Andriy OnufriyenkoIf you neglect to carefully set up a new Windows PC, you may discover that many of your data files have been unexpectedly moved to the cloud. This could either be beneficial or chaotic. Unfortunately, Microsoft is not very helpful in explaining how this feature operates.Also: When setting up Windows 11, which user account type should you select? How can you make this decision?If this situation occurs, remember the simple rule established by Douglas Adams years ago: Don’t panic. Before taking any action, it is important to fully grasp what is happening. When you create a new user account on a Windows PC, Windows generates a standard set of folders for you: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music, Videos. These “known folders” are stored on your system drive, within your user profile (C:\Users\Username), as they have been in previous versions of Windows for many years.Also: How to upgrade your ‘incompatible’ Windows 10 PC to Windows 11When you sign in with a Microsoft account on Windows 10 or 11, Windows adds one additional folder to your profile, OneDrive, and prominently displays this folder in the navigation bar on the left side of File Explorer. Once setup is complete, your user profile should resemble the following: This is the appearance of a fresh user profile in Windows 11. Take note of the wording beneath all the standard folders: “Stored locally.” Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNETThe label under each of these known folders indicates that they are stored locally. So far, so good, right?Well, not quite, especially when OneDrive becomes involved. When setting up a brand-new PC, it is very easy to unintentionally skip past the Out of Box Experience (OOBE) screen for this feature, which encourages you to click the “Back up now” button, as shown here. Clicking this button will cause some of your files to move to the OneDrive folder and begin syncing to the cloud. Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNETIf you do not wish to enable this feature, you must click on the very small blue link that reads “Only save files to this PC.” During testing, I discovered certain configurations where simply clicking the OneDrive icon in File Explorer activates this feature, without any confirmation or warning. In recent versions of Windows 11, opening one of the known folders in File Explorer displays a prominent “Start backup” button similar to the one shown here. Clicking this button will open the OneDrive Folder Backup dialog box, with all three folders selected. Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNETThere are other instances in Windows where you may be prompted to back up your files. In most cases, it is not immediately clear that this feature relocates your files to the cloud instead of simply creating a backup copy.Also: Is your Windows license legitimate? Should you be concerned?All of these options utilize a nontraditional definition of the term backup. Most individuals view “backing up” as a method to create a duplicate of their files in a secure location, while leaving the original files untouched. However, as you will soon see, this is not how this feature operates. As previously mentioned, this can lead to confusion, particularly if you are unaware of the process. So, what occurs when folder backup is activated? Initially, Windows creates Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders within the OneDrive folder in your user profile.Next, it reassigns the location of the known folders to these newly created OneDrive versions.Finally, it syncs the OneDrive folder in your user profile with the OneDrive files in the cloud, utilizing your Microsoft account.Your files that were previously located in C:\Users\Your_profile_name\Documents are now situated in C:\Users\Your_profile_name\OneDrive\Documents. The Desktop and Pictures folders have also been relocated.Also: The best Windows laptops: Expert tested and reviewedIt is possible that you may not even notice this change. If you solely utilize the shortcuts in the Windows 11 navigation bar, you will automatically access and save files from their new locations. It appears magical!Or is it? If you have purchased a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription, you have access to 1 TB of OneDrive storage space, which is quite substantial. Unless you are someone who hoards digital files, all your local files should easily fit within the cloud, where they will be backed up and synchronized across all your devices. This is advantageous, and you should not attempt to alter it.Also: How to use Windows Backup to restore key files and settings to a new PCEven a $1.99-per-month Microsoft 365 Basic subscription provides you with a generous 100 GB of cloud storage space, which should be adequate for most individuals’ backup requirements.However, things become complicated if you decide that you do not wish to pay for Microsoft’s cloud storage. In this scenario, your free Microsoft account includes 5 GB of cloud storage, which is reasonable but can be quickly exhausted. Issues arise if you already have a substantial collection of digital photos in your Pictures folder, or if you have stored more than 5 GB of data in your Documents folder. (It happens.)In such cases, you will run out of cloud storage and encounter difficulties backing up your files. The very issue that OneDrive folder backup was intended to resolve will become a problem.Also: Microsoft releases new Windows remote desktop app for PCs and mobile devicesConfusion may also arise if you modify the File Explorer defaults to display all folders, instead of using the simplified Windows 11 navigation bar. In this scenario, you will observe a set of empty folders within your personal profile (C:\Users\Your_profile_name\). If you begin attempting to save new files there rather than in the known folders, things can quickly become disorganized. At that point, you will have two Documents folders, and their contents will be completely separate. To restore order, you have three options.The first option is to subscribe to Microsoft 365 and back up those local files to OneDrive cloud storage. This is actually an effective backup strategy and also protects you from ransomware attacks. However, there is a financial cost associated with this, and you may prefer to avoid having your files in the cloud, or you may wish to use a different cloud storage service.Also: Yes, you can upgrade that old PC to Windows 11, even if Microsoft says no. These readers proved itYour second option is to completely disable OneDrive folder backup. Open File Explorer, right-click on the OneDrive icon in the navigation pane on the left, and select OneDrive > Manage OneDrive Backup. This will open a dialog box where you can click on “Stop Backup” under one or more of the three folders in question. When you do this, Windows will revert the location of those known folders back to the ones in your local user profile. However, keep in mind that your saved files will still be in OneDrive. You will need to open those OneDrive folders and copy their contents back to your local drive in order to easily access them. If you are not attentive, Windows will automatically configure your profile to synchronize these folders with OneDrive. Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNETUnfortunately, when you do this, OneDrive does not relocate your files back to the local folder where you expect them to be. Instead, it adds a shortcut to your local folder that directs you to the synced OneDrive folder containing those files. When you deactivate folder backup, your files will still be in two locations, and you will need to transfer them manually. Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNETIf you wish to transfer them back to your local storage and out of the cloud, utilize the shortcut to open the OneDrive folder, press Ctrl+A to select all files, then press Ctrl+X to cut those files; next, return to your local folder and press Ctrl+V to move the files.Also: The best cloud storage services: Expert testedThe third option is a hybrid approach that allows you to utilize the 5 GB of free OneDrive cloud storage provided by Microsoft. You can continue to back up your local known folders to OneDrive, but create archive folders for older files that you want to separately back up. Ensure that the total storage space for your Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders remains under 5 GB. Additionally, make sure that you have reliable backups for those archive folders. I concur that Microsoft has not done a satisfactory job of documenting…
