How to use onedrive on more than one device

OneDrive can definitely be a bit confusing at first. Let’s clear this up step by step:

Does OneDrive Personal work on multiple devices? Yes

Why doesn’t his current PC show in “Devices”?

• The Devices list you see online in the Microsoft Account portal isn’t always a perfect list of where OneDrive is installed.
• It shows Windows devices linked to the Microsoft account (e.g., when you sign into Windows with a Microsoft account, not just OneDrive).
• So, if his new PC is signed into Windows with a local account (not his Microsoft account), then it won’t appear in “Devices” even though OneDrive is working fine.

That’s normal and nothing to worry about. Deleting the old PC there won’t remove files from OneDrive — it just unlinks that computer from the Microsoft account device list.

How does syncing work across two devices?

• OneDrive keeps one cloud copy of his files.
• On each device, OneDrive creates a local folder (OneDrive under his user profile).
• Anything saved to that folder syncs to the cloud and shows up on all devices using the same account.

So:

• If he saves a Word document in OneDrive\Documents on the desktop PC, it will also appear in the same place on the laptop.
• They won’t show as “separate” folders per device — it’s just one shared folder structure in the cloud.

Adding another device (e.g., laptop)

• He should sign into OneDrive on the laptop with the SAME Microsoft email address he uses on the main PC.
• If he uses a different email, that creates a separate OneDrive account (separate storage, separate files). They won’t merge automatically.

What if he wants files separate on each device?

Options:

• Use different OneDrive accounts (different emails → different clouds).
• Or use OneDrive plus local-only folders (e.g., save sensitive or device-specific stuff outside of OneDrive).

Best Practice (for your Dad’s case)

If his goal is simply:

• Access same files on multiple devices → stick to one account (his main Microsoft email). That’s simplest and least error-prone.
• If he really wants to keep things separate (e.g., personal vs. hobby, or personal vs. shared laptop use), then a second account is fine, but he should be clear which folder belongs to which account.

My answers are voluntary and without guarantee!

Hope this will help you.

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