ISSUE 21.25 • 2024-06-17 WINDOWS 11 By Will Fastie Things are not going so well for Windows 11’s new File Explorer. But it might be OneDrive’s fault.
[See the full post at: OneDrive and File Explorer]
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OneDrive and File Explorer
- This topic has 91 replies, 31 voices, and was last updated 9 months ago.
AuthorViewing 58 reply threadsAuthor-
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For years I’ve been using Directory Opus as a substitute for File Explorer. It’s very powerful, well maintained and updated. I always use it with two Folder Trees open in a single window which vastly helps copying and moving files or folders from A to B and getting a clearer view of where everything is stored.
Likewise for file copying and synchronisation I use the wonderful FreeFileSync — much faster than File Explorer and a doddle to create and save repeated synch tasks.
Hope these suggestions might help others?4 users thanked author for this post.
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I HATE that attitude, “Don’t worry your little head where that file went – just ask and we’ll get it for you.” And Apple is far worse. Computers are a tool, and I have decades of experience using them effectively. Just get out of the way so I can get my work done!
Windows needs an “Expert Mode” switch that turns off everything, so that nothing happens except in response to an explicit user command.
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I’ve seen this before: ACT! insists on installing to Documents. Synced databases do NOT like being synced by two different sync mechanisms at the same time (Hamachi (native) and OneDrive). I’ve had to make a local Documents folder for my clients that use ACT! and reinstall ACT! there.
With Windows 10, one can turn OneDrive off entirely; with Windows 11, I’m not going to anymore. I’ve had too many problems. In fact, I’m going the other way and recommending Windows Backup and paying for a little more OneDrive storage. As you have found, it’s just too integrated to mess with.
Once you’ve relocated those folders that you want to be local-only, you might have to use the web interface of OneDrive to remove those cloud-only files and folders to OneDrive’s cloud Recycle Bin and delete the contents of OneDrive’s cloud Recycle Bin.
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The concept of OneDrive is great, but it’s very poorly executed in my opinion. OneDrive constantly struggles to sync, stalls out for no reason, and sometimes has to be killed from the Task Manager and reopened to force it to sync.
I find Google Drive to be a much more reliable option. Of course, OneDrive has significantly more storage included if you have Office 365.
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OneDrive and File Explorer, might as well be “The Joker” and “The Riddler.” The “joke” is that OneDrive never syncs properly and the “riddle” is where does files explorer send files or what happened to my search results.
I gave up on both of these apps shortly after getting stuck with Windows 11. A better substitute was “The Files App,” actually available on the M$ store and “Dropbox.”
I routinely use different computers when I travel. Sync needs to be absolutely flawless, always available, always reliable, in short it has to be the opposite of OneDrive. Right now I have to use M$ Word for my work and OneDrive cannot even work reliably within the M$ family.
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Just wanted to add that if you only have one computer and you don’t need to sync, uninstall OneDrive.
You’ll be glad you did.
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This article (for which many thanks) just confirms I am right to stay with my neolithic behaviour and refuse to use One drive. Everything I have is stored locally, and double backed up locally, except the few files I need on the move which I sync manually. I am retired, so that works for me. (BTW neolithic man was much more sophisticated than popular opinion believes!)
Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A9 users thanked author for this post.
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Ditto! From an 85-year-old going on 20 years with company IT control/support.
Scott Mills
PS: Grateful for Ask Woody.
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I didn’t notice you mentioning the option to suspend synchronization by Onedrive? By that, I assume you didn’t suspend before starting your changes…
While that’s water under the bridge, maybe you would want to update the article to mention that as an option for others if they decide to use your article as a guideline going forward?
Thanks!
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Re: keeping documents and pictures locally: if you had turned off documents and pictures before the first sync, they would not be stored in the cloud.
Checking or unchecking the sink boxes turns on and off synchronization for that folder, true. If you want to remove your documents and photos from the cloud, simply login to your OneDrive account in the cloud and delete them from there. The easiest way is click on your OneDrive icon and choose “view online”.
Deleted files are kept for 30 days. You’ll also get a warning that you deleted a large number of files as a reminder to you to make sure you want to delete them.
If you want to remove them right away, click on the recycle bin and delete the items from that location.1 user thanked author for this post.
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… refuse to use One drive.
The direction in which Microsoft is headed makes me think this will not be an option.
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Apologies if I’m drifting too far off topic, but a few comments about Linux and ease of use:
Ease of use in Linux varies greatly from one distro to another. I personally find Linux Mint (Cinnamon) to be easier to use than either macOS or Windows on a day to day basis.
A hiccup is a hiccup is a hiccup, and really no more difficult to deal with in Linux than in Windows or macOS. The user database in Windows may be larger but in my experience is of lower quality than that of Linux.
The biggest stumbling block for what I will call the “typical user” to using Linux is getting it installed, although when you get right down to it anyone who can handle a Windows 10 installation can handle a Linux installation.
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Some computer manufacturers will install Linux for you if you buy a new computer. (Dell, System 76 et al) I had read that getting on the internet in Linux was difficult, but when I did it, it was fairly easy. Just have the pertinent information handy.
As for problems in Linux, the Web is your best friend. Buying a book on Linux helps you with the basics.
Mark
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Granted that I have FAR fewer folders and files to deal with than you do, and being a “control-freak,” I am much happier sticking with the C and D drives on my internal SSD. I developed this attitude back before I retired from a major corporation with all kinds of controls on its computer users (using PCs and mini-computer networks and work-station networks). I keep that SSD backed up, on a daily basis, with Carbonite and weekly on my own external HDD with Macrium. I use the D drive kind of like you seem to use One Drive, i.e. as an archive. So far this has been “soothing” to my multifaceted preferences.
Given the relative affordability of large (TB?) SSDs, and guessing that you do not work around the clock, I should think two terra-byte “external” SSDs could serve as a “comfy” alternative to One Drive.
Just saying …
Scott Mills
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Hi Will:
I found this to be just horrific:
“If you look at the fine print, you’ll quickly see that Microsoft is taking the path of greatest benefit to itself. It’s true that those folders will no longer be synced, but they will still remain in the cloud, eating up my quota of OneDrive space. And their contents will be deleted from my local PC. So by Microsoft’s definition, “sync” means keeping stuff in both places. Of the two other logical options — keep locally only or keep in the cloud only — you get to choose only the latter.” (Emphasis supplied.)
To me, this is just additional evidence that Microsoft cannot be trusted. Those of us with long experience of Microsoft know to be suspicious of Microsoft doublespeak, but it is just appalling that it continues unchecked in this way.
Instructive to see in this very same issue of AskWoody, that Apple is taking direct aim at this kind of deception by Microsoft (although how trusting can we be in Apple?).
How on earth does Microsoft expect us to trust it on anything important like a real AI-based personal assistant (as per Bill Gates’ vision in this article,
if it continues to be deceptive in every statement it makes about the Windows ecosystem?
Glad that OneDrive and OneNote can be turned off/uninstalled in Windows 10.
Somebody in this forum please come up with a registry hack or other means to banish them from Windows 11.
Users need to be able to control where their data is, and who has access to it, at all times.
— AWRon
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It dawned on me awhile ago that OneDrive’s concept is that the cloud is your main file repository. You can optionally sync down some of the files to various computers, but only if you choose “Always keep on this device”. It’s a stretch to say Microsoft chose this policy to make you use more storage. They’re practically giving away cloud storage, starting from $7/month for 1TB, with licenses to use Office apps on 5 devices. Or 5GB totally free. If you’re someone who keeps 450GB of photos in the cloud, not syncing those down to every device is probably a good thing.
I don’t care to use OneDrive much. I keep most of my files in custom folders, not under Documents, so they never upload. I do find it handy to keep a few key files in Documents, which lets me access them on an iPad and mobile phone as well as on my PC. Maybe the rule of thumb should be: if you don’t want files in the cloud, don’t keep them in your user profile (My Documents, My Photos, etc.).
Don’t want your files in OneDrive at all? Unlink the PC or uninstall OneDrive. Yes, per this article, it can be uninstalled from Windows 11:
You can also delete your OneDrive files in the cloud at https://onedrive.live.com. Empty the Recycle Bin too.
Microsoft (and Google, and Apple) make lots of policies and defaults that don’t fit how I work. So far I’ve been able to work around them.
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Surely you gest. Just posting Microsoft’s deceptive practices of the last three years would crash this blog. Here’s just the very pointed tip of the iceberg
- Lying about putting installation files into updates (how they pushed Win 10 on Win 7/8) users
- Lying about being able to uninstalled OneDrive and Edge (which reinstalls after every upgrade
- Embedded advertising in Bing and Co-pilot against Chrome (which uses the same engine) asking users to use their products.
- Look up how the NSA used Microsoft to get information via Prism and other government programs.
And those are only some of the more recent practices. Find out how many journalists were banned from getting information from them because they published articles on these topics.
Let’s face it, Microsoft does not like to be honest to its users. If it wasn’t for requirements to use it, or a viable alternative most people probably wouldn’t. Maybe look at how much litigation Microsoft has thrown at developers who work on Linux as to who they see as a threat in their future.
I’ve found it’s best to treat statements from Microsoft like politicians. If their lips are moving they’re lying.
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1. and 2. didn’t happen.
Yes, they did/do. Have you forgotten, or just willfully denied the truth? I have uninstalled Edge and Edge Update multiple times after Update Tuesdays. I always check, and it’s always back.
I’ll post it for you the next time it happens.
Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.We were all once "Average Users".2 users thanked author for this post.
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1. and 2. didn’t happen.
Yes, they did/do. … I’ll post it for you the next time it happens.
Edge and Edge Update were surreptitiously re-installed after “Active hours” early this morning. I know that is when it happened, because neither were present yesterday in C:\Program Files (x86). I check that regularly because Microsoft is not to be trusted in the regard of how I want my PC’s to be configured.
Revo Uninstaller Pro to the rescue, run as Trusted Installer, using Forced Uninstall:
And again for MS EdgeUpdate:
I have Windows Update set for automatic updates. What I received last night was not a true OS update, but installation files for MS Edge and MS Edge Update.
Yesterday (and now again today), C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft looked like this:
I prefer my configuration of Windows over Microsoft’s.
Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.We were all once "Average Users".2 users thanked author for this post.
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Edge cannot be uninstalled unless you’re in the EEA.
You are simply, unequivocally wrong. Full Stop. Here it is:
And here it isn’t:
Revo Uninstaller Pro, run as Trusted Installer, removes every trace of Edge/Edge Update from Windows, Task Scheduler and the registry.
From the Run box, I get this:
Edge (and Edge Update) are completely gone. But rest assured, Microsoft will install both again within a couple of weeks via Windows Update, and it will not show up in Update History. It has been done a number of times, but a Forced Uninstall with Revo Uninstaller is quick and easy.
Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.We were all once "Average Users".1 user thanked author for this post.
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But rest assured, Microsoft will install both again within a couple of weeks
Exactly.
And
Edge cannot be uninstalled unless you’re in the EEA.
is absolutely, positively not true. It takes me less than five minutes to get rid of both Edge and Edge Update. Edge is not going to remain installed on my PC’s more than a short while after “Active hours”.
Exactly. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I’m out of this conversation.
Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.We were all once "Average Users".1 user thanked author for this post.
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Let’s face it, some people will NEVER believe the emperor is naked. I run my setup the same way and killing Edge is like killing hydra. I said this over a year ago, Windows is no longer for the average user and the first person to come up with an alternative will probably become rich and then just as bad.
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A final issue, and one that is nearly impossible to deal with, is that all Microsoft applications (and many others) keep folders in Documents and expect them to be there.
Only if you let them. My photos don’t go to a subfolder in my Documents folder. They go to a partition on another drive. Downloads don’t go to a subfolder in my Documents folder, they go to a partition on another drive. I have multiple partitions on multiple drives, and my files are stored according to my preferences, not Microsoft’s or other applications.
My installed programs are not in C:\Program Files. With the exception of Microsoft 365, they are on H:\Program Files. My photos are synced, but they are synced from their own partition, not from a subfolder in my Documents folder.
Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.We were all once "Average Users".4 users thanked author for this post.
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a “comfy” alternative to One Drive.
My comfy alternative is my D: drive, which is an 8TB mirror (RAID 1).
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Restore old File Explorer in Windows 11
Breaks Will’s Rule #1 about Windows journalism – keep Windows 11 as it is (mostly).
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Only if you let them.
Most people do. I’m correcting my sordid past now.
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This turns out to have been a mistake. If you look at the fine print, you’ll quickly see that Microsoft is taking the path of greatest benefit to itself. It’s true that those folders will no longer be synced, but they will still remain in the cloud, eating up my quota of OneDrive space. And their contents will be deleted from my local PC. So by Microsoft’s definition, “sync” means keeping stuff in both places. Of the two other logical options — keep locally only or keep in the cloud only — you get to choose only the latter.
Please explain how this benefits Microsoft, and why on earth anyone would keep files in a OneDrive folder which they want to be available only on their PC.
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I’ve used OneDrive since it first came out. Sure it has problems, but it has gotten better over time, and although I’ve tried many alternatives, nothing else comes close.
Will’s problem (and apparently the problem of many readers) is not that Microsoft is sneakily making you keep stuff in the cloud, it’s that you misunderstand the paradigm. A OneDrive folder is always in the cloud. That’s the concept. Turning off sync for a OneDrive cloud folder means that it’s no longer mirrored locally, but of course it’s still in the cloud. If you don’t want something in the cloud, don’t put it in a OneDrive folder. It’s that simple. If you don’t want your Windows special folders (Documents, Pictures, Music, etc.) to be OneDrive folders in the cloud, just change the OneDrive settings (“Back up important PC folders to OneDrive”) or the Windows library settings.
My computing life would be difficult without OneDrive. It allows me to share content with my wife and two kids, across 6 different PCs and 4 different phones (Android). It automatically backs up all my docs, photos, videos, etc. (I make my own additional backups just in case.) Because of my Microsoft 365 subscription I get 5 TB of cloud storage. (Google would charge me $250/year just for this much storage, without any apps.) I use the OneDrive file history feature to get back things that I accidentally messed up. when editing. I can access my docs in the cloud from anywhere when I’m travelling. I can create links to share large files or folders full of files with anyone.
Now and then OneDrive gets confused and I have to reset it. (Often just pausing and restarting sync straightens is out, but a few times I’ve had to reinstall it.) Sometimes I end up with two docs and have to merge them or delete one. This is inconvenient and annoying, but it’s outweighed by significant convenience of OneDrive. I’ve never lost any data.
It’s really not as terrible and confusing as you all are making it out to be.
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Please explain how this benefits Microsoft
Because Microsoft benefits by selling OneDrive storage or an M365 plan when the tiny free space made available by a Microsoft account is exhausted.
why on earth anyone would keep files in a OneDrive folder which they want to be available only on their PC.
At one time, the user had complete control over which files would be synced. So you would say that you wanted Documents (the folder in your Windows profile) to be synced or not. That’s what most folks did, and that’s what most folks thought was reasonable.
Now, Documents is placed in your profile but under the OneDrive folder, along with all the other folders originally kept in your profile. Thus Microsoft decides, on its own, the location of folders and defaults them to OneDrive. Control over what is synced is subsumed by Microsoft.
Early on, I synced only specific folders in Documents. I synced nothing sensitive. But when this switch to the OneDrive default happened, the sensitive stuff was synced with the few folders I wanted synced. I didn’t do anything to make this happen – it just happened.
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Because Microsoft benefits by selling OneDrive storage or an M365 plan when the tiny free space made available by a Microsoft account is exhausted.
But you don’t use the tiny free space.
At one time, the user had complete control over which files would be synced. So you would say that you wanted Documents (the folder in your Windows profile) to be synced or not. That’s what most folks did, and that’s what most folks thought was reasonable.
Now, Documents is placed in your profile but under the OneDrive folder, along with all the other folders originally kept in your profile. Thus Microsoft decides, on its own, the location of folders and defaults them to OneDrive. Control over what is synced is subsumed by Microsoft.
Early on, I synced only specific folders in Documents. I synced nothing sensitive. But when this switch to the OneDrive default happened, the sensitive stuff was synced with the few folders I wanted synced. I didn’t do anything to make this happen – it just happened.
When PC folder backup was introduced four years ago it was not enabled by default. You chose to backup Documents, Pictures, Desktop etc. (at Manage Backup in OneDrive settings:
How to set up file backup to OneDrive on Windows 10 May 2020 Update
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If you don’t want something in the cloud, don’t put it in a OneDrive folder.
Quite right. The point is that I did not decide. Microsoft changed the behavior and synced folders without my knowledge. I would not have configured the way the configuration turned out.
My computing life would be difficult without OneDrive.
My computing life would be impossible without OneDrive. It is an essential tool for the virtual working environment that is AskWoody. I value it highly. But it is broken.
It’s really not as terrible and confusing as you all are making it out to be.
Yes, it is. It is not transparent. It is a moving target. It fails, as you have acknowledged and as I have experienced. Documentation is sparse. And AskWoody has published a long string of definitive articles, especially from Fred Langa, explaining these shortcomings. We’ll continue to do so in the hope that Microsoft will make it better.
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Which behaviour did Microsoft change during your “aggressive changes”?
The was no change during my “aggressive” behavior. The change was in the defaults about what would be synced and the location of the OneDrive folder.
Well, there was one change – the Documents link in the left sidebar.
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how do you drag and drop between tabs?
You drag a file from within one tab up to the target tab itself, then down into the tab’s body. You can use the usual keyboard modifiers to control whether the file is moved or copied.
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Does this article apply to Windows 10 as well?
Not the File Explorer, which is a new version for Windows 11.
I’ll double-check Windows 10, but I think the OneDrive behavior is the same.
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I don’t think Microsoft changed any defaults.
Here’s the path to the Documents folder on my Windows 11 PC:
C:\Users\will\OneDrive\Documents
Sometime in the past, it would have been this:
C:\Users\will\Documents
C:\Users\will\OneDriveI will check my Win10 PC tomorrow.
When do you think this happened?
I wish I knew. I wasn’t paying attention. This didn’t come up until I started rearranging things.
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Will Fastie:
I’ve faced the same UNWANTED and HATED “hijacking” of files in the Documents Folder because I unwittingly selected some option about backup capability by Microsoft that appeared on my system with a new release just as they began bragging about One Drive. I didn’t consider that they might do their backup by moving my files to the cloud. Like you, I, too, partially solved it by moving some critical documents out of OD’s grasp.
I consider your choice to use the name My Documents for this local stash folder might introduce problems. For a long time, Windows has used that name for a magical link of some kind that you cannot manipulate or even click-to-follow it. I wonder if that special name will cause problems for you.
I chose not to tempt the gods of Windows by instead naming my local stash folder Local Documents. The name is a reminder that it is not backed up by One Drive.
As an involved user of the backup software product Macrium Reflect I have at least a minimum of weekly backups taken automatically for most of my home systems and keep backups in on-site and off-site storage. I consider it much safer because if I have to restore a file (or the whole disk or all disks on the computer), I have my choice of multiple points-in-time for restoring by maintaining sufficient granularity of backup images instead of One Drive’s method of capturing one, just the latest changes. I think Murphy would ensure that any file damage or ransom-attack-encryption would also be captured by One Drive, making that backup useless especially for recovery. YMMV
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It’s disheartening to read the back and forth in this thread. From my perspective the participants are divided into two groups- the true believers and the frustrated hostages. The true believers appear to be all in with Microsoft regardless of software performance and corporate behavior. They don’t have any other computing options because they are all in. The frustrated hostages want it to just work. And when it doesn’t they don’t understand why not. They are hostages to the past – they want it to just work the way it used to, only better. They don’t have any other computing options because they are too reluctant to break from Windows. Since Windows exited the marketplace Microsoft directs the changes to the ecosystem. Market forces no longer drive the direction or quality of Window’s. That alienates many and eliminates the trust of a few. Like me. I used trust Microsoft and indicated that trust by giving them $ in exchange for software that satisfied me. I don’t do that anymore.
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From my perspective the participants are divided into two groups- the true believers and the frustrated hostages.
There are more than two groups.
The true believers appear to be all in with Microsoft regardless of software performance and corporate behavior. They don’t have any other computing options because they are all in.
I would offer that @WillFastie is not necessarily “all in” except for his position here on AskWoody and as a tech writer in general, he stays with Windows standard installation in order to be able to write/contribute/assist Windows issues.
The frustrated hostages want it to just work. And when it doesn’t they don’t understand why not.
Some of us are neither frustrated nor hostages. Some of us understand the changes and find ways to get them out of the way so that Windows continues to be just a platform upon which those programs/apps that we use just work, and Windows can’t get in the way.
I’ve been using OneDrive successfully for years, but I also set it up to work for me from the git-go. Just yesterday I had an appointment with an optometrist, and forgot to bring my contact lens prescription. I opened OneDrive on my Android phone, opened my Documents folder, scrolled down to the prescription pdf file, opened it, and handed my phone to the optometrist. Quick, easy, a couple of taps, scroll and tap. That’s how I want OneDrive to work, and it does.
Three days ago I copied a no-longer-needed folder (1.87GB) from my local OneDrive folder to my Archive partition on another drive, then deleted that folder from local OneDrive. OneDrive online almost immediately began syncing, and deleted that folder and its contents. My folders/files are not held hostage online, taking up space.
And the last Windows version for which I paid $$ was Windows 7 Ultimate. I’m now on Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (OS Build 22631.3737) and haven’t paid another ¢ for Windows. I am an upgrade only/no clean install kind of user, and Windows keeps doing my bidding, not the other way around.
Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.We were all once "Average Users".3 users thanked author for this post.
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… he stays with Windows standard installation in order to be able to write/contribute/assist Windows issues.
I do that because the vast majority of Windows users do the same – use the product as is. We have a lot of sophisticated folks in the AskWoody community, but those who choose to leave things be represent the majority. So my position is a combination of wanting to know exactly what Microsoft is up to by not hiding or changing anything and wanting to address as many readers as possible.
I get a bit of email along the lines of “Well, this is over my head … .” It makes me feel as if I’ve failed.
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When I first moved to Windows 10 back in 2020 and was transferring files from my old computer, I suddenly saw they were not going to local storage but to OneDrive. So I copied them to my new documents folder and somewhat kludgily deactivated OneDrive, partly by deleting all the OneDrive folders. It took a few tries to really get rid of it. I have my own backup process and I want all my files to be available locally without any need for internet access. Assuming I’ll be forced to Win11 at some point, the very first thing I’d do is cut off OneDrive before transferring any files.
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Yes, by design:
If you uncheck a folder you are syncing to your computer, the folder will be removed from your computer, but the folder and its contents will still be available online.One of the many “by design” features that I have chosen to eliminate from my Windows installations. I want OneDrive to work in the opposite direction; if I choose to remove a folder from syncing, I want it to be removed from OneDrive, not removed from my PC.
And that’s the way I have it setup. Microsoft doesn’t know how I want to work with my files, but I do. I’ll do it my way.
Another example are the “dribbles”. Since most of them have to do with the Start Menu and/or File Explorer, I don’t see them because I’m using StartAllBack, which takes over management of the Start Menu and File Explorer.
Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.We were all once "Average Users".2 users thanked author for this post.
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It has occurred to me that I have not described my OneDrive setup, which is atypical. I first started using OneDrive in ~2015-16, can’t remember for sure, but several years ago. I was already using a Robocopy script via Task Scheduler to duplicate my Documents folder daily to a partition on a different drive for redundancy (I’d been using at least two HDD’s since XP), along with my usual weekly drive image backup scheme.
When I setup OneDrive, I moved the OneDrive folder (complete with its registry roots) to that same partition, then made my duplicated Documents folder a subfolder of my OneDrive folder, and edited my Robocopy script. I then added scripts/Tasks to copy Desktop, my Music partition (from a different drive) and my Pictures partition (also from a different drive) to my relocated OneDrive folder.
These scripts run daily to sync locally, keep a log file on my Desktop, and OneDrive online syncs as needed. This is my Documents Robocopy script:
C:\Windows\System32\Robocopy.exe J:\Users\bbearren\Documents T:\OneDrive\Documents /COPYALL /XJD /R:1 /W:1 /MT:64 /V /NP /LOG:J:\Users\bbearren\Desktop\DocumentsCopy.log
I’m never working directly within the OneDrive folder, because it doesn’t have the structure @WillFastie noted in #2681543. When some folders/files get long in the tooth, I first copy them to an archive location, delete them from my OneDrive folder, then the online OneDrive gets busy deleting them. This has been working without issue from the beginning.
Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.We were all once "Average Users".1 user thanked author for this post.
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Phew!
I’m unsubscribing from this topic/thread.
My inbox has become over-stuffed with all the excellent posts!
Meanwhile, I’ll keep using DropBox because it works the way I want it to – sharing files between my computers/devices in a way that I can easily control while not getting blind-sided by some arbitrary change that I don’t want, never asked for and will probably never use just because some geek in Redmond or India or who knows where thinks I need it. When and if Micro$lop can ever get OneDrive to be consistent and behave in a civilized, predictable, and repeatable manner with just one unified version maybe I’ll try it again – maybe.
As for OneNote, I have a solution that I like better – using a text editor and putting my notes, screenshots, etc., in their own Forget-Me-Not folder on DropBox.
1 user thanked author for this post.
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Files from my Linux (Ubuntu) laptop are now showing up in Windows 11. As far as I’m concerned this is illegal personal data theft. MY Linux installation has no connection to Microsoft or windows 11. I will be sending Windows 11 feedback to U.S. Senators instead of the Feedback Hub from now on. Who knows what loophole they are hiding behind?
1 user thanked author for this post.
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