Have I lost my files to OneDrive?

Hi DavidWilson,

Don’t worry, I don't think you haven’t lost your files. The problem is that Windows 11 likes to turn on OneDrive by default, so when you copied your 30GB of files, it tried to sync them all to the cloud. Since the free OneDrive account only gives you 5GB, it quickly ran out of space.

Here are some steps to make sure your files stay safe on your computer:

• Check local copies
  • Open File Explorer. On the left, look for “This PC” and then your hard drive (usually C: drive).
  • Make a new folder there, for example C:\MyFiles.
  • Copy some files from OneDrive into that folder. Right-click a file, choose Copy, then paste it into your new folder.
  • Open the copy from the C: drive to confirm it works.

• Move files out of OneDrive
  • Select everything in your OneDrive folder and move it into your new folder on the C: drive. This way, the files are stored locally and not trying to sync.

• Stop auto-syncing
  • Right-click the OneDrive cloud icon in the taskbar → Settings.
  • Go to the Sync and backup tab, then turn off Folders syncing.
  • You can even choose to unlink your PC from OneDrive if you don’t want automatic uploads at all.

• Clean OneDrive online
  • After you’ve checked that all your files are safely on your computer, you can log in to onedrive.com and delete the extra files to free up your 5GB space.
  • Don’t worry, if the files are now in your C: drive, deleting from OneDrive will not remove them from your computer.