Duplicate Onedrive's in File Explorer

Question

Hello,

In Onedrive on new computers we are setting up, we see Onedrive in file explorer. If we open it and sign in to the business account for the user, the Onedrive remains in file explorer and a new one with Onedrive - (Company Name) shows up. If I click on the Onedrive without the company name, it opens the company Onedrive. So it really servers no purpose, other than to confuse our end users. I've found a solution that requires editing the registry, which is not ideal. Is there a way to get the Onedrive without the company name removed that doesn't involved editing the registry?

Answer 1

Dear Chris,

Thanks for posting back.

According to your description, you have unlinked one account. Normally, it should only show one shortcut in File Explorer. Please unlink the account, go to C:\users*<user name>*, and check if you can see multiple OneDrive folders. If so, you can keep the folder “OneDrive-Company Name” and delete other related OneDrive folders.

Also, I would like to suggest you check if there are multiple values in the registry.

1. Please press Win + R, and type regedit, then go to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace

2. Check if you can find the value with the unwanted OneDrive folder name in the Data column, and delete the registry by right click on it.

Note: please first back up the registry before making any changes. You can right-click on it > Export to save the registry in another location. For reference: How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

WARNING*: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Edit at your own risk.*

If the above suggestions don’t help, I would like to suggest you unlink the account, uninstall OneDrive from Apps & feature, then reinstall it from OneDrive release notes. After that, check again.

We look forward to your response. Thanks for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

George | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

Dear Chris,

Good day! Thank you for posting your query in our community.

Generally, if you unlink the account, the shortcut of OneDrive in File Explorer may be removed. I suggest you first try unlinking the account to see the result.

If the shortcut remains, there may be some issues and you may try editing the registry keys to see the result.

Please back up the registry before doing that.

Sincerely,

Cliff | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 3

If I click on the Onedrive in file explorer, before I link the company Onedrive, it asks me to sign in. So there's no account to unlink. I sign in with the company account and I get the company account Onedrive added. If I go to settings in Onedrive to unlink the account, it only shows the company account, not the other Onedrive.

Answer 4

I found a Onedrive folder in the C:\Users(User) without the company account. So there was the company one that works and one with no assignment that if you click on it, it just reroutes you to the company folder. I deleted the non-company folder from the user folder but it still shows in file explorer. And now when I click on it, it tells me the folder no longer exist, but then it opens the company Onedrive.

Just to be clear: we are starting with a fresh install of Windows 10. When I open file explorer it shows the non-company Onedrive folder. If I click on it, it tells me to sign in. I do that and set everything up and then it adds the company Onedrive but it doesn't get rid of the non-company Onedrive. I am aware of how to get rid of it through the registry. But that seems like a deeply bad idea for every new computer we setup.

I have uninstalled, rebooted and reinstalled Onedrive, and the problem continues. There has to be a more efficient, non registry way to fix this issue.

Answer 5

Dear Chris,

Thanks for posting back.

As you mentioned the situation happens on every new computer, I would like to know if the admin has deployed GPOs that are related with OneDrive on the new devices.

For your reference:

Use OneDrive policies to control sync settings

Also, what if you switch to a local Windows user profile, does the situation happen again?

We look forward to your response. Thanks for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

George | Microsoft Community Moderator