Microsoft quietly changed how folder backup works in the OneDrive app on Windows 11. Now, the OS enables it by default during the initial setup without asking the user for permission.
If you have a need to have an MS account but want to set your Documents, Desktop, and Pictures folders back to the old local versions instead of OneDrive taking over. I have found using this to be very helpful when helping customers that don’t want to use it and avoid the headache of running out of the free storage. Obviously making a local user after getting into Windows the first time would also work. But it is always good to have fallback options for folks that Linux isn’t an option for whatever reason.
If a folder has been taken over by OneDrive it will give a path that shows OneDrive like C\Users\User\OneDrive\Desktop instead of %USERPROFILE%\Desktop so just remove everything before the \ and replace it with %USERPROFILE%
One thing to keep in mind though. If you already have data present while it is set to OneDrive, it might make your stuff look like it is gone. But you can download/copy the files from the actual OneDrive folders into the regular folders after.
If you have a need to have an MS account but want to set your Documents, Desktop, and Pictures folders back to the old local versions instead of OneDrive taking over. I have found using this to be very helpful when helping customers that don’t want to use it and avoid the headache of running out of the free storage. Obviously making a local user after getting into Windows the first time would also work. But it is always good to have fallback options for folks that Linux isn’t an option for whatever reason.
If a folder has been taken over by OneDrive it will give a path that shows OneDrive like C\Users\User\OneDrive\Desktop instead of %USERPROFILE%\Desktop so just remove everything before the \ and replace it with %USERPROFILE%
One thing to keep in mind though. If you already have data present while it is set to OneDrive, it might make your stuff look like it is gone. But you can download/copy the files from the actual OneDrive folders into the regular folders after.