I would like onedrive to NOT sync my desktop between my computers.

Hello, I’m Ajibola and I’m happy to help.

It is not possible to deselect the desktop sync in OneDrive, as it is part of the backup feature that protects your important folders. However, you can disable the backup feature entirely, or choose which folders you want to backup.

To disable the backup feature in OneDrive, follow these steps:

• In the taskbar, select the OneDrive icon (a cloud icon).

• In the top-right corner of the OneDrive panel, select the gear icon and then select Settings.

• Select the Backup tab and then select Manage Backup.

• Turn off the switch next to Desktop, Documents, and Pictures.

• Select Stop backup to confirm.

To choose which folders you want to backup in OneDrive, follow these steps:

• In the taskbar, select the OneDrive icon (a cloud icon).

• In the top-right corner of the OneDrive panel, select the gear icon and then select Settings.

• Select the Backup tab and then select Manage Backup.

• Turn on the switch next to the folders you want to backup, such as Documents or Pictures.

• Turn off the switch next to the folders you don't want to backup, such as Desktop.

• Select OK to confirm.

For further reference, you can also find similar issues and solutions in the link provided:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/stop-onedrive-from-synching-desktops/462384c6-7300-4297-8fb6-3d4288d520c3

If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please feel free to ask. I'm here to help!

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Kind regards.

Ajibola.

I would like onedrive to NOT sync my desktop between my computers. Even though I log in with the same account, they are for completely different use. I do not want to clutter one computer with dead links to apps that is on another computer. But it seems onedrive won't allow me to deselect the desktop sync, as it is "an important windows folder". How do I solve this?

You cannot back up your Desktop folders from multiple computers and keep them from syncing with each other.

I use a 3rd party Desktop organizer customized per computer. Then I can put the dead links into a section on the desktop and hide that section. It's still there but it's minimized so it doesn't show. You can put the icons in separate folders but you will need to open the folders to see your desktop icons.

OneDrive is not a backup, it’s a cloud location of your data.

The default installation of Office 365 and its OneDrive component uploads all the contents of the PC  \My Documents\ folders to OneDrive, (syncs) and there will be a OneDrive folder in File Explorer containing cached copy of all the OneDrive content. And in Word etc the default Save location is set to OneDrive.

No Docs/data is stored on the local PC