Why my ondrive folder name keeps changing, and how do I fix?

Question

the names of folders like desktop, pictures, documents in onedrive are keeps changing to thai and I reset my pc and reset onedrive and it isn't fix. How do I change them to english?

Answer 1

Hi Evening lite,

Good day. What you are experiencing isn’t random. This is actually an expected behavior from Microsoft OneDrive when language or region settings don’t match. Let's try to force english on your OneDrive.

A. Fix Windows display language

1. Go to: Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region.
2. Set Windows display language to English (United States).
3. Remove Thai/Korean/Vietnamese if listed.
4. Restart your PC.

B. Fix OneDrive language.

1. Right-click OneDrive icon (system tray).
2. Settings > About tab.
3. Click language settings or open browser account.
4. You can also go directly to your Microsoft account language settings and set language to English.

C. Reset OneDrive properly. Even if you reset before, still do this after fixing the language.

1. Press Win + R
2. Run: %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset
3. Then start OneDrive again:
   %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe

D. Relink the folders. Incase the names are still wrong after the steps above.

1. OneDrive Settings > Sync & Backup.
2. Click Manage Backup.
3. Turn OFF backup for Desktop/Documents/Pictures.
4. Wait for sync.
5. Turn it ON again.

E. If still nothing works, make sure Windows user account is created in English language. If not try to create a new one with English language, then sign into OneDrive on that account.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Jhun

Answer 2

OneDrive and Windows use special “known folders” (Desktop, Documents, Pictures, etc.) that are tied to the display language and to OneDrive’s backup (Known Folder Move). When the system or OneDrive language is Thai, these folder names are created or renamed in that language and then synced to OneDrive. Renaming them manually usually does not persist because OneDrive and Windows keep reapplying the localized names.

To keep the names in English, use this approach:

1. Turn off OneDrive backup for Desktop, Documents, and Pictures so Windows stops managing those folders through OneDrive:
   • Open OneDrive settings (right‑click the cloud icon in the notification area → Settings).
   • Go to the backup/“Manage backup” section.
   • Stop backup for Desktop, Documents, and Pictures.
2. Move or recreate the folders with English names if needed (for example, create Desktop, Documents, Pictures under OneDrive or under the local profile) and move content into them.
3. Keep using only the English‑named folders going forward. Avoid renaming the default OneDrive “Documents” library itself from File Explorer, because that can break navigation and sync behavior; if it was renamed, change it back to Documents in File Explorer so OneDrive navigation works correctly.
4. Make sure Windows display language and OneDrive language are set to English so that any new known folders created in the future use English names.

If the OneDrive Documents library was renamed and navigation to OneDrive is broken, revert it specifically to Documents in File Explorer as described in the reference.

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References:

• Why has my filename changed?
• To rename files or folders manually
• Renaming the Documents folder in File Explorer breaks navigation to OneDrive
• Back up your folders with OneDrive