Dave, I really hate OneDrive and would like to eradicate it from my Windows 11 computer. Is that possible? I just don’t trust cloud storage and would like all my files stored locally on my PC! I know you could with Win10 in the past…
Microsoft got a bit overzealous with the implementation of its OneDrive cloud storage drive system, particularly within the Office suite. You’re by no means the first person to wish they could extricate it from their PC and get back to the old days where you have local files, local storage, and a backup, as desired. While cloud storage is generally encrypted and well protected, it’s easy to see where local-only storage is more secure than the typical OneDrive setup of local plus cloud.
However, while it’s possible to remove OneDrive from your Windows 11 PC, it might prove to be a bit problematic after you’ve done so, as I’ll explain later in this tutorial, so I’m going to also include instructions on how to re-install OneDrive if you change your mind. Ready? Let’s do this!
First, however, a typical Save dialog in Microsoft Word when you have OneDrive:
As you can see, the default location is “Documents” on OneDrive.
HOW TO UNINSTALL ONEDRIVE
Turns out that somewhere along the way, OneDrive changed from a somewhat hidden Microsoft program into just another program on your PC. Most likely it’s related to some European Union regulations about data independence, but whatever the reason, your first step is simply to search for “uninstall” to jump to the right Control Panel:
Click on “Open”, then scroll to the Microsoft OneDrive entry:
It’s relatively small at 240MB, but let’s axe it! To do so, click on the “•••” link adjacent.
Choose “Uninstall“, just as you would any other program you were removing…
Looks good, click on “Uninstall” then you’ll have to grant the app permission to make changes and remove itself from your PC:
Are you sure you want to proceed? Then click on “Yes“. Done.
DOES WORD KNOW ONEDRIVE IS GONE?
What’s annoying is that the default save location in Microsoft Word changes from OneDrive cloud to local storage, but the local storage is the OneDrive folder:
You can click on the tiny “v” adjacent to the Documents entry and wind your way to the top Documents location, rather than the OneDrive subfolder, but you could do that before you installed OneDrive, so where’s the real benefit here? Worse, turns out that every file in the local OneDrive folder is still tied to the cloud storage so you can’t just go in and delete a few to clean things up.
HOW TO REINSTALL ONEDRIVE
You can undoubtedly fiddle and tweak your favorite programs to stop utilizing the local OneDrive folder in your Documents area, but you could do that without the remove in the first place, so…
You can go here to download OneDrive and re-install it as needed:
https://www.microsoft.com/en/microsoft-365/onedrive/download
You’ll see this prompt:
If you’ve removed it, this is no longer true. Click on “Download” and you’ll be back and running in no time.
So you can most definitely now remove OneDrive, but whether that simplifies your life or not is dependent on how much you tweak and reconfigure your favorite programs. Good luck!
Pro tip: I’ve been writing about Microsoft Windows for many years. Please check out my extensive and well-documented Windows help area for lots more useful tutorials while you’re visiting the site!