All of my photos are now on the cloud. Why have they all been moved to the cloud without my consent?

In order for us to sort all of these out, it is necessary (just for now) to get OneDrive desktop app back up and running.

To do so, go to your Start menu and see if you already have the OneDrive app installed. If so, go ahead and run it, sign in. If you don't have it installed, you will need to download it, install it back and then set it up. You can download it from here: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/onedrive/download

Once you have the OneDrive app up and running again, please follow these steps closely:

1. Right click on the OneDrive cloud icon on the lower right on your taskbar to go to Settings.
2. On the "Sync and Backup" tab, click on "Advanced Settings" to expand that section. Then under File On-Demand, click on "Download all files".
3. Give it plenty of time to allow the files to be downloaded from the online cloud. On your computer's file explorer, you can observe the OneDrive folder and its folders/files inside. You want all of the green checkmark icon to turn solid green with a white checkmark. Depends on how many files you have, this process can take a while, so please be patient.
4. Once all of the folders and files turn into the solid green icon with white checkmark, you can go back to OneDrive Settings. Very important - click on "Manage Backup" button, then turn off all folders listed there. Restart the computer from here.

If you want to keep OneDrive, you can stop here. Otherwise continue the rest to get rid of OneDrive altogether.

5. After you turn off the folders sync in Step 4, now go to Account tab, click on "Unlink this PC"
6. Go to your Windows Settings > Apps, find OneDrive and uninstall it.

It sounds like your photos may have been synced to OneDrive, which is a cloud storage service provided by Microsoft. When OneDrive is set up on your device, it can automatically back up and sync files, including photos, to the cloud. This feature is designed to help users access their files from anywhere and protect them in case of device loss or failure.

If you did not intend for your photos to be uploaded to OneDrive, you may want to check your OneDrive settings. Here are a few steps you can take:

1. Check OneDrive Settings: Open OneDrive settings on your device to see if automatic photo upload is enabled. You can disable this feature if you prefer to keep your photos stored locally.
2. Accessing Your Photos: You can still access your photos stored in OneDrive. You can log in to your OneDrive account online or through the app to view and manage your files.
3. Local Storage: If you want to keep your photos only on your local drive, you can move them out of the OneDrive folder on your device to a different location that is not synced with OneDrive.
4. Unlink OneDrive: If you do not want to use OneDrive at all, you can unlink your device from OneDrive in the settings, which will stop any further syncing.

It's important to note that when you set up OneDrive, you may have agreed to its terms, which include automatic syncing features. If you have concerns about privacy or data management, reviewing these settings can help you regain control over where your files are stored.

References:

• Protect your personal information
• Intro to file collaboration in Microsoft 365, powered by SharePoint
• Find, open, and save files on HoloLens
• Photo Filer (privsection)
• Photo Filer (zerotrust)