How to undo OneDrive Backup and restore your personal files to your Windows 11 PC

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ZDNET’s Key Takeaways

• Microsoft is automatically turning on OneDrive Backup in new Windows 11 installations.
• Your files aren’t stolen — they’ve just been moved to a new folder and synced to the cloud. 
• This article includes step-by-step instructions to turn off OneDrive Backup and reset your local folders.
  

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Microsoft is getting more aggressive about tying its flagship productivity products to the Microsoft cloud. In the most recent release of Windows 11, the OneDrive Backup feature is turned on automatically when you sign in with a Microsoft account; as a result, some of the most common data folders — Documents, Pictures, and Desktop — are moved out of their normal location and into OneDrive.

When I looked at this feature a year ago, Microsoft’s setup procedure for a new account on Windows 11, (also known as the Out of Box Experience, or OOBE) included an option labeled “Only save files to this PC.” It was a small link, easy to miss, but it was there.

Also: Is OneDrive sending your Windows files to the cloud? Here’s why

On the latest public releases of Windows 11, that option is gone. When you get to the page where you add your Microsoft account, there’s a paragraph of extremely fine print that includes this text: “We’ll also back up your files and photos on this device to OneDrive to help keep them safe.”

Here, see for yourself.

Here’s a closer look at that fine print.

There’s no longer an option to specify that you prefer your files saved locally.

Meanwhile, anyone with a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family account will soon find that new files are auto-saved by default in OneDrive (or your preferred cloud destination, if you’ve set up that option). That change is rolling out to Word for Windows this month and will arrive for Excel and PowerPoint later this year.

You can change this option so that files are saved locally by default, but that requires a trip to the ever-confusing Word/Excel/PowerPoint Options dialog box.

Why is Microsoft doing this?

Skeptics will point out that these changes are in uncanny alignment with Microsoft’s business interests. The company collects revenue from its cloud services, and steering user files into the cloud encourages those customers to pay for more storage, so … do the math.

Also: How to upgrade an ‘incompatible’ Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 – 2 free options

But there’s also a significant benefit for Microsoft customers in these changes. Files that are stored locally and not backed up will be lost and unrecoverable if the device they’re stored on is stolen, falls victim to a ransomware attack, or experiences a catastrophic storage failure. All of those things happen!

On the flip side, some of Microsoft’s customers simply don’t want their files stored outside of their own control. They might be concerned about privacy or security or having those files used for training AI, but the reasons don’t really matter. If you don’t want your files uploaded to the cloud, you can just say no. Once you turn off those features, your files are stored locally, and it’s on you to back them up safely.

How to undo OneDrive Backup on Windows 11

Here’s some good news: OneDrive Backup doesn’t delete any files from your local storage — it just moves those files to a separate folder in your user profile and then syncs that folder to OneDrive. Undoing the change is usually a straightforward process, turning off the backup feature for each folder and then moving the contents of those folders back to the default folder in your local profile.

These instructions assume that you are signing in with a personal Microsoft account and that OneDrive Backup is enabled.

Start by opening File Explorer.

1. Open OneDrive Backup settings

In File Explorer’s left navigation pane, find the icon for your personal OneDrive account — it should be named something like Username – Personal. Right-click that icon and then click OneDrive > Settings. That opens a dialog box with the top category, “Sync and backup,” selected. Click Manage Backup.

That opens a dialog box like the one shown here.

Make a note of which folders are configured for OneDrive Backup, but don’t change any settings yet.

2. Open a tab for each folder you want to reset

Let’s take advantage of the fact that File Explorer in Windows 11 supports multiple tabs. Here, I’ve opened three tabs, one for each of the local folders currently set up to use OneDrive Backup.

3. Turn off OneDrive Backup for all folders

Go back to the dialog box you opened in step 1 and slide the switch to the Off position for the first folder in the OneDrive Backup list — in this case, the Documents folder. Click Stop Backup to confirm the change.

Repeat this process for each of the other backed-up folders. When you’re done, each folder in the list should have a status of “Not backed up.”

4. Open a new File Explorer window for your local folders

Press Windows key + E to open a second File Explorer window. In the address bar, type %userprofile% and press Enter, to display a list of the local folders in your user profile. Open a tab for each of the folders you’re moving back to your local PC — in this case, Documents, Pictures, and Desktop. Arrange that window next to the one you created in Step 2, as I’ve done here.

Use the icon and label in the address bar (I’ve highlighted each one in red) to see which folder is in OneDrive and which is in your local user profile.

5. Move the OneDrive files to your local folder

Click anywhere in the OneDrive\Documents folder, then press Ctrl+A to select all files in that window and Ctrl+C to copy them. Then right-click in the Documents folder for your local profile and press Ctrl+V to copy the files back to their local home.

Also: How to upgrade from Windows 11 Home to Pro – without overpaying

Repeat that process for the Pictures and Desktop folders. Don’t copy any duplicate subfolders (such as Screenshots or Camera Roll) from the Pictures folder; if those subfolders contain any files, copy their contents separately from the OneDrive folder to its local equivalent.

After you confirm that all your files are intact in your local user profile, you can safely delete the duplicate copies in OneDrive.

How to undo Microsoft Word’s autosave-to-the-cloud option

At this time, this feature is only available to customers running preview releases of Microsoft 365. It won’t roll out to the Current Channel until later this year, and to Excel and PowerPoint after that.

But if and when you see this feature, you can turn it off by going into Word Options and clicking the Save tab.

Clear the checkbox that reads “Create new files in the cloud automatically.” When you do, you’ll see a “Save to local location” box that you can select. Specify your preferred home folder for Word, and you’re good to go.

Any questions?