How to unlink my Documents folder from my OneDrive account?












6















I have recently changed the location of my Documents folder (originally located in C:UsersTermoZourDocuments) to C:UsersTermoZourOneDriveDocuments so I could sync the documents folder between 2 PCs.



Now I want to remove this "link", but I can't. Whenever I try to "Restore Default Location" it indeed sees the default location as expected, but then it asks me if I want to move all the files from the old directory (OneDrive) to the new one (default Documents directory), so I click yes. After this, it tells me that "it can't remove the folder because there is a folder in the same location that can't be redirected. Access denied."



I tried to move all the files from OneDrive into a separate folder and do the process again, but it gave me the same error.



I tried to choose another new location instead of the default one, but it gave me the same error.










share|improve this question


















  • 1





    Check this workaround.

    – vembutech
    May 3 '17 at 16:23
















6















I have recently changed the location of my Documents folder (originally located in C:UsersTermoZourDocuments) to C:UsersTermoZourOneDriveDocuments so I could sync the documents folder between 2 PCs.



Now I want to remove this "link", but I can't. Whenever I try to "Restore Default Location" it indeed sees the default location as expected, but then it asks me if I want to move all the files from the old directory (OneDrive) to the new one (default Documents directory), so I click yes. After this, it tells me that "it can't remove the folder because there is a folder in the same location that can't be redirected. Access denied."



I tried to move all the files from OneDrive into a separate folder and do the process again, but it gave me the same error.



I tried to choose another new location instead of the default one, but it gave me the same error.










share|improve this question


















  • 1





    Check this workaround.

    – vembutech
    May 3 '17 at 16:23














6












6








6


6






I have recently changed the location of my Documents folder (originally located in C:UsersTermoZourDocuments) to C:UsersTermoZourOneDriveDocuments so I could sync the documents folder between 2 PCs.



Now I want to remove this "link", but I can't. Whenever I try to "Restore Default Location" it indeed sees the default location as expected, but then it asks me if I want to move all the files from the old directory (OneDrive) to the new one (default Documents directory), so I click yes. After this, it tells me that "it can't remove the folder because there is a folder in the same location that can't be redirected. Access denied."



I tried to move all the files from OneDrive into a separate folder and do the process again, but it gave me the same error.



I tried to choose another new location instead of the default one, but it gave me the same error.










share|improve this question














I have recently changed the location of my Documents folder (originally located in C:UsersTermoZourDocuments) to C:UsersTermoZourOneDriveDocuments so I could sync the documents folder between 2 PCs.



Now I want to remove this "link", but I can't. Whenever I try to "Restore Default Location" it indeed sees the default location as expected, but then it asks me if I want to move all the files from the old directory (OneDrive) to the new one (default Documents directory), so I click yes. After this, it tells me that "it can't remove the folder because there is a folder in the same location that can't be redirected. Access denied."



I tried to move all the files from OneDrive into a separate folder and do the process again, but it gave me the same error.



I tried to choose another new location instead of the default one, but it gave me the same error.







sync onedrive cloud folder-redirection






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked May 3 '17 at 15:37









TermoZourTermoZour

1222316




1222316








  • 1





    Check this workaround.

    – vembutech
    May 3 '17 at 16:23














  • 1





    Check this workaround.

    – vembutech
    May 3 '17 at 16:23








1




1





Check this workaround.

– vembutech
May 3 '17 at 16:23





Check this workaround.

– vembutech
May 3 '17 at 16:23










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















12














According to the Microsoft Support article linked by vembutech, you can use the following workaround.






Important



Follow the steps in this section carefully. Serious problems might
occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Before you modify it,
back up the registry for restoration in case problems occur.



To work around this issue, follow these steps:




  1. Right-click the Windows logo at the lower-left corner of the screen, and then click Run.


  2. Type regedit.exe and press Enter. If User Account Control window pops up, click Yes.


  3. In Registry Editor, browse to the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerUser
    Shell Folders


  4. Refer to the following table to find the registry key for the folder that encounters this issue, and change it to the default value.





+-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
| Folder | Registry key | Default value |
+-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
| Downloads | {374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B} | %USERPROFILE%Downloads |
| Desktop | Desktop | %USERPROFILE%Desktop |
| Favorites | Favorites | %USERPROFILE%Favorites |
| Music | My Music | %USERPROFILE%Music |
| Pictures | My Pictures | %USERPROFILE%Pictures |
| Videos | My Video | %USERPROFILE%Videos |
| Documents | Personal | %USERPROFILE%Documents |
+-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+



  1. Restart the Explorer.exe process to make the changes take effect. To do this, you can use either of the following steps:


    • Restart the process in Task Manager.

    • Sign out, and then sign in.

    • Restart the computer.









share|improve this answer































    0














    The link from Microsoft Support which can be found here posted by @vembutech23 fixed the issue.



    Before I did what the link said, I paused OneDrive syncing just in case.



    After I restarted explorer.exe everything went back to normal and my Documents folder got unlinked from OneDrive.






    share|improve this answer



















    • 1





      Answers should usually include relevant information from external sites. That way the answer can still be relevant if the linked page ever becomes inaccessible.

      – Steven M. Vascellaro
      May 5 '17 at 18:39











    • Okay, thanks for telling me. I'll do that next time

      – TermoZour
      May 6 '17 at 5:02



















    0














    No need for editing the registry. It takes about a minute to reverse the OneDrive "protect your important folders" steps.
    Select the OneDrive (white or blue cloud) icon in the Windows notification area, and then in the activity center, select More > Settings > Auto Save > Update folders. Now deselect the folder(s) you want to make local and then choose to stop protection (no more cloud cloning/syncing).
    https://support.office.com/en-us/article/sync-your-documents-pictures-and-desktop-folders-with-onedrive-d61a7930-a6fb-4b95-b28a-6552e77c3057
    Every folder you deselect will be created for you on your local disk in the default location (and more*, read on). The process will provide shortcuts in these folders and their subfolders* called "Where are my files" which is a link to the corresponding OneDrive cloud location. *It also means your new folders may have a bunch of empty subfolders (save for the aforementioned shortcut). Your new folder's structure is a fileless clone of the corresponding previous folder's structure which still exists on OneDrive. Each (sub)folder only contains the cloud shortcut and any subfolders, but nothing more. In the newly created local folder, prune away any subfolders you don't want and delete any of the shortcuts you have no need for.






    share|improve this answer
























    • This may work now, at the time of writing this question, there were no options in OneDrive for doing that

      – TermoZour
      Jan 27 at 11:24











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    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

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    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    12














    According to the Microsoft Support article linked by vembutech, you can use the following workaround.






    Important



    Follow the steps in this section carefully. Serious problems might
    occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Before you modify it,
    back up the registry for restoration in case problems occur.



    To work around this issue, follow these steps:




    1. Right-click the Windows logo at the lower-left corner of the screen, and then click Run.


    2. Type regedit.exe and press Enter. If User Account Control window pops up, click Yes.


    3. In Registry Editor, browse to the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerUser
      Shell Folders


    4. Refer to the following table to find the registry key for the folder that encounters this issue, and change it to the default value.





    +-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
    | Folder | Registry key | Default value |
    +-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
    | Downloads | {374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B} | %USERPROFILE%Downloads |
    | Desktop | Desktop | %USERPROFILE%Desktop |
    | Favorites | Favorites | %USERPROFILE%Favorites |
    | Music | My Music | %USERPROFILE%Music |
    | Pictures | My Pictures | %USERPROFILE%Pictures |
    | Videos | My Video | %USERPROFILE%Videos |
    | Documents | Personal | %USERPROFILE%Documents |
    +-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+



    1. Restart the Explorer.exe process to make the changes take effect. To do this, you can use either of the following steps:


      • Restart the process in Task Manager.

      • Sign out, and then sign in.

      • Restart the computer.









    share|improve this answer




























      12














      According to the Microsoft Support article linked by vembutech, you can use the following workaround.






      Important



      Follow the steps in this section carefully. Serious problems might
      occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Before you modify it,
      back up the registry for restoration in case problems occur.



      To work around this issue, follow these steps:




      1. Right-click the Windows logo at the lower-left corner of the screen, and then click Run.


      2. Type regedit.exe and press Enter. If User Account Control window pops up, click Yes.


      3. In Registry Editor, browse to the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerUser
        Shell Folders


      4. Refer to the following table to find the registry key for the folder that encounters this issue, and change it to the default value.





      +-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
      | Folder | Registry key | Default value |
      +-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
      | Downloads | {374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B} | %USERPROFILE%Downloads |
      | Desktop | Desktop | %USERPROFILE%Desktop |
      | Favorites | Favorites | %USERPROFILE%Favorites |
      | Music | My Music | %USERPROFILE%Music |
      | Pictures | My Pictures | %USERPROFILE%Pictures |
      | Videos | My Video | %USERPROFILE%Videos |
      | Documents | Personal | %USERPROFILE%Documents |
      +-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+



      1. Restart the Explorer.exe process to make the changes take effect. To do this, you can use either of the following steps:


        • Restart the process in Task Manager.

        • Sign out, and then sign in.

        • Restart the computer.









      share|improve this answer


























        12












        12








        12







        According to the Microsoft Support article linked by vembutech, you can use the following workaround.






        Important



        Follow the steps in this section carefully. Serious problems might
        occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Before you modify it,
        back up the registry for restoration in case problems occur.



        To work around this issue, follow these steps:




        1. Right-click the Windows logo at the lower-left corner of the screen, and then click Run.


        2. Type regedit.exe and press Enter. If User Account Control window pops up, click Yes.


        3. In Registry Editor, browse to the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerUser
          Shell Folders


        4. Refer to the following table to find the registry key for the folder that encounters this issue, and change it to the default value.





        +-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
        | Folder | Registry key | Default value |
        +-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
        | Downloads | {374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B} | %USERPROFILE%Downloads |
        | Desktop | Desktop | %USERPROFILE%Desktop |
        | Favorites | Favorites | %USERPROFILE%Favorites |
        | Music | My Music | %USERPROFILE%Music |
        | Pictures | My Pictures | %USERPROFILE%Pictures |
        | Videos | My Video | %USERPROFILE%Videos |
        | Documents | Personal | %USERPROFILE%Documents |
        +-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+



        1. Restart the Explorer.exe process to make the changes take effect. To do this, you can use either of the following steps:


          • Restart the process in Task Manager.

          • Sign out, and then sign in.

          • Restart the computer.









        share|improve this answer













        According to the Microsoft Support article linked by vembutech, you can use the following workaround.






        Important



        Follow the steps in this section carefully. Serious problems might
        occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Before you modify it,
        back up the registry for restoration in case problems occur.



        To work around this issue, follow these steps:




        1. Right-click the Windows logo at the lower-left corner of the screen, and then click Run.


        2. Type regedit.exe and press Enter. If User Account Control window pops up, click Yes.


        3. In Registry Editor, browse to the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerUser
          Shell Folders


        4. Refer to the following table to find the registry key for the folder that encounters this issue, and change it to the default value.





        +-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
        | Folder | Registry key | Default value |
        +-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
        | Downloads | {374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B} | %USERPROFILE%Downloads |
        | Desktop | Desktop | %USERPROFILE%Desktop |
        | Favorites | Favorites | %USERPROFILE%Favorites |
        | Music | My Music | %USERPROFILE%Music |
        | Pictures | My Pictures | %USERPROFILE%Pictures |
        | Videos | My Video | %USERPROFILE%Videos |
        | Documents | Personal | %USERPROFILE%Documents |
        +-----------+----------------------------------------+-------------------------+



        1. Restart the Explorer.exe process to make the changes take effect. To do this, you can use either of the following steps:


          • Restart the process in Task Manager.

          • Sign out, and then sign in.

          • Restart the computer.










        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered May 5 '17 at 18:28









        Steven M. VascellaroSteven M. Vascellaro

        4,5911851102




        4,5911851102

























            0














            The link from Microsoft Support which can be found here posted by @vembutech23 fixed the issue.



            Before I did what the link said, I paused OneDrive syncing just in case.



            After I restarted explorer.exe everything went back to normal and my Documents folder got unlinked from OneDrive.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 1





              Answers should usually include relevant information from external sites. That way the answer can still be relevant if the linked page ever becomes inaccessible.

              – Steven M. Vascellaro
              May 5 '17 at 18:39











            • Okay, thanks for telling me. I'll do that next time

              – TermoZour
              May 6 '17 at 5:02
















            0














            The link from Microsoft Support which can be found here posted by @vembutech23 fixed the issue.



            Before I did what the link said, I paused OneDrive syncing just in case.



            After I restarted explorer.exe everything went back to normal and my Documents folder got unlinked from OneDrive.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 1





              Answers should usually include relevant information from external sites. That way the answer can still be relevant if the linked page ever becomes inaccessible.

              – Steven M. Vascellaro
              May 5 '17 at 18:39











            • Okay, thanks for telling me. I'll do that next time

              – TermoZour
              May 6 '17 at 5:02














            0












            0








            0







            The link from Microsoft Support which can be found here posted by @vembutech23 fixed the issue.



            Before I did what the link said, I paused OneDrive syncing just in case.



            After I restarted explorer.exe everything went back to normal and my Documents folder got unlinked from OneDrive.






            share|improve this answer













            The link from Microsoft Support which can be found here posted by @vembutech23 fixed the issue.



            Before I did what the link said, I paused OneDrive syncing just in case.



            After I restarted explorer.exe everything went back to normal and my Documents folder got unlinked from OneDrive.







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered May 4 '17 at 16:11









            TermoZourTermoZour

            1222316




            1222316








            • 1





              Answers should usually include relevant information from external sites. That way the answer can still be relevant if the linked page ever becomes inaccessible.

              – Steven M. Vascellaro
              May 5 '17 at 18:39











            • Okay, thanks for telling me. I'll do that next time

              – TermoZour
              May 6 '17 at 5:02














            • 1





              Answers should usually include relevant information from external sites. That way the answer can still be relevant if the linked page ever becomes inaccessible.

              – Steven M. Vascellaro
              May 5 '17 at 18:39











            • Okay, thanks for telling me. I'll do that next time

              – TermoZour
              May 6 '17 at 5:02








            1




            1





            Answers should usually include relevant information from external sites. That way the answer can still be relevant if the linked page ever becomes inaccessible.

            – Steven M. Vascellaro
            May 5 '17 at 18:39





            Answers should usually include relevant information from external sites. That way the answer can still be relevant if the linked page ever becomes inaccessible.

            – Steven M. Vascellaro
            May 5 '17 at 18:39













            Okay, thanks for telling me. I'll do that next time

            – TermoZour
            May 6 '17 at 5:02





            Okay, thanks for telling me. I'll do that next time

            – TermoZour
            May 6 '17 at 5:02











            0














            No need for editing the registry. It takes about a minute to reverse the OneDrive "protect your important folders" steps.
            Select the OneDrive (white or blue cloud) icon in the Windows notification area, and then in the activity center, select More > Settings > Auto Save > Update folders. Now deselect the folder(s) you want to make local and then choose to stop protection (no more cloud cloning/syncing).
            https://support.office.com/en-us/article/sync-your-documents-pictures-and-desktop-folders-with-onedrive-d61a7930-a6fb-4b95-b28a-6552e77c3057
            Every folder you deselect will be created for you on your local disk in the default location (and more*, read on). The process will provide shortcuts in these folders and their subfolders* called "Where are my files" which is a link to the corresponding OneDrive cloud location. *It also means your new folders may have a bunch of empty subfolders (save for the aforementioned shortcut). Your new folder's structure is a fileless clone of the corresponding previous folder's structure which still exists on OneDrive. Each (sub)folder only contains the cloud shortcut and any subfolders, but nothing more. In the newly created local folder, prune away any subfolders you don't want and delete any of the shortcuts you have no need for.






            share|improve this answer
























            • This may work now, at the time of writing this question, there were no options in OneDrive for doing that

              – TermoZour
              Jan 27 at 11:24
















            0














            No need for editing the registry. It takes about a minute to reverse the OneDrive "protect your important folders" steps.
            Select the OneDrive (white or blue cloud) icon in the Windows notification area, and then in the activity center, select More > Settings > Auto Save > Update folders. Now deselect the folder(s) you want to make local and then choose to stop protection (no more cloud cloning/syncing).
            https://support.office.com/en-us/article/sync-your-documents-pictures-and-desktop-folders-with-onedrive-d61a7930-a6fb-4b95-b28a-6552e77c3057
            Every folder you deselect will be created for you on your local disk in the default location (and more*, read on). The process will provide shortcuts in these folders and their subfolders* called "Where are my files" which is a link to the corresponding OneDrive cloud location. *It also means your new folders may have a bunch of empty subfolders (save for the aforementioned shortcut). Your new folder's structure is a fileless clone of the corresponding previous folder's structure which still exists on OneDrive. Each (sub)folder only contains the cloud shortcut and any subfolders, but nothing more. In the newly created local folder, prune away any subfolders you don't want and delete any of the shortcuts you have no need for.






            share|improve this answer
























            • This may work now, at the time of writing this question, there were no options in OneDrive for doing that

              – TermoZour
              Jan 27 at 11:24














            0












            0








            0







            No need for editing the registry. It takes about a minute to reverse the OneDrive "protect your important folders" steps.
            Select the OneDrive (white or blue cloud) icon in the Windows notification area, and then in the activity center, select More > Settings > Auto Save > Update folders. Now deselect the folder(s) you want to make local and then choose to stop protection (no more cloud cloning/syncing).
            https://support.office.com/en-us/article/sync-your-documents-pictures-and-desktop-folders-with-onedrive-d61a7930-a6fb-4b95-b28a-6552e77c3057
            Every folder you deselect will be created for you on your local disk in the default location (and more*, read on). The process will provide shortcuts in these folders and their subfolders* called "Where are my files" which is a link to the corresponding OneDrive cloud location. *It also means your new folders may have a bunch of empty subfolders (save for the aforementioned shortcut). Your new folder's structure is a fileless clone of the corresponding previous folder's structure which still exists on OneDrive. Each (sub)folder only contains the cloud shortcut and any subfolders, but nothing more. In the newly created local folder, prune away any subfolders you don't want and delete any of the shortcuts you have no need for.






            share|improve this answer













            No need for editing the registry. It takes about a minute to reverse the OneDrive "protect your important folders" steps.
            Select the OneDrive (white or blue cloud) icon in the Windows notification area, and then in the activity center, select More > Settings > Auto Save > Update folders. Now deselect the folder(s) you want to make local and then choose to stop protection (no more cloud cloning/syncing).
            https://support.office.com/en-us/article/sync-your-documents-pictures-and-desktop-folders-with-onedrive-d61a7930-a6fb-4b95-b28a-6552e77c3057
            Every folder you deselect will be created for you on your local disk in the default location (and more*, read on). The process will provide shortcuts in these folders and their subfolders* called "Where are my files" which is a link to the corresponding OneDrive cloud location. *It also means your new folders may have a bunch of empty subfolders (save for the aforementioned shortcut). Your new folder's structure is a fileless clone of the corresponding previous folder's structure which still exists on OneDrive. Each (sub)folder only contains the cloud shortcut and any subfolders, but nothing more. In the newly created local folder, prune away any subfolders you don't want and delete any of the shortcuts you have no need for.







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered Jan 27 at 6:55









            Ted DillardTed Dillard

            1




            1













            • This may work now, at the time of writing this question, there were no options in OneDrive for doing that

              – TermoZour
              Jan 27 at 11:24



















            • This may work now, at the time of writing this question, there were no options in OneDrive for doing that

              – TermoZour
              Jan 27 at 11:24

















            This may work now, at the time of writing this question, there were no options in OneDrive for doing that

            – TermoZour
            Jan 27 at 11:24





            This may work now, at the time of writing this question, there were no options in OneDrive for doing that

            – TermoZour
            Jan 27 at 11:24


















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