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How can I set up my PC to sync with OneDrive?

Anonymous
2023-01-30T15:19:01+00:00

Until recently, I have used Amazon Cloud Drive to backup my PC. With their impending closure, I used CloudHQ to migrate all of the content on my Amazon Drive to OneDrive. Now, I would like to set up the specific folders on my PC (Documents, Pictures, and a few custom ones) to sync to OneDrive when I create new files or make changes to existing ones.

I downloaded the OneDrive app for Desktop, but I have been unable to find a way to choose which folders from my PC to backup to OneDrive and for which directory in OneDrive they should point.

With Amazon Photos, it was a pretty simple setup, picking the folder that was being backed up and the backup destination. But thus far, I have not been able to locate or configure this in OneDrive.

Is this possible with the OneDrive app? Do I need to use a third party app to do this?

In some past cloud backup services, I have had to keep files/folders that I wanted backed up within their specified app's backup folders. Is that how OneDrive works? I believe that I had to use symlinks in order to sync with these kinds of setups. Is that an option here?

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-01-30T16:02:23+00:00

    Hi Jeffreyabr,

    My name is Tim and I’m sorry to see you’re experiencing issues. I will gladly assist you today.

    Yo can select which folder OneDrive uses to sync to your cloud location,

    Open OneDrive settings (select the OneDrive cloud icon in your notification area, and then select the OneDrive Help and Settings icon then Settings.)

    Go to the Account tab.

    Select Choose folders.

    In the Sync your OneDrive files to this PC dialog box, uncheck any folders you don't want to sync to your computer and select OK.

    Give back to the community. Help the next person who has this issue by indicating of this reply solved your problem. Please click Yes or No below.

    If you require any further information then please don’t hesitate getting it contact. I will be more than happy to assist you further.

    Kind regards

    Tim

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  2. Craig Long 17,825 Reputation points
    2023-01-30T19:12:32+00:00

    Unfortunately, you cannot select individual files to sync to OneDrive unless you place them within the OneDrive folder.

    You can select which individual system folders (Documents, Pictures, and Desktop) you want to sync to OneDrive. Go to Backup or Sync and backup > Manage backup to back up these folders. When the backup is enabled, these folders move into the OneDrive folder.

    All OneDrive files (either cloud-only links or locally-available files) must be located within the OneDrive folder. You would need to use symlinks if you want to backup other locations. With adequate local OneDrive folder space, I wouldn't think it would be necessary to use symlinks.

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  3. Craig Long 17,825 Reputation points
    2023-01-30T19:49:58+00:00

    Sorry, I'd like to help but I've never used symlinks. You would have to google that information.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-01-30T19:33:34+00:00

    Hey Craig,

    Thanks for including that information! That is a big help.

    Can you assist me with the syntax required to configure symlinks for a setup of this nature? It's been a few years since I had to do something like this.

    So if my Documents folder is located on my PC at at "D:\Documents" what would I want to write in order to get that to sync/upload new files and changes to the PC > Documents folder in OneDrive? Would that be:

    C:\Users\Jeff>mklink /D "D:\Documents" "C:\Users\Jeff\OneDrive\PC"

    Or would I want something different?

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-01-30T16:34:13+00:00

    Hi Tim, thanks for the response. This isn't exactly what I am looking for though.

    I navigated to the Settings page which you mentioned. This seems to be a feature which will selectively show or hide folders in my Windows Explorer folder for OneDrive.

    All of these folders already exist on my OneDrive.

    Let's look at the window on the left for an example. What I want to now do is set up OneDrive (or a third party app if necessary) to know that if I make a change to a file within the Adobe folder which is under Documents and under the PC folder, I want that to sync/upload to OneDrive in that same hierarchy as it already exists.

    How can I point OneDrive to these folders on my PC and let it know that I want it to upload/sync any new files or changes to these folder locations as they exist on OneDrive?

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