How to stop OneDrive backing up your Desktop and Documents

Where the setting is

Select the OneDrive cloud icon in the notification area, then the gear, then Settings. Open the "Sync and backup" tab and choose "Manage backup". Each folder (Desktop, Documents, Pictures and others) has its own switch.

The two choices, explained

When you turn a folder off, OneDrive asks what to do with its files. "Keep the files only in OneDrive" removes them from your computer and leaves them in the cloud. "Keep the files only on my PC" removes them from OneDrive and keeps them on your computer.

If you want your files on your PC, the second is the one, with a condition: every file must really be on the disk. Online-only files cannot be moved.

"Some files couldn't be moved"

This message means some files in the folder are online-only. Microsoft's own advice: download them first by changing their state to "Always keep on this device". Right-click the folder, choose that command, wait until every icon is a green circle, then turn the backup off again.

Before you switch it off

Make a copy of the folder outside OneDrive and check it: same number of files, same size. If something goes wrong in the dialog, you still have your files. Also check you have enough free disk space for everything the folder holds in the cloud.

Where your Desktop really is while the backup is on

While OneDrive backs up your Desktop, Documents or Pictures, those folders live inside the OneDrive folder, for example C:\Users\your name\OneDrive\Desktop. Windows still shows them as Desktop and Documents, so most people never notice. That is also why their files count toward the 5 GB and can become online-only.

Why the backup is on when you never turned it on

On many new PCs the folder backup is switched on during Windows setup or by a OneDrive prompt that is easy to accept without reading. The first sign is often a full storage email or files with a cloud icon on the Desktop.

Which folders

The backup covers Desktop, Documents and Pictures, and in recent versions Music and Videos too. Each has its own switch in "Manage backup": you can stop one and keep the others.

After you switch it off, check

Open the folder in its normal place, for example C:\Users\your name\Desktop, and check that the files are there and open. Compare the number of files with your copy. Only then delete anything from OneDrive.

How Salvako does it for you

Salvako does these steps in the right order and shows you the numbers. The free Check reads, without changing anything, where every file really is, how many are online-only and how much space you need. The verified copy brings every file to the destination you choose and compares each copy with the original, by size and SHA-256 fingerprint. If the PC switches off, it resumes where it stopped.

Then the guardian keeps watch: it updates the copy and warns you when files become online-only again or the storage gets close to the limit. You keep using OneDrive as before, and your files never leave your PC.