OneDrive Backup

[Memsahib]

I thought I would set up the OneDrive backup instead of just syncing certain files with OneDrive and have had so many problems since. This did coincide with the latest Win 11 update, so not sure if that caused the problems.

1. My data is on drive D: and I used the D\users\name\documents (pictures\music etc) format but after the back up those folders were empty and all my files are now in something called D:\Users\name\OneDrive and shows in Explorer as: "my name" - Personal next to a blue cloud. Is this where Win 11 prefers local documents are kept? Can I revert to the standard system I am used to? And if so how? Are those files accessible locally? I need local access when no internet available.
2. Doing the OneDrive backup also caused many copies of icons to appear on my desktop. I use Stardock Fences to keep icons organised and had to relocate all my icons and delete the copies.
3. I contacted Microsoft and they advised me to reinstall Win 11 using media-installation which I did but it made no difference to my data files - I have logged out of OneDrive so don't know if doing a backup will again cause the icon issue.

Would appreciate any help!

 

[Sir_George]

I thought I would set up the OneDrive backup instead of just syncing certain files with OneDrive and have had so many problems since. This did coincide with the latest Win 11 update, so not sure if that caused the problems.

1. My data is on drive D: and I used the D\users\name\documents (pictures\music etc) format but after the back up those folders were empty and all my files are now in something called D:\Users\name\OneDrive and shows in Explorer as: "my name" - Personal next to a blue cloud. Is this where Win 11 prefers local documents are kept? Can I revert to the standard system I am used to? And if so how? Are those files accessible locally? I need local access when no internet available.
2. Doing the OneDrive backup also caused many copies of icons to appear on my desktop. I use Stardock Fences to keep icons organised and had to relocate all my icons and delete the copies.
3. I contacted Microsoft and they advised me to reinstall Win 11 using media-installation which I did but it made no difference to my data files - I have logged out of OneDrive so don't know if doing a backup will again cause the icon issue.

Would appreciate any help!

Visit the website listed below for instructions on how to relocate folders from Onedrive to a local PC.

 

[Memsahib]

Thank you - I appreciate your help. Do I need to have the Win 11 my name - Personal folders as well as D:\users\name\documents ? Also I now find I have got thousands of copies of documents and photos ( some have copy(2) in the OneDrive folder. I have deleted them but how do I stop these duplicates being created . They take up so much space on my hard drive and in OneDrive Cloud. I have an external HD for backups and also use I-Drive and Google so have many backups but as I subscribe to 365 and get 1TB liked the idea of accessing my Office files on my Android phone - but in the process have ended up with all these issues. If I unlick my account how can I sync documents to OneDrive Cloud as I work on them? I just deleted thousands of copies of photos and see that they are being synced to OneDrive AGAIN? Sorry lots here!

 

[Sir_George]

Thank you - I appreciate your help. Do I need to have the Win 11 my name - Personal folders as well as D:\users\name\documents ? Also I now find I have got thousands of copies of documents and photos ( some have copy(2) in the OneDrive folder. I have deleted them but how do I stop these duplicates being created . They take up so much space on my hard drive and in OneDrive Cloud. I have an external HD for backups and also use I-Drive and Google so have many backups but as I subscribe to 365 and get 1TB liked the idea of accessing my Office files on my Android phone - but in the process have ended up with all these issues. If I unlick my account how can I sync documents to OneDrive Cloud as I work on them? I just deleted thousands of copies of photos and see that they are being synced to OneDrive AGAIN? Sorry lots here!

You have mentioned that you have folders with "name" and "my name". Does that mean you have folders with those titles or are they folders with your actual name? My guess is that you are just using the terms "name" and "my name" generically, but just to be clear. Also, have you deleted "D\users\name\documents (pictures\music etc)"? If there are no files in them, they can/should be deleted.

See the link below for some background and information on Onedrive, which I believe may help you with some of your questions.

Save disk space with OneDrive Files On-Demand for Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn how to use OneDrive Files On-Demand to sync your OneDrive files and save disk space in Windows 10.

support.microsoft.com

 

[Memsahib]

Thanks ...again - I used name instead of my actual name - I try and be careful online - Since my last contact I have copied all the files from 'my name' - Personal and pasted them back into my historical D:\Users\myname\Documents etc where they are usually saved and where I prefer them to be and from where they disappeared after I did a backup to OneDrive. I have cancelled all backups using OneDrive. However syncing is still copying copies of files so I am going to unlink my computer and try and find a away to use OneDrive like I have done for years before buying a laptop with Window 11.

 

[Sir_George]

Thanks ...again - I used name instead of my actual name - I try and be careful online - Since my last contact I have copied all the files from View attachment 825'my name' - Personal and pasted them back into my historical D:\Users\myname\Documents etc where they are usually saved and where I prefer them to be and from where they disappeared after I did a backup to OneDrive. I have cancelled all backups using OneDrive. However syncing is still copying copies of files so I am going to unlink my computer and try and find a away to use OneDrive like I have done for years before buying a laptop with Window 11.

With the further clarification, try the link below for a solution.

Change the location of your OneDrive folder - Microsoft Support

Learn how to change the location of your OneDrive folder.

support.microsoft.com

Personally, the way I use Onedrive is to copy the files manually to Onedirve instead of syncing them. It does take a bit more time, but it's my personal preference.

 

[Memsahib]

Thanks and sorry it's taken me a while to get back here. I switched OneDrive off for a while and then linked it again and once again it is automatically saving files I create in my PC users folders to the PC OneDrive folder and they sync to online OneDrive- and when I search for a new document in my users folder it is in OneDrive. So you keep OneDrive unlinked and copy files from PC folders, log into online OneDrive and paste them there?

 

[Sir_George]

Thanks and sorry it's taken me a while to get back here. I switched OneDrive off for a while and then linked it again and once again it is automatically saving files I create in my PC users folders to the PC OneDrive folder and they sync to online OneDrive- and when I search for a new document in my users folder it is in OneDrive. So you keep OneDrive unlinked and copy files from PC folders, log into online OneDrive and paste them there?

I believe the following steps should solve the problem;
Step 1: Click Microsoft OneDrive in the taskbar. Click the Help & settings icon and then choose the Settings field. Step 2: Click the Account tab and then select the Choose folders button. Step 3: Click the files and folders you want synced to OneDrive.

 

[Memsahib]

Thank you but I am having an even worse experience now - and I run a Windows computer group so usually know what I am doing - but Win 11 and OneDrive have got me totally confused. My SSD hard drive is partitioned C for Apps and D for data. Worked well for years until I bought a new laptop with Win 11 which seems to insist OneDrive must be on C even though I change it - after each update there it is back on C. Then recently, even though my username is still correct, it has moved to the desktop. When I check OneDrive cloud most of my images are duplicated several times. I have asked Microsoft for help but they seem to have washed their hands of my problems. Should I save my pictures, documents, videos etc onto a hard drive and do a recovery reinstall of Win 11 and if so is that a big job? Also would it be sensible to delete everything in OneDrive and start there again as well. I am attaching a snip - you will see that the Desktop icon is now called Vivien and there is no desktop option. This is where my username has migrated. Also for some reason OneDrive is trying to copy all the photos ( including duplicates ) to OneDrive Personal and there is no space left on my D drive partition. Sorry to load you with this but I am being driven crazy! Thanks for any workable suggestion/s

 

[Sir_George]

Thank you but I am having an even worse experience now - and I run a Windows computer group so usually know what I am doing - but Win 11 and OneDrive have got me totally confused. My SSD hard drive is partitioned C for Apps and D for data. Worked well for years until I bought a new laptop with Win 11 which seems to insist OneDrive must be on C even though I change it - after each update there it is back on C. Then recently, even though my username is still correct, it has moved to the desktop. When I check OneDrive cloud most of my images are duplicated several times. I have asked Microsoft for help but they seem to have washed their hands of my problems. Should I save my pictures, documents, videos etc onto a hard drive and do a recovery reinstall of Win 11 and if so is that a big job? Also would it be sensible to delete everything in OneDrive and start there again as well. I am attaching a snip - you will see that the Desktop icon is now called Vivien and there is no desktop option. This is where my username has migrated. Also for some reason OneDrive is trying to copy all the photos ( including duplicates ) to OneDrive Personal and there is no space left on my D drive partition. Sorry to load you with this but I am being driven crazy! Thanks for any workable suggestion/s

Visit the link below for information on changing Onedrive's drive letter. Afterwards post back your results and I will try to assist with the other issues.

How to Map OneDrive to a Drive Letter in Windows 11? - MiniTool Partition Wizard

Have you upgraded your Windows 10 to Windows 11? Do you know how to map OneDrive to a drive letter in Windows 11? Here is a detailed tutorial for you.

www.partitionwizard.com

I generally assign a drive letter other than "D" because I have had issues when using it.

 

[Memsahib]

Thanks, but have done this, as recommended by IT experts, for many years in Windows without ever having any issues. It was all working fine until a Win 11 update. My two previous win 7 and 10 laptops each worked for many years without any issues having D as the data drive. Appreciate the suggestion but not the issue here .

 

[Sir_George]

Thanks, but have done this, as recommended by IT experts, for many years in Windows without ever having any issues. It was all working fine until a Win 11 update. My two previous win 7 and 10 laptops each worked for many years without any issues having D as the data drive. Appreciate the suggestion but not the issue here .

In that case I have nothing more to contribute. I hope you find a solution.

 

[Cliff3f]

I have almost the same problem. The only thing your install has done that mine hasn’t is the creation of many icons and duplication of data files. Last night I uninstalled OneDrive. Today I haven’t messed with it again because it was driving me crazy and I worked on it for three days with no success, even turning it off. After looking at many, many threads, using many various methods, I have decided that I am not going to reinstall OneDrive until whatever it is with this latest release of windows 11 gets fixed. This is a real exercise in frustration.

I wonder if there is a common thread associated with the severe OneDrive problems. Most of the people that were having OneDrive problems were new installs or the problems popped up after an update. Who knows?

 

[Memsahib]

I have even had a Microsoft OneDrive Ambassador supposedly assisting me with suggestions but everything I have tried fails so I have unlinked my PC. As I like to be able to access some of my information on my mobile phone and paying for OneDrive space via 365, need to keep OneDrive installed. If I update something that I want on my phone, I relink and save it to the cloud and then unlink again - but it is a tedious solution. Please Microsoft, if you are watching - come up with a solution!

 

[Cliff3f]

I was so frustrated I uninstalled OneDrive. Everything else on my new build is working fine and I have imaged all my drives. I think that in a couple of days I might try to reinstall OneDrive.