How to Disable OneDrive, Here are 5 Ways!

Why disable OneDrive?

Microsoft first introduced OneDrive, a web-based storage platform in 2007 that lets you save important files and data to the cloud and allows you to share and sync files across operating systems such as Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS. 5GB of storage space is provided for free with OneDrive, and is built into Windows 10 and Windows 11. It's built into Windows 10 and Windows 11, so you don't need to download it to use it, and you can freely change the preset save location.

OneDrive is one of the best options from a data security perspective, but sometimes it can cause some unexpected hassles and directly affect your computer usage experience. Consider disabling OneDrive if you are having trouble using it in the following ways.

• OneDrive sometimes fails to sync files and folders and cannot be uninstalled.
• Automatic synchronization of files and folders with OneDrive can take up a lot of network resources and affect the speed of your Internet connection.
• When OneDrive opens automatically and executes in the background, it takes up a lot of CPU and memory usage and causes your computer to run slower.

How to disable OneDrive

If you are struggling with the hassle OneDrive brings, try to disable it by following these 5 methods. Note that these methods will not only help you with how to disable OneDrive on Windows 10, but also with how to turn off OneDrive.

• Disable OneDrive by setting
• Disable OneDrive via the local group policy editor
• Disable OneDrive via login profile
• Disable OneDrive by pausing sync
• Disable OneDrive by deleting the sync folder

Method 1. Disable OneDrive by setting

If you want to disable OneDrive, then unlinking this computer from OneDrive is one of the easiest ways to do so. This method will only disable OneDrive on this computer so that files no longer remain in sync, but will not affect other devices connected to OneDrive and will not delete any files from your computer or OneDrive. Note that this method does not hide the OneDrive icon in the Taskbar and File Explorer.

1. Find the OneDrive icon in the notification area on the right side of the taskbar and tap on it.
2. Tap More in the OneDrive viewport and select Settings in the expanded menu.
3. Switch to the Account tab at the top of the new window, tap Unlink this PC in the OneDrive section, and confirm this action.

Note: Unlinking to this PC will not cause existing files to be lost or deleted.

Method 2. Disable OneDrive via the Local Group Policy Editor

The Local Group policys Editor allows system administrators to make specific configurations to manage computers more easily. While disabling OneDrive via the Local Group policys Editor is a good option, it is important to note that this method not only disables OneDrive on your computer, but also removes OneDrive from the File Explorer. please note that the Local Group policys Editor cannot be enabled for Windows 10 Home Edition, and users of this edition will have to consider other methods.

1. Use Windows+R to open the Executive window, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
2. In the Local Group Policy Editor window, navigate to the following path.

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > OneDrive

3. In the right panel, find and double-tap Open to Prevent the usage of OneDrive for file storage.
4. In the Prevent the usage of OneDrive for file storage window, change it to Enabled, and then click the Apply and OK buttons in sequence.

5. After restarting your computer, you will still find OneDrive in the File Explorer, but the application is no longer available. If you want to enable OneDrive again, just follow the above instructions again and change Enabled to Not yet set.

Method 3. Disable OneDrive via login profile

The logon file is an important hierarchical database in Microsoft Windows operating systems and applications, used to store system and application settings information, you can disable OneDrive through the logon file. It is recommended that you backup files in advance.

1. Use Windows+R to open the Execute window, type regedit and press Enter.
2. In the login edit program window, navigate to the following paths in order.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

3. Right-click on the Windows key and select Add in the expanded menu, then select Key.
4. Name the newly created machine code as OneDrive and press Enter.
5. Select the OneDrive key and right-click on the blank area and tap Add > DWORD (32-bit) Value in order.
6. Name the newly created DWORD (32-bit) value DisableFileSyncNGSC and press Enter.
7. Tap twice to open the DisableFileSyncNGSC key and change the value information to 1 and tap the OK button.

Method 4. Disable OneDrive by pausing sync

If you only want to disable OneDrive for a period of time to test whether the application slows down your network and computer performance, then pausing the sync would be a good option.

1. Find the OneDrive icon in the taskbar notification area and tap it.
2. In the OneDrive window, tap More, select the Pause syncing option in the expanded menu, and choose the time to stop syncing (2 hours, 8 hours, or 24 hours), depending on your needs.

Method 5. Disable OneDrive by deleting the sync folder

In addition to the above methods, you can also disable OneDrive by deleting the sync folder directly, but note that you need to check that the files in the deleted folder are open on another device before starting the deletion process, and make sure that syncing is disabled on the current device, otherwise the latest synced data may be lost.

1. Use Windows+E to open the File Explorer and tap OneDrive - Personal in the left panel.

2. Find the folder you want to sync, right-click it, and select Delete in the expanded menu.

Note: If you want to manually sync files in OneDrive, you can just copy these files first and then go to the target location and paste these files.

How to uninstall OneDrive

If you no longer need to use OneDrive or want to use another cloud drive as a replacement, then you can simply uninstall OneDrive. here are 3 ways to uninstall OneDrive.

• Uninstall from Programs & Features
• Uninstall from command prompt
• Uninstall from the login editor

Method 1. uninstall from programs and functions

Uninstalling OneDrive from the console programs and features is the easiest way, follow these steps

1. Use Windows+R to open the Run window, type control, and tap the OK button.
2. Select the Programs set in the console window and select the Programs and Features in the new window.
3. In the list below the uninstall or change programs, select Microsoft OneDrive and right-click it, select Uninstall and wait for the application to finish uninstalling.

Method 2. Uninstall from command prompt

In some cases, you may not be able to uninstall OneDrive from programs and features.At this point, you may consider uninstalling OneDrive via command prompt characters, but before doing so, you will need to end the OneDrive process in the Work Administrator or use specific commands (steps 1-2 below) to terminate the process.

1. Use Windows+R to open the Run window, type cmd, and tap the OK button.
2. Type TASKKILL /f /im OneDrive.exe in the command prompt character window and press Enter to execute this command.
3. Next, depending on the version of Windows you are using, enter the following command and press Enter to uninstall OneDrive.

32-bit system: %systemroot%\System32\OneDriveSetup.exe /uninstall

64-bit system: %systemroot%\SysWOW64\OneDriveSetup.exe /uninstall

Note: The above command, once executed, will immediately uninstall OneDrive from your computer and you will not receive any confirmation prompts.

If you want to reinstall OneDrive, simply open the command prompt character as described above, and then, depending on your Windows system version, enter the following command.

32-bit system: %systemroot%\System32\OneDriveSetup.exe

64-bit system: %systemroot%\SysWOW64\OneDriveSetup.exe

Method 3. Uninstall from the login editor

In addition to the above method, you can also uninstall OneDrive from the login editor, here are the detailed steps to do so.

1. Use Windows+R to open the Run window, type regedit and tap the OK button.
2. In the login edit program window, navigate to the following path.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}

3. Right-click on the above folder and select Delete in the expanded menu.
4. Then navigate to the following path.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}

5. Right-click on the above folder, select Delete in the expanded menu, close the login editor, and restart your computer.

Alternative solutions to prevent data loss after disabling OneDrive

Whatever the reason you need to disable OneDrive, you can do so as described above. However, it is important to note that disabling OneDrive may cause you to lose files or folders in case of a system crash and put the security of important data on your computer at risk. Therefore, it is recommended that you backup your files as soon as possible after disabling OneDrive to protect your data. Here we recommend you to use AOMEI Backupper Standard to backup your files, which can also protect your data.

• You can use AOMEI Backupper Standard on multiple system versions such as Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 to quickly backup the files you need, including large files, files in use, etc.
• Also, you can back up these files to any location, such as to backup files to cloud, such as, Dropbox, GoogleDrive or AOMEI Cloud.  If you have an AOMEI account, it's suggested to backup files to AOMEI Cloud without installing the desktop applition. And you can enjoy 1TB of free cloud storage.
• And it still allows you to back up your files to any location, such as an external hard drive, HDD, SSD, SD card, NAS device, etc.
• In addition, the software allows you to set Daily, Weekly, Monthly to perform scheduled automatic backup.

First, you need to download and install the software. If you are a Windows Server user, you can select AOMEI Backupper Server.

Step 1. Firstly, open this backup software, and select Backup > File Backup.

Tip: If you want to backup files to AOME Cloud, select Cloud Backup instead. 

Step 2. Then you can click Add File or Add Folder to select the files or folders to be backed up.

Step 3. You need to select a destination location to store your file backup.

Step 4. Confirm all your operations and click Start Backup to backup files.

Notes:

• Options: You can write comments to distinguish the backup tasks, compress or split the backup image file as well as enable email notification.
• Schedule Backup: This software allows you to backup files with fixed intervals, including Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event trigger and USB plug in.
• Backup Scheme: You can choose different backup methods. To help you save disk space by deleting older backups, you can enable automatic backup cleanup feature.

Summary

If you want to know how to disable OneDrive, the 5 methods provided in this article can help you achieve your goal. However, we must remind you that disabling OneDrive may lead to accidental loss of important files on your computer, so we recommend you to use AOMEI Backupper Standard to backup your files in order to protect your data after disabling OneDrive.

AOMEI Backupper Standard offers you a free and professional backup service, just follow the steps above and you can easily backup your files to any location you want, even if you are a beginner. In addition, the software will provide you with System Backup, Partition Backup, Basic Sync and other functions to protect your important data after disabling OneDrive.