Completely eliminate OneDrive

Question

OneDrive is an option for opening a file in Excel, Word, etc. It's also an option for saving a file. I've already unlinked the OneDrive app from my PC and uninstalled the app. But the option to use it still shows up in the Office apps.

How do I completely remove OneDrive so that it's no longer visible as an option? I use Windows 11 Home and Office 365.

Answer 1

Hi, BradB_90630

Welcome to the Microsoft community.

I have realized that your problem is trying to remove OneDrive completely.

According to your description, you have unlinked OneDrive, a step that ensures that OneDrive stops synchronizing files with your computer. If you've done this by opening the Settings app, navigating to Apps, finding OneDrive in the list, clicking on it and selecting Uninstall. This will remove the OneDrive software itself from your computer but will not delete any residual files.

According to the official Turn off, disable, or uninstall OneDrive - Microsoft Support article, if you just don't want to use OneDrive, the easiest solution is to unlink it. OneDrive is built into some versions of Windows and can't be uninstalled. But you can hide it and stop the sync process, so it stays hidden. To do this, turn off all the OneDrive settings and remove the OneDrive folder from File Explorer.

 

Completing these steps actually turns off the use of OneDrive, but you want to completely remove OneDrive from Windows 11 and Office 365 so that it no longer appears as an option, you can try the following steps:

1. Delete the OneDrive folder:

Navigate to your user folder (usually C:\Users\ [YourUsername]), find the OneDrive folder and delete it. This will erase any synchronized data saved locally on your machine. Before performing this operation, make sure to move any important files elsewhere and make a good backup of your important data.

2. Clear OneDrive residual files:

Open File Explorer, go to C:\Program Files and delete the OneDrive folder if it still exists. Sometimes, the uninstallation process leaves residual files. Deleting these files ensures that there is no trace of the OneDrive app on your system.

Remove OneDrive from the registry:

Open Registry Editor by typing “regedit” in the search bar and navigate to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\OneDrive.

and delete the OneDrive folder. Removing OneDrive from the registry ensures that no software settings or configurations remain. Be careful when editing the registry as incorrect changes may cause system problems.

Disclaimer: Modifying the registry or workgroups is usually geared towards advanced users, administrators, and IT professionals, and it can help to fix some issues, however, improper registry modifications can lead to serious problems. Therefore, please make sure to follow the following steps strictly. For further protection, make a backup of the registry before modifying it. For more information on how to back up and restore the registry refer to: How to back up and restore the registry in Windows - Microsoft Support. be sure to back up your important files before performing these steps.

Feel free to post back if you need further assistance.  Thank you for your understanding and patience and I look forward to hearing from you.

Cherry.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

In all previous versions of Windows, there was a folder called MyDocuments. I want to go back to that. Now with Windows 11 the path to MyDocuments or just Documents goes through OneDrive. How do I change the path so that the OneDrive folder path is eliminated and the path goes to C:\Users\user\Documents

This is how I want the path to my documents to be: C:\Users\user\Documents

Instead of "C:\Users\user\OneDrive\Documents

Answer 3

I've done all these things, and the One Drive comes back. I was told once by the Geek Squad with Best Buy that the One Drive was imbedded in my cell phone. I unlinked it, but then I could move photos back and forth to my own backup external drive. It's a running nightmare of mine. I have had many computer professionals "remove it", others did, but it won't be gone long. "I" think that when Microsoft 365 updates, it gets it back in there. I have requested help from Microsoft and yet no one has really helped me get rid of it. I am tired of constantly asking you, Microsoft 365 to help me permanently get it off, but you never do. I guess there's not enough of us complaining yet. You truly do not respect our or my requests to stop it taking my photos and making me to go through this **** so many times. I am very ashamed of your services to help people who want to use your programs, but not that ridiculous One Drive for some of us who DO NOT NEED OR WANT IT. Get used to my complaints as they will go on and on also.

Answer 4

Faith, I'm glad I'm not the only one. I've followed every suggestion I can find and it still stays as THE FIRST OPTION in Excel, Word, etc. Nothing seems to get rid of it. I've turned if off, deleted it, removed it from the Registry, etc.

At this point I think it must be impossible to get rid of.

Answer 5

This is a truly horrible product that Microsoft has forced on people. Without warning, it has changed all the links that I thought were to my other spreadsheets in local files to OneDrive hyperlinks. If internet access is unavailable, you can forget about using your Excel spreadsheets. Getting out of OneDrive and rebuilding the links appears to be a monumental task. I don't know why anyone would ever buy a Microsoft product after this.