Forum Discussion
How do I ignore an entire directory?
Simple question. How do I ignore an entire file directory in OneDrive? I have Documents folder backed up, but want to ignore an entire folder. Example: UnrealProjects which has HUGE, enormous files, like 10-50+GB in size that don't need to be backed up to OneDrive.
2 Replies
OneDrive doesn’t provide a normal “ignore this subfolder” option inside a backed-up Documents folder.
The simplest solution is to move UnrealProjects outside OneDrive, for example to C:\UnrealProjects or D:\UnrealProjects, then update Unreal Engine to use that location. Your other Documents files can keep syncing.
Close Unreal first and make sure the project files are fully downloaded. Copy them to the new location, open a project there to verify it works, and only then delete the old OneDrive copy. That deletion will also remove the cloud copy.
Don’t use Choose folders for this: unchecking a folder removes it from the PC while keeping it online—the opposite of what you want.
You want Documents backed up while UnrealProjects remains local, including its very large project files. OneDrive’s folder selection controls choose which cloud folders appear on a computer; they are not a local upload exclusion mechanism. Microsoft’s documented approach for keeping files on the computer but outside OneDrive is to move them outside the OneDrive folder. First make sure the projects are fully downloaded and keep a separate backup. Then close applications using them and move UnrealProjects to a location outside every OneDrive sync root and backed-up folder, such as a dedicated local Projects folder. Point your project workflow at that new location and verify that existing projects open correctly. Documents can remain backed up. If the projects must stay under Documents, stopping Documents backup is the broader alternative; it affects the whole folder rather than creating an exception for this subfolder.
