How To Turn Off OneDrive Folder Backup In Windows 11

Windows 11 comes with an annoying feature that automatically backs up and syncs certain folders with OneDrive. Here’s how to turn it off.

Screenshot of a Windows 11 desktop with the OneDrive folder backup settings page open

Windows 11 comes with OneDrive installed by default, which allows you to access your cloud files easily within File Explorer. More recently, the OneDrive client also added a feature that automatically backs up files in some of your folders to the cloud, and it’s enabled by default. This may seem like a good thing, but it can get really frustrating, so here’s how you can disable it.

Window with light shining through and Windows 11 text

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Why disable OneDrive folder backups?

Backing up your important files doesn’t sound like a bad thing, but OneDrive also automatically restores your files from the cloud on your computer so you can access them more easily. The problem is those files include icons on the desktop, which means that when you buy a new laptop and sign into your account, the desktop may look something like this:

Yes, that’s a bunch of links that aren’t leading to anything, because while the icons were backed up, the apps they were linking to aren’t. Plus, if you have multiple computers or you reset your computer, these backed-up files stack up, with each one adding -Copy at the end of the file name. It’s a mess.

Disable folder backups in OneDrive

If you want to avoid all this mess and save your cloud space, here’s how to disable folder backups in OneDrive:

1. Click the OneDrive icon on the taskbar

Screenshot of the Windows 11 taskbar with the OneDrive icon highlighted

You may need to click the arrow to open the overflow menu first.

2. Click the cog wheel icon at the top of the OneDrive panel and then choose Settings.

3. Switch to the Backup tab at the top and then click Manage backup. If you have a newer version of the OneDrive app, you’ll need to choose the Sync and backup tab on the left side.

4. Under each of the folders (Desktop, Picturesand Documents), click Stop backup. If you have the new version of OneDrive, click the toggles next to each folder to set them to Off.

The newer app also includes the Music and Videos folders as backup options, but backups are disabled by default for these two.

5. You may need to click Stop backup again to confirm your choice.

6. Close the window.

When you stop backing up your folders, any backed up files in them will disappear from the respective local folder. Instead, you can find them in the Desktop, Picturesand Documents folders in your OneDrive storage. You can copy or move them back to the local folders if you need them.

Avoid desktop clutter and save space in the cloud

To avoid having to copy or move files around, I generally disable this feature as soon as I turn on my PC for the first time, so all the duplicate desktop icons are gone right away before I create any local files. If you’ve been using your computer for a while and are only disabling the feature now, you’ll have to fetch some of your files back from the respective OneDrive folder.