How do I stop onedrive from being my default directory

Copper Contributor

I am trying to setup an external hard drive as my default directory for pictures but my computer is forcing me to use onedrive. How can I disable this feature? I am using windows 10. This is what happens. There are no folders in any of the directories.

errorfor redirecting files.png

 

5 Replies

@BlueRocco  Wow, NOBODY knows? Is onedrive some sort of virus?

@BlueRocco 

 

No one answers because Microsoft dont want you to remove it.

 

The onedrive path in your file explorer is local if you uninstall onedrive.

Once removed, your paths works just like a normal library.

However,

if you are like me, and dont want that unnecessary onedrive in your library path, you need to edit the registry AND change the location on each of the default library paths.

 

You might noticed that you have double "documents" path and some library path might be missing.  That is a normal flaw with Onedrive ,which Microsoft still have not fixed.

(I dont think they see that as a problem).

 

There is a decent macro you can run from "Howtogeek" site, which is safe and fix SOME of the paths, not all.

Link: (Please note, Howtogeek is not microsoft. They are however a recommended source for win 10 solutions by microsoft)

https://www.howtogeek.com/225973/how-to-disable-onedrive-and-remove-it-from-file-explorer-on-windows...

 

Run that,

then open properties on each library like "Pictures", and choose "Change to default path".

Most of the time this is enough and you reboot.

After reboot, run a SFC /SCANNOW from powershell with administrator rights.

Voila, path is "user/Pictures", once again.

 

This does not always work.

 You may get the error "no permission to change path", or "Cant find path because 234904234809239482...... (Numbers and letters that makes zero sense).

 

Windows has several tools to fix onedrive paths that gets corrupted.

But those ONLY fix so you get onedrive in your library path again. There is no tool to remove it.

 

Please note:

Uninstall onedrive makes all your library paths local. The onedrive map in the map is annoying, but is not connected to onedrive anymore.

 

WHY microsoft makes this so difficult, you have to ask them.

The best thing is to remove onedrive after a FRESH INSTALL of windows, BEFORE you sync and restore your backups. THEN, the onedrive does not appear in your library paths.

 

Onedrive is a very good feature to have IF

1. You have Office 365

2. In onedrive settings, you ONLY use the feature "Fetch my files when I need them"

3. You use a LAN CABLE, not wifi.

 

With an office 365 subscription (now called Microsoft 365), you get 1TB of onedrive storage.

Win 10 is extremy good at putting unused files in onedrive with this feature. The files looks like they are on your C:drive, but doesn't take up any space. Once the file is needed, it instantly downloads and gets used. 

THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD NOT USE THIS FEATURE IN WI-FI.

With a simple lan cable, you will not notice any difference. 

With Wi-Fi, games, steam and windows features will stall, lag, or crash, after a while.

The reason is not that Wi-Fi does not have the transfer speed anymore. The reason is heartbeat/ping, which compared to a lan cable is the difference from walking speed and Elon Musks rocket speed.

 

Hope this helps!
(and microsoft leaves my post alone. They do not like people posting how to remove their onedrive from the registry, since that makes it difficult to replace onedrive with better solutions like Google drive, ICloud etc.)

@The_Swedish_Goth I tried everything you said except the total reinstall. I just can't face that. The virus still lives on my computer. Why does microsoft distribute a virus WITH their software, this is ridiculous! Still no answer. They keep sending me notices that they are ending my "case" because I don't respond. I respond to every one of them! It's like talking at a wall!

This is wrong and a breach of client trust.  Microsoft needs to document what they are doing to their customers and make it the customer's choice.

No need to reprogram registry. Super simple. After uninstalling and disabling OneDrive, you can manually reorganize your file directory. I created a new folder on my C: drive to house all documents, pictures, videos, downloads, etc. then I dragged and dropped each of those folders out of my C: Users/name/OneDrive into my desired destination. And yes, OneDrive has a weird setup with two Documents paths. I just renamed the unwanted "Documents" to something else to differentiate. Another option is just going into properties for each folder clicking the location tab (if available) then editing the file path, but for some folders like "Documents" and "Pictures" you may run into a "permission denied" warning as someone else in this thread described. You will not have this problem if you drag and drop and the result is the same: file path sans OneDrive. I hope this works! I predict I will run into problems with default save locations for screenshots at the very least, but will resolve those as they arise.