Solved Removing OneDrive Folder

[Stephen_A]

I have uninstalled OneDrive but find that the OneDrive folder / directory remains, under which there is the default folders for music, documents and pictures. I would like to ask you good folk if it is possible to remove the OneDrive folder completely, and if so what happens to all those folders for music etc. below it?
Thanks in advance.

Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.9
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 10 Home, 64 bit, Build 19041, Installed 20201020154656.000000+480
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8265U CPU @ 1.60GHz, Intel64 Family 6 Model 142 Stepping 12, CPU Count: 8
Total Physical RAM: 16 GB
Graphics Card: Intel(R) UHD Graphics 620, 1024 MB
Hard Drives: C: 952 GB (764 GB Free); D: 953 GB (522 GB Free); E: 1863 GB (1009 GB Free); F: 931 GB (115 GB Free); G: 1863 GB (724 GB Free);
Motherboard: LENOVO 20QDS02A00, ver SDK0J40700 WIN, s/n L1HF99503ZV
System: LENOVO, ver LENOVO - 1380, s/n PF14Y791
Antivirus: Windows Defender, Disabled

 

[Couriant]

Do you have an Office Subscription by chance? Typically the folders are synced/moved to OneDrive as part of their service to help with ransomware.

 

[Stephen_A]

Thanks for your reply. No I don't have any Office subscription. On a previous installation I was unable to remove this Onedrive directory and was unable to.

 

[NaThOP]

PLEASE NOTE: I am a complete amateur 7th grade student with no experience in the IT business, and I felt I should give this warning if this doesn't work. That being said, I hope this helps, but I am not held accountable for anything that happens because of my advice.

This seems to have worked for me:

Locate the OneDrive folder, the default installation directory seems to be under C:\Users\(user)\OneDrive, with your user replacing (user). Then right-click on the folder, and find "Settings". There you should find the "Unlink this PC" option. Now that you've done that fire up the Windows search with Win+S or clicking on the Windows icon, and search OneDrive. Now find the "Open File Location" option and click on it.

Once you did this, find the OneDrive folder among the list of folders that just opened up, select it, and go ahead and press delete.

I am not sure if this is necessary, but I have also deleted both (for me it's both) system environment variables that OneDrive created. The instructions for this are as follows:

1. Search windows for "path" and select the "Edit the system environment variables" option, and open it.
2. On the advanced tab, find "Environment variables" and click on it.
3. Find the "OneDrive" and "OneDriveConsumer" variables on the list and delete them.

You're done.

Few sidenotes:

The system environment variables cannot be deleted while the OneDrive folder and app are both still active.

 

[Stephen_A]

PLEASE NOTE: I am a complete amateur 7th grade student with no experience in the IT business, and I felt I should give this warning if this doesn't work. That being said, I hope this helps, but I am not held accountable for anything that happens because of my advice.

This seems to have worked for me:

Locate the OneDrive folder, the default installation directory seems to be under C:\Users\(user)\OneDrive, with your user replacing (user). Then right-click on the folder, and find "Settings". There you should find the "Unlink this PC" option. Now that you've done that fire up the Windows search with Win+S or clicking on the Windows icon, and search OneDrive. Now find the "Open File Location" option and click on it.

Once you did this, find the OneDrive folder among the list of folders that just opened up, select it, and go ahead and press delete.

I am not sure if this is necessary, but I have also deleted both (for me it's both) system environment variables that OneDrive created. The instructions for this are as follows:

1. Search windows for "path" and select the "Edit the system environment variables" option, and open it.
2. On the advanced tab, find "Environment variables" and click on it.
3. Find the "OneDrive" and "OneDriveConsumer" variables on the list and delete them.

You're done.

Few sidenotes:

The system environment variables cannot be deleted while the OneDrive folder and app are both still active.

Thanks for your reply Ivan, and especially for the trick with the environment variables.

 

[NaThOP]

Thanks for your reply Ivan, and especially for the trick with the environment variables.

Did it help?

 

[Stephen_A]

Yes Ivan, it did and OneDrive is history now. It was good of you to take the time and trouble to share your experience, and to help out with this problem. I had found another workaround, but yours is far neater and effective. I'll surely use it on any future Windows installations.

As James suggested above having Onedrive embedded in the system so firmly would be a great help for people unaware of the threat of ransomware, because it means the default destination for docs and pics is under the Onedrive directory.

However I did find that the attempts to remove it did appear to prompt the system to strongarm users into subscribing to Office 365 at worst, and at best awkward enough to dissuade many people from opting out of it.

I just hope that your solution helps anyone else with the same problem, and that MS may consider offering an easier and more user friendly way of opting out of using Onedrive and 365.

Thanks again for your trouble and consideration.