How do you remove OneDrive Photos

I spoke to support, and it is integrated into OneDrive and no tools exist to disable functionality. What I did find was I could roll back the version and then set our GPO so that OneDrive is updated on the deferred ring. OneDrive Photo (Beta) is gone, at least until the deferred ring catches up. Hopefully this product will not be a beta product at that point.

Deployment ring is setup in Computer > Policies > Templates > OneDrive > "Set the sync app update ring"

Let me give you the straightforward, friendly truth about this, along with exactly what you can do about it.

The Short Answer (The Fix)

You can delete the shortcut (the icon) safely.

Think of this app like a doorway to a photo gallery. If you don't want to walk through that doorway, you can just remove the door handle (the shortcut) without breaking the rest of the house (your OneDrive files).

Here is how to remove the icon:

• If you see it on your Desktop, simply right-click it and select Delete.
• If you see it in your Start Menu, click the Start button, find the "OneDrive Photos" tile or entry, right-click it, and select Unpin from Start (or More → Open file location, then delete the shortcut from that folder).

The Longer Answer (Why it works this way)

Here is the key detail: This isn't a separate app that you can uninstall through your computer's "Apps & Features" settings. Microsoft quietly baked this photo viewer directly into the core OneDrive sync program that keeps your work files backed up.

Because they are tightly fused together:

• If you try to "Uninstall" it, you will actually be forced to uninstall your entire OneDrive—which would break your file syncing and make your online files disappear from your PC. We definitely don't want that!

What happens if I just leave it alone?

Don't worry—it is not secretly running in the background and it is not uploading your photos unless you actually open it and log in. It is just a dormant shortcut. If you ignore it, it won't do anything.

A Quick Warning

Please do not go digging into your computer's Program Files folder to delete the actual program files. If you delete the underlying engine by mistake, it will corrupt your OneDrive installation, and you'll have to reinstall everything.

The Bottom Line

Right-click the icon and delete the shortcut. That clears it off your screen, keeps your work files safe, and lets you get back to your day.

If you are in a managed company environment and this shortcut keeps coming back after a restart, please just let your IT Support team know. They have special tools to hide it for everyone at once—but for your personal machine, deleting the shortcut is the perfect, safe solution.

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Hope this will help you.

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Before removing anything, confirm whether this is a separate Windows package or a feature delivered inside the OneDrive sync client. A name containing “Photos” does not by itself prove that it is an independently installed OneDrive application, and removing the wrong package could remove the built-in Windows Photos app instead.

Run the following on one affected VDI image first:

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Where-Object { $_.Name -match 'OneDrive|Photos' } | Select-Object Name, PackageFullName, InstallLocation

If the item does not appear as a separate AppX package and has no entry under Settings > Apps > Installed apps, it is probably part of the OneDrive client. In that case, there is no supported way to remove only that feature; removing OneDrive folders or using DISM blindly is likely to damage the sync client.

For a non-persistent VDI deployment, the immediate control should be the golden image and the OneDrive update policy. Check the OneDrive sync app update ring in Intune or the OneDrive administrative templates, and make sure it is set to the organization’s approved production or enterprise ring, not an Insider or preview ring. Test future OneDrive updates on a separate image before releasing them to the production pool.

If the command identifies a distinct package, record its exact PackageFullName, publisher, version, and install location before creating a removal or AppLocker/WDAC rule. Test removal and blocking on a disposable VDI image first, then apply the approved change to the golden image. Do not use a broad rule that blocks every Microsoft Photos or OneDrive package, because that can also break OneDrive sign-in or normal Windows Photos functionality.

The package name, version, deployment time, and OneDrive client version are also the information Microsoft support will need to determine whether this was a OneDrive feature rollout, a Store package, or an unintended preview deployment.