What Happens If I Turn Off OneDrive and How to Reclaim Space

If you turn off OneDrive, your files will no longer be synced across all your devices, but they won't be deleted. OneDrive stores a copy of your files online, so you can access them from anywhere.

You won't be able to access your files online, but you can still access them on the device where they were last synced. If you have a lot of files stored on OneDrive, you might be wondering how to reclaim space on your device.

OneDrive takes up space on your device, but it's not the only thing that does. Other files and apps also take up space, so it's not just OneDrive that you need to worry about.

If you have a large number of files stored on OneDrive, turning it off might help free up some space on your device, but it's not a guarantee.

If you turn off OneDrive, you can still access your cloud files within File Explorer, but you won't be able to access them online or sync them across devices.

OneDrive is installed by default on Windows 11, and it backs up some of your folders to the cloud by default, which can be a good thing, but also a bit controlling.

You can close OneDrive down to stop it from performing any activities while your machine remains on. To turn it back on again, you can start up the app, or reboot your system.

If you select the OneDrive cloud icon in the bottom-right, you'll see a Settings menu where you can pause syncing and quit OneDrive.

Here are the steps to turn off OneDrive:

Select the Settings menu.

Select Pause syncing > Quit OneDrive. A warning message will pop up asking if you are sure. Select Close OneDrive to confirm.

OneDrive can be a bit finicky, but turning it off is a straightforward process.

Disabling OneDrive is a straightforward process that can be done in a few different ways. You can disable OneDrive through the Settings app, the Registry Editor, or Group Policy.

To disable OneDrive through Settings, you'll need to navigate to the Start menu, click on the Settings icon, and then select the System option. From there, click on the Apps & features option and find OneDrive in the list. Click on it and select Uninstall.

Alternatively, you can disable OneDrive through the Registry Editor. This method involves navigating to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows key and creating a new DWORD value called DisableFileSyncNGSC. Set the value to 1 and close the Registry Editor.

If you're not comfortable editing the Registry, you can disable OneDrive through Group Policy. This method involves navigating to the Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > OneDrive folder and selecting the Prevent the usage of OneDrive for file storage option. Enable this option and apply the changes.

Regardless of which method you choose, disabling OneDrive will prevent it from syncing your files to the cloud. If you want to re-enable OneDrive in the future, you can simply reverse the steps you took to disable it.

Here are the steps to disable OneDrive through Settings, Registry Editor, and Group Policy in a concise table:

If you turn off OneDrive, you can use MiniTool ShadowMaker as an alternative solution to sync files and back up your operating system.

MiniTool ShadowMaker is a powerful tool that can sync files to two or more locations to keep your data safe.

It's also a backup software that allows you to back up files, folders, disks, partitions, and even the operating system.

To use MiniTool ShadowMaker, follow these steps:

You can also set advanced file sync parameters by clicking Options > File Sync Options.

MiniTool ShadowMaker is a more flexible solution than OneDrive, allowing you to sync files with ease.

It's recommended to choose an external hard drive as the target disk to save the synchronized files.

Turning off OneDrive folder backup can be a bit of a mess, but it's a necessary step in some cases. You'll need to reset the default location of known folders to the ones in your local user profile.

To start, open File Explorer and right-click the OneDrive icon in the navigation pane. Choose OneDrive > Manage OneDrive Backup to open the dialog box.

For each of the folders where folder backup is currently turned on, slide the On/Off switch to the left (Off) position, and then click Save Changes. This will turn off folder backup for those folders.

Your saved files are still in the local OneDrive folders, so you'll need to open those folders and copy their contents back to your local drive. You'll regain easy access to your files, but it's a bit of a hassle.

Unfortunately, OneDrive doesn't move your files back to the local folder where you expect them to be. Instead, it adds a shortcut to your local folder, pointing to the synced OneDrive folder containing those files.

To move those files back to the default folder in your user profile, double-click that shortcut to open the OneDrive folder. Press Ctrl+A to select every file, then press Ctrl+X to cut those files, and finally return to your local folder and press Ctrl+V to paste the files in the correct location.