How Do I Disable OneDrive in Office 365?

[@askleonotenboom]

It can feel like it’s forced on you, but you can change that.

[@SoferiaNebruin]

OneDrive is the forerunner to completely taking over all computer files and censoring and editing them.......we ain't seen nothing yet. Time to say good-bye to Microsoft. I will not pay for a service that is stealing my files from me. The future with them looks very dark.

[@flipflopski2951]

Until Microsoft decides you can't change it... stay tuned...

[@huntsurveys7477]

Thanks for that. I absolutely completely detest OneDrive. It was forced upon me in a job and 101% screwed up my workflow. It has advantages yes, but you should never have this top-down approach forced upon you. I was forced to stop its use in the end to get a functional workflow. Good honest fair video, thank you.

[@togetvj]

Yesterday I lost a whole days work due to One Drive's insistence on being the default. Usually, I manually change it to a second drive I have in my pc, but I must have overlooked it. So all day I typed and edited and regularly manually saved (CTRL + S). I prefer that to automatic, and after 8 hours of work, closed the document. Then I thought 'Oh, I haven't saved it to my external drive and to Apple's iCloud which I like and have installed on my pc (I link to iPad), so I went to open the document and you know the rest. Then I uninstalled One Drive thinking it would disconnect, and still it showed up as default One Drive - Personal. I was losing the will to live and instead of getting on with my novel this morning, I had been faffing around trying to find how to get rid of it, and then I found LEO! Thanks Leo. I have used Microsoft Windows and Word for over thirty years but it has become an intrusive, in my face, in your face, pest.

[@cryptojihadi265]

You're my HERO! Man, I hate One Drive with a passion. I had it removed from my computer but still had Word and Excel FORCING One Drive as my default, even though I had put in my local folder information for default save location. What I was missing was checking the Save to computer as a default, but you cleared that up for me and now it's finally working like it should!

[@patrickgrengs7594]

I despise OneDrive - the fact that Microsoft spooged this into Office products. I want all my content stored locally. No Cloud for Me. Thank you Leo -- the Options - Save page settings worked for me. New Subscriber.

[@mikeperri7246]

Hi Leo Thank you so much. You're lifesaver. Like many others I am truly annoyed at the way Microsoft is pulling a swifty with OneDrive. It really has cost me a great deal of time to 'unconfuse' my system and get back my files where I want them to utilise with other systems than just Microsoft.

[@sharynevans6630]

Thank you so much! I renewed my subscription to office, and it wanted me to back up my files to One drive. So I did it, but it made all my files a mess! I was so upset and didn’t know what to do! So I saw your video, and uninstalled one drive! It was so easy and everything is back to normal! Yay! I can sleep!

[@markkeller8915]

I am here because the unrequested update and automatic reboot ( i suspect this was also MS Magic) caused a loss of all opens documents on my new swap to MS 365 one drive pre-select I didn't have set up or turned off-- could not find how to select auto save on my on pc- not what i was expecting! So Thank you! Reminds of a extremely zealous IT wannabe in the old days, always installing the latest gizmo or update or "functionality" , when all that was needed was basic system stuff. Bloated the start up with pop up questions. Staff expected to : Get out the paper instructions: Just hit power, select word, start typing, and print. But no, Ed's help" kept staff tripping over mental blockades. Staff keep asking me to keep him away from the computer, and uninstall anything he put on it. For example, 1990's, Ed loaded a big fonts package for the "new" laser printer he gifted the church and result machine memory swap too forever to boot up. Staff wanted system as a moped, hop on hit a couple switches and drive away, not NASA MOONSHOT start sequence, and I sure don't want it "pre-selected" So, freeware was practically unusable with glitch's, and defeatured, ( what a term) like no right fill in spreadsheet, on down! Grudgingly I subscribed to 365, to have a few features and some smoothness not found in freeware.

[@dexterbartholemew6752]

Thank you so much!! I have been trying to figure this out for months. I couldn’t figure out why it kept coming back in Word. Now it’s finally gone. Yay!!

[@kellyhess3056]

Thanks for this! I had already uninstalled OneDrive and yet I still had files getting saved there if I wasn't careful. They just wouldn't be synched to my computer! Changing the setting at the app level got me my life back.

[@ownracehorses]

Thanks...the OneDrive nightmare just recently started on my computer in Microsoft Office. So darn frustrating. Thank you for the guidance

[@twinenk15]

Thank you! I came across another video. It was recommend to uninstall One Drive and Teams. At the 4.14 mark in your video. Your comments help me understand why I see see so many videos on removing OneDrive. The same reason, I prefer Android over iPhone. Why I bypass using a Microsoft account during a resent win11 installation. OneDrive and Teams I suspect does not work with a local account. Thank you,

[@JimE6243]

Thanks Leo! To be honest, OneDrive "scares" me. At 79, not tech savvy and having tried it once, I found it to be more than I wanted and controlling to me. So the question, can I basically do the same thing with a little SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD or similar unit setting on my computer? If so, where doing I find info on how to sync it like I would with OneDrive? As always, thanks for the useful and inspiring information. JimE PS: Yes, I realize that have the "backup" right next to the computer does not supply the same benefits as having it off sight.

[@askleonotenboom]

Honestly, setting up an external drive to sync automatically would be more complex than just learning to use OneDrive (or DropBox, or Google Drive, or any other the similar services).

[@JimE6243]

@@askleonotenboomWell, I guess that takes care of that bad idea.😁 Like I said, old and not tech savvy. Thank you for taking time to answer. Much appreciated. JimE

[@jens9904]

@@askleonotenboom I do like DropBox a lot. Right now I am trying to unsynch onedrive so I can start backing up everything on dropbox (ie also documents, right now it is only photos) - but dropbox gives me a message to unsynch OneDrive first. Any exact tips? Do I first unsynch OneDrive? With the latest WIndows 11 updates, it is harder to find how to unsynch OneDrive. Can you help? I will watch this video again to see if it's for the updated W11. Thanks!

[@lauravazquez3483]

Thank you so much! This OneDrive drove me crazy especially when I had to email someone my work

[@trickydickyjoe]

Thanks, explained perfectly and just what i needed, this one drive had my brain fried

[@frankandelisasep5314]

You present information very clearly and without use of jargon. I have bookmarked your account as I am sure I will need you in the future. Thanks for your help

[@movalle22]

Thank you so much! I was in tears trying to figure this out and even had a techie try to help me to no avail. I'm getting my periodic msg from Microsoft asking if now is a good time to update my computer. I hope they don't reset what I changed. Now I have to figure out why my pc screen keeps scrolling on its own!

[@sashafroyland]

Thank you, Larry. Microsoft definitely overreached. Bad Microsoft - just confusing people rather than enabling innovation.

[@monabiehl6213]

I don't want my personal stuff online. I have excel sheets of my finances. I also keep a journal. No way do I want that available for others. How can I be sure they won't charge me for it. If I install, will they still charge me? I am still on a six month trial and I know they will charge me without notice.

[@LoomaHat]

Thank YOU Leo - it worked perfectly

[@axmad3491]

Thank you Leo for getting rid of that "virus"

[@donbarracuda546]

Thank you so much!! OneDrive was so irritating, especially because I didn't ask for it.

[@jonrubin60]

Thank you--this was extremely helpful and clearly described to help even me understand why I was so confused! Now I get it! And I am exactly the kind of person you described that is confused by OneDrive (and why some files I have saved seem to show up in a folder sometimes, and then not in the same folder at other times! I uninstalled OneDrive and my life is simpler and better now! Thank you!

[@flipflopski2951]

Until the next forced update.

[@katdoe37]

Thanks Leo. You vids are informative and awesome.

[@connieparker7733]

Thank you! I have had the hardest time trying to find OneDrive on my laptop!

[@Tjimmeske]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! This was absolutely killing me.

[@4anewdeal190]

good video Leo. I’d be interested in some more 365 and Microsoft Cloud type videos in the future 👍

[@baitsmaster]

You’re the man Leo! Old guys rock! 🤟🏼

[@MissSeaworld8]

Thank you. The first step was the one I was looking for and wondering about!

[@unifyersdesigns7433]

I was eager to use OneDrive at the beginning, but was never warned about the way it slowed everything down, hence my desire to remove

[@Pterocarpous]

Ty. I deleted OD some time ago bc it was forevEVER syn'cing, causing productivity road blocks as a result. Now, cloud storage in the field is a must so, will give OD a go again. Hopefullly it's evolved 🤞

[@happyathiest1564]

I uninstalled onedrive and changed setting to save to computer by default. I even edited the path manually. It wont redirect away from OndDrive. This is a major pain especially being in college and having to use 365 for everything.

[@irishrocker2150]

I unlinked my new computer from one drive and my doc’s ransom removed from my computer when one drive ran out of space. Took my pc back. Unbelievable!

[@AmareProfunde]

Thanks for your video. I got a new computer with windows 11. I was previously using windows 10. So I transfer over some files to my new computer and before I know I see a message that my One Drive is full. I'm so confused because I had no clue that my files were actually being saved there automatically. I didn't want this at all. Now I have a lot of files to go through to ensure I remove them from One drive but not my pc. I wish there was a way to select to stop syncing those files and the file can automatically be saved on my pc without having to ensure it is actually there. It's very annoying.

[@carlvaz]

Thanks Leo, for a very clear explanation. I am sure that I had uninstalled this annoying OneDrive, but somehow during MS updates they have surreptitiously re-installed it and made it a default for saving my Word documents. I have actually MS Office Home & Student Edition 2019, but I have spotted a new addition in APPS called "Microsoft 365 (Office)" 30.5 MB, installed on 29/07/23 without my knowledge! If I uninstall that, would it matter? I look forward to your comment, please.

[@kaspernielsen9149]

I thought Onedrive was a good idea. But it keeps adding EVERYTHING into the cloud to the point that it exceeds limit of storage and then it blocks me from recieving and sending mails with my google accounts... the idiocy of auto synching everything is just beyond me.

[@yaserc.3363]

simple and clear !! many thanks

[@TheWisestOne1]

Deleted OneDrice, still seeing cloud based files in Word and Excel... extremely frustrating...

[@JimDolan-kz9ro]

Very clear explanations of things. Thank you very much for your very real help

[@larsve4297]

I was actually shocked by the fact that all my personal data is synced without me knowing.. feels like abusement of trust. And scary, "can I trust them with my personal data?" In other words: I think it's disgusting what Microsoft does. My next software will probably be from Apple if they respect more of my privacy.

[@askleonotenboom]

Get used to iCloud then. :-)

[@DualsPortvet]

This is not correct information. I did that. Before I uninstalled one drive I even severed the app. Then I used the uninstall in the apps menu. What I found was it left instances of one drive in all of my folders. I found out by downloading steam and my games. The games were downloaded to the one drive folders, but because I uninstalled the app (severed the connection) the games wouldn't play. I'm still looking for the correct way to remove one drive.

[@jerryek1]

it is forced when they don't give you an option from the start if you want to store information on cloud or not. and it isn't easy to remove ether

[@malcbeve1]

Thanks Leo I will work my way through your advice. I have had a world of misery ever since I upgraded to Office 365 from Office 2013. I have very basic tech skills so when One drive glitched on installation I had insufficient skills to solve the probelems as it copied all my files back into my existing one drive account and then deleted Word 2013 from my PC and created copies in One drive. When I reinstalled Office 2013 I could access my files on my PC again (they had been reduced to some unworkable note type format) but One drive synced again and downloaded copies of my entire 7.4 Gb to to my PC and One drive. After getting some advice from MS on line I resynced....bad move I now have 15 gigabytes of copies. Sigh. I have uninstalled One Drive. When my subscription expires I will exit 365 but that will be another whole pile of problems. Thanks again for the advice.

[@marthachengmartinez4071]

Thanks so much Leo!

[@RunaJokullsdottir]

If anyone hasn't said it yet, the backstage view is the MS term for the screen you see when you click File

[@rbeane]

Thank you so much for the help - got a few points with the wife which are always useful!

[@real_user_experience]

Thank you very much Leo! Realy useful!

[@JustFun-iz9rf]

My respect I only wanted to save on my computer. thanks

[@raymackaway6870]

Thank you, Leo. This is a very helpful video.

[@homayounsarabi4015]

very good teacher

[@dawn.ringhofer3487]

You are a GOD SEND, I hate OneDrive, and I always save to an external, have been for years. My questions is I like to use Outlook for emails, and OneDrive has messed that up too with the limited storage . What settings do I need to look at there?

[@MauriceRamsey-c5q]

Thank you, it is a very good video and easy to follow!

[@tonycollazorappo]

I just uninstalled one drive, I got fed up with it. I now do have the options to save a document if I want to OneDrive, not if OneDrive wants too, lol. I would save my desktop apps and that was annoying and the last straw. I'm good now and use external drives instead and back those drives often. thanks for this video though.

[@D84D]

Just learning that it holds your files hostage until you upgrade and my drives aren't even close to being full. Turn off OneDrive? yes please.

[@regwatson2017]

I always used to get big pauses when using Excel. I've just realised this was probably because bloody Microsoft was saving my spreadsheets to OneDrive and I was getting lag as a result.

[@SoferiaNebruin]

HOW CAN I REGAIN EDITING OF MY DOCUMENTS? Every one of them opens up with a DEMAND to upload them to OneDrive in order to edit, EVEN AFTER DELETING ONEDRIVE and rebooting my computer. This is even true for documents that I save on an external drive. This is SO FRUSTRATING. HOW DARE THEY?

[@SoferiaNebruin]

Well, it seems I've fixed it by watching another video. I HATE MICROSOFT. I will be closing my account with them. It's nuts to pay for a service that INVADES my computer files and wastes my time having to find workarounds.

[@askleonotenboom]

I'd have to see the "demand". Never heard of such a thing. Make sure you've followed the instructions within the video to also disconnect Office from OneDrive.

[@SoferiaNebruin]

@@askleonotenboom It's new. They just started doing it to force people to use OneDrive. Their next big "push." ALL of my docs automatically opened up with no editing capabilities and with the instructions to save it to OneDrive up at the top of the document in order to "access previous versions." I wasted way too much time trying to fix it. But thank you for the instructions to take back control and delete OneDrive and for replying. You will probably hear from more people. I use Word daily, and it just happened, apparently with the most recent update. If One Drive is already disabled or uninstalled, it may not happen. Even after I uninstalled OneDrive, Microsoft still had control of my docs and was instructing me to upload the document. I will be looking at alternatives at this point.

[@JasonGage]

​@@SoferiaNebruin Can I please have the link to that video? I am having the same problem. Thanks

[@SoferiaNebruin]

@@JasonGage It might have been this video, but I'm not sure: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIKkoqaPbMpsp6s I hope it helps. I haven't had the problem since fixing it and disabling One Drive.

[@Rezaroth]

I uninstalled OneDrive and unlinked my pc to it as well. But now I no longer have a "Desktop" on my PC. I can see it of course but don't see it in my files tree, nor can I search for it in C: , it doesn't exist.

[@joerabena20]

Ok, I have tried all these solution and onedrive still appears in save options. Now what do I do?

[@alk61695]

Thank you for the help One drive was annoying. Mine is full and I keep getting red X next to all my files.

[@edmondsg]

Very helpful - thank you!

[@ShaunPaget]

Thank you very much. Ondrive just sent down the river.

[@bradsmith4697]

I tried this method and I did not find a One Drive app...I can't even find settings... they hide ways to quit.

[@nadinehansen9241]

Thank you. I want OneDrive to back up my files but I want them to be saved on my computer. I think I've got that set up now. I just did some kind of accidental delete of hundreds or thousands of files in OneDrive and then recovered them, but something isn't working right. I think I found the ones that I have long been saving manually to my computer and hopefully they are OK. I don't know how to get OneDrive straightened out but at least I have most of my documents on my computer. From now on they will default to my computer and then get backed up in OneDrive.

[@gabekawa]

Maybe it worked a year ago. It doesn't now. OneDrive and SharePoint are still there. It doesn't save to the cloud by default though.

[@fahey5719]

Thanks!

[@Stefan_Boerjesson]

Thank You. Guess I earlier erased One Drive from the computer via file manager. It's not to be found now. Fully okey I think. Fed up searching for files saved randomly all over the place.

[@BrucePotter]

FYI June 2024 I uninstalled the APP when I ungraded to Win11. However, office 365 continued to save to One-drive by default, including auto-back up. Honestly, this ever increasing aggressive push to force save all our files to Microsoft servers has be questioning why? There is no benefit in this for my so I can only think MS is accessing our files for nefarious reasons.

[@askleonotenboom]

Office is just it's default setting, nothing more. You can change it: askleo.com/how-do-i-disable-onedrive-in-office-365/

[@larrymaloney877]

Leo, I'm beyond baffled by One-Drive. I'm past burnt out. For years, my files have disappeared from my hard drive. I learned that when I deleted a copy of a file on One - Drive it deleted the original from my hard drive. I lost many videos and business documents. Even after learning of the problem, I couldn't stop the losses. Today, I found videos by default were saved on one drive - for whatever reason, One - Drive deleted those. Today, I uninstalled One-Drive. Microsoft owes me the cost of all I lost. I'm beyond sick of Microsoft.

[@onkelhiphop]

I have a fresh installer of windows 10 and I can’t do what you do. It need one drive no matter what I do.😢

[@samchandler2527]

You say to be sure to save files after you describe how to shut down the program...

[@kenstone5836]

Thank you for a clear, concise explanation of how to resist one of Microsoft's latest overbearing and infuriating attempts to force users to do things the Micro$oft way.

[@monkeyfingerslocksport6429]

Thank you very much

[@mohsenyoussef4066]

Hi .. thank you so much for clear guidance. while I am following the exact steps, I was stuck by this message "The server drafts location you entered...you do not have permission" This is my own Personal Computer. How to overcome!!!

[@Digmen1]

This is very good Leo. But what happens if we have already Un-Installed Onedrive as an App and deleted from the Registry. Like many others here I do not want Onedrive forced down my throat - and its getting worse in each Windows Update

[@askleonotenboom]

I'm not sure what you're asking. "what happens"? Nothing. The video still applies - change the defaults in Office apps.

[@alanmacdonald3763]

What is the purpose of cancelling ??

[@PaulSchuster-yj4zb]

...computer technician since before PC's existed, and I absolutely despise Onedrive. Get it off your computer and you will be a happier person.

[@generic_official]

I also would like to know how to end an Office 365 subscription and install a non-subscription version of Office, such as Office 2021.

[@equalizer1963]

I don't have the "Don't save the file in the cloud by default' option but I do have the uninstall option. What about all my photos - on my laptop they have the cloud sign next to them. Will onedrive delete them?

[@annastone5624]

Neither of these options work for me on my Mac. When I go to word there is no Options on the bottom left. When I go to apps I don't have OneDrive installed as an app. Any suggestions? It's driving me nuts!

[@WINCHANDLE]

I tried to follow his instructions, but my screens are different and I can't find the "options" button.

[@memarks]

Under file

[@aimeezemanek4599]

It's so frustrating that in Word... after doing everything you described... on the "Save As" page... at the very top... there's still that damn OneDrive and then everything else under "Other locations". I mean I'm still going to browse and find the exact folder in DropBox that the document goes, but it would be nice to get rid of every single mention of OneDrive.

[@askleonotenboom]

Even after setting the default save location in options?

[@aimeezemanek4599]

I don't default save anything. Every document will be saved in a correct folder. But the HUGE banner at the top of the Save As page still shows One Drive... Even though it's uninstalled and has never been used on this machine.. (just got a replacement device yesterday under warranty)

[@mangosorbet8183]

Thank you for the video

[@lauriebasile1]

Thank you for your excellent video. I would like to save to my desktop and then file the documents individually to their specific folders. Once I do as you described, where I make the auto save and default location changes, should I expect to see these files on my desktop? What about folders of other things that are not in the Office suite of programs? I save machine embroidery files, and they are currently in OneDrive and are also on an external drive. If I delete them from OneDrive, will they disappear from my external drive where they exist now? Thank you so much for your thoughts on this.

[@avijit616]

Save to Computer option is disabled😢

[@leosketches6640]

Cool 😉👍

[@leah3084]

I am saving my files to google drive for years. From the beginning I entered the default as google drive and it worked. Lately they save it in Google drive/my drive I updated my Word options but upon choosing save it still opens Google drive, not my drive folder. Can you advise? thanks

[@ruthhooperjournals]

Thank you

[@joannef7912]

LEO !!! YOU ARE WONDERFUL !!! I have had a Microsoft Office 365 subscription for 2-3 years and life for me and my 4 friends has been great. BUT .... somehow - probably thru a download - the Microsoft 365 program downloaded. AND it immediately "sucked up" all my Word, Excel, Power Point etc files into that damn One Drive. I thought I had previously removed One Drive - but it must have come back with the new Microsoft 365 update. I am Immediately gonna get rid or it (totally unstall it!) The only question I have is WHAT will happen to all the deaktop files that it "sucked up" into it. Will they just go back to the original location on my desktop. Since the update on my computer - I have not been able to open ANY of the Word, Excel, Etc files that were on my desktop. Nor can I open the individual Word, Excel, etc programs. When I click on them (my files or my individual aps) NOTHING happens. Please advise me what will happen to my files that are now, currently listed in the One Drive of my new Microsoft 365 program I Soooo appreciate your advise JosieNurse :)

[@askleonotenboom]

They will not go back to their original location. But the good news is that their current location IS JUST A FOLDER ON YOUR PC. It may happen to have "OneDrive" in the name, but with OneDrive disconnected or uninstalled, it's just a folder like any other.

[@robpikula6141]

I have done this but when I go to email a simple image the image will get attached to onedrive. then whomever receives the image has to open onedrive. I sometime email to myself so I can open on my phone and use an image for a business flyer, but I can not open it without downloading and opening one drive. Rediculous. How and where do I change setting on msn email to stop using onedrive? Thanks

[@forgogeorge9806]

Yeah remove Cloud! your system works better! Also Microsoft became very intrusive! But you have choices ! Switch to libreoffice or linux !

[@amjan8803]

Uninstalled OneDrive and even the logo vanished but after an auto Windows update after a period of time, the OneDrive logo reappeared on my 'Account' window in 'Settings.' How? Why? And how do I remove it? I don't even have OneDrive showing as an app or program on my comp'. Thanks in advance!!!🙏

[@trinasams3691]

OneDrive is not listed on the list of apps in order for me to disable it. In addition, it is not on my taskbar, however it does come up every time I want to save a document or picture. I do not want this. When I check for its location on the C drive it's in C: Users/(my name/AppData/Local. How to I uninstall this please? Thank you!

[@joannef7912]

Leo - Problem I can't find a One Drive File to remove ??

[@richm718]

Enjoyed your One Drive video which was very helpful. I do have a question... when I launch the Word or Excel app so I can unconnect this app from One Drive, I do not see under Options, where the screen in your video is. I searched all over the place and it wasn't found. Help! An using Win 11 on a new computer

[@askleonotenboom]

I'd have to see what you see. Submit a question at askleo.com/ask and we can get a screenshot to me after the initial auto-response.

[@StevenPaich]

I did everything you suggested for the MS Office Apps, but Outlook there are two versions. One that is basic and no calendar update notifications and the other does so. Before I knew about the storage issues you described here I was having I still have with Outlook on my phone. I am hung up there on my android phone with Outlook saying storage issues. What is the option to fix that. I was using my church's MS 365 and that is going away soon. Even somehow when loading up my new PC with this latest version of mine the storage limit is stopping me from emailing with Outlook from my phone. Please advise.

[@garymahon2361]

Not showing in my apps?

[@wayneyadams]

Nothing in this video helps me. I need to delete Office 365 files from my TABLET and prevent ALL future access to One Note from my TABLET. It is aggravating as hell to see the files in Office 365 but not have any option to delete them.

[@kruuyai]

Is there any way to delete my files from the cloud that went there because I didn't know OneDrive was sending them there? I have some very sensitive files that I need to get down.

[@askleonotenboom]

MAKE SURE OneDrive is not running and/or that you have MOVED those files out of your OneDrive folder on your PC, AND that they are backed up. Then just go to OneDrive.com online and remove them there.

[@joannef7912]

Problem - I could not find a One Drive File to remove

[@amalhelu1776]

Thank you for this helpful video. Can you guide me through the process on Windows 10? I tried it on my computer, but there seem to be some differences and I didn't succeed.