Everyone who has upgraded to Windows 10 must have noticed the prominent OneDrive icon in the Windows explorer along with the icon in the system tray. The app is linked to your default Microsoft account and syncs files to your C: drive by default. Now, if you’re a OneDrive user, the integration is seamless and makes working with files on your local and cloud drives very easy. It even integrates with Cortana and extends the search to online files.
We have seen how to change the default Windows 10 save location along with the option to change the login account. But what if you prefer Google Drive or Dropbox? We’re free to make our choice, and if you’re planning to opt out of OneDrive entirely, here’s how you can completely disable it from Windows 10.
Remove OneDrive from Windows 10 Explorer
If you just want to remove the OneDrive icon from Windows Explorer, there’s an easy registry fix for that. This time, however, instead of showing you how to manually configure registry settings, you can download files that can be imported directly to fix the problem. Since the locations of 32 bit and 64 bit are different, we will have to use separate files for them.
When you execute the desired registry file, restart Windows Explorer. You won’t see the OneDrive icon in the explorer tree on the left.
Having done that, you can open OneDrive settings from the icon from the system tray and click Unlink OneDrive. Finally, uncheck the option to Automatically start OneDrive when I sign in to Windows.
So this is the easiest way to remove OneDrive. But this will not disable other programs like Cortana, Windows Store from accessing files on OneDrive. So if you want to disable it completely, you can do this using the Windows Group Policy Editor (not available for Windows Home users).
Completely Disable One Drive on Windows 10
Open the Windows Run box and execute the command GPedit.msc command to open Windows Group Policy Editor. You will have to be logged in as an administrator to edit the policies.
When the window opens, navigate to Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> OneDrive.
In the right pane, you will get the policy name Prevent the use of OneDrive to store files. Double click to open it and then enable the policy. This policy setting prevents apps and features from working with files on OneDrive.
There is a use by which OneDrive can be completely uninstalled from the system. But I wouldn’t take it because it has risks involved. Also, I’m not sure how to reinstall this as a system app. It can even be rolled back with future updates of Windows 10. So disable them as it doesn’t take up any significant space on the drive.
Too much for OneDrive!
So that’s how you can turn off OneDrive from Windows and install another cloud-based syncing tool. Before you leave, share which cloud service do you prefer over OneDrive and why? I always look forward to a healthy discussion.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
