled.

Please go to OneDrive Settings > Sync and backup, click Manage backup, stop backing up these folders, such as Desktop, Documents. Then you may choose these folders and cancel synchronization.

But please note, after these actions, all files in the folder will be removed locally, and there is only a shortcut icon for the OneDrive web page.

Additionally, OneDrive has a Files On-Demand feature, then you may free up space by setting Files Cloud-Only, this allows you see and access files in OneDrive online without having to download them all to your PC.

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