How to Disable or Uninstall OneDrive

Turning off, disabling, and uninstalling OneDrive is trickier than doing the same for other applications. This is because OneDrive comes integrated with some Windows versions due to which it is not possible to completely uninstall OneDrive. However, there are many ways around this from unlinking your OneDrive to disabling it. 

How to Turn Off OneDrive 

If you are tired of your files automatically syncing to OneDrive, causing the device to slow down, turning off One Drive is the best option.

You can temporarily pause syncing your files on OneDrive for 2, 8, or 24 hours. This feature also works for Mac.

1. On the notification tray, located on the bottom right corner of your taskbar, find OneDrive. If it is not available there, click on the Windows logo and search for OneDrive.
2. A notification box will pop up.
3. Go to Help and Settings, located on the bottom.
4. Click on Pause Syncing.
   
5. Click on the number of hours you want OneDrive to stop syncing your files.

How to Disable Onedrive

If you want to disable OneDrive permanently, you can stop the files from completely syncing to the drive. This will also remove OneDrive from the taskbar, and stop it from starting automatically when you open Windows.

To stop your files syncing to one-drive storage, follow the steps below:

1. On the notification tray, located on the bottom right corner of your taskbar, find OneDrive. If it is not available there, click on the Windows logo and search for OneDrive.
2. A notification box will pop up.
3. Go to Help and Settings, located on the bottom.
4. Go to the Accounts tab.
5. Click on Choose folders.
   
6. Uncheck all the folders that you don’t want available on OneDrive.
   
7. As these files are not available on OneDrive, they will not sync as well.
8. Click on Ok.

Disable OneDrive in Windows 8 and 8.1

Previously, it was not possible to uninstall OneDrive from Windows 8 and 8.1 as it came integrated with the OS. Now however, Microsoft has announced that from March 2022, OneDrive syncing will no longer be supported on Windows 8 and 8.1. If you want to continue using OneDrive, you will have to get a Windows upgrade. 

All your synced files can still be accessed through your account. However, without the upgrade, files will longer be synced. 

If you are looking to disable OneDrive in Windows 8 and 8.1 before March 2022, please follow the steps below.

1. Go to PC settings. 
2. Click on OneDrive on the left hand panel. 
3. You will find 4 options; file storage, camera roll, sync settings and metered connection. You can go to each one of them and disable syncing. 
4. Click on File Storage, switch off “Save document to OneDrive by default”
   
5. Click on Camera Roll, select Don’t upload photos and switch off “Automatically upload videos to OneDrive.”
6. Click on the Sync Settings, switch off “Sync your settings on this PC”
   
7. Click on the Metered Connection, switch off all the options. 

How to Stop Onedrive From Syncing

Unlinking OneDrive is in between disabling OneDrive and uninstalling it. It basically stops syncing your files completely but the application is still available. You can simply login and link your account again. 

Unlinking OneDrive does not delete your files unless you have selected files to be stored on-demand (online). You can check this by going to the settings, and looking at folders under the accounts tab. Once you uncheck files to be on-demand, you can follow the steps below to unlink OneDrive: 

1. On the notification tray, located on the bottom right corner of your taskbar, find OneDrive. If it is not available there, click on the Windows logo and search for OneDrive.
2. A notification box will pop up.
3. Go to Help and Settings, located on the bottom.
4. Go to Accounts tab.
5. Select Unlink this PC option.
   
6. Pop-up box will inform you that files will stop syncing and online files will be removed. 
7. You can select “Unlink account.”

How to Uninstall OneDrive

If you are not satisfied with just disabling or unlinking OneDrive, you can also try uninstalling the application completely. Unfortunately, this is only possible on Windows 7, Windows Vista and some versions of Windows 10.

Microsoft has also recently announced that OneDrive syncing will no longer be supported in Windows 8 and 8.1 from March 2022. 

To uninstall OneDrive from Windows 10, Windows 7 and Windows Vista, please follow the steps below. 

Windows 10 and 11

1. Go to the windows logo.
2. Type Control Panel and click on it.
3. Click on Programs and features.
4. Select Microsoft OneDrive.
5. Click on Uninstall.
   

Windows 7 or Windows Vista

1. Click on the windows logo.
2. Type Programs and click on it.
3. Click on Programs and Features.
4. Select Microsoft OneDrive.
5. Click on Uninstall.

Uninstall OneDrive on Mac

In comparison, uninstalling OneDrive on a Mac is fairly simple because it does not come integrated with the OS and does not have OneDrive as default location to save files. As such, the steps to uninstall OneDrive is similar to uninstalling any other application. To do so, follow the steps below:  

1. Quit OneDrive.
2. On the search button, located on the top right corner of your Mac.
3. Type Applications and click on it. 
4. Search for OneDrive.
5. Control click on the application, select “Move to Trash”.

How to Turn Off Notifications on One Drive?

If you are getting irritated with the constant notifications regarding any changes made to your files, you can also turn off notifications for One Drive. 

1. On the notification tray, located on the bottom right corner of your taskbar, find OneDrive. If it is not available there, click on the Windows logo and search for OneDrive.
2. On the notification box that pops up.
3. Go to Help and Settings, located on the bottom left corner.
4. Click on Settings. 
5. Go to the Settings tab.
6. Under notification, disable the notification you don’t want
   
7. Click on Ok.

How to Stop Onedrive From Opening On Startup?

To stop OneDrive from starting automatically,

1. On the notification tray, located on the bottom right corner of your taskbar, find OneDrive. If it is not available there, click on the Windows logo and search for OneDrive.
2. A notification box will pop up.
3. Go to Help and Settings, located on the bottom.
4. Go to Setting tab
5. Under General uncheck Start OneDrive automatically when I sign in to Windows 
   
6. Click on Ok.
7. This prevents OneDrive from starting automatically, it will also remove OneDrive from the taskbar since it will not be running anymore.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I Lose All My Files if I Unlink OneDrive ?

No, unless your files are saved online or on-demand, you will not lose any files if you unlink OneDrive. The on-demand files are files that have not been downloaded and synced but saved online directly. 

How to Uninstall OneDrive on Android ?

Before trying to uninstall OneDrive in Android, you should check whether it is possible or not. This is because Android phones with Windows 10 as well as Samsung Galaxy devices have OneDrive pre-installed and thus cannot be uninstalled. For these phones, it is possible to only uninstall the updates or disable the app. 

To uninstall the application in other Android, follow the steps below: 

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap on Storage/Memory.
3. Tap on OneDrive.
4. Select Uninstall. 
   

How to Uninstall OneDrive With Command Prompt ?

To uninstall OneDrive in Windows 10 using Command prompt, follow the steps below. Before running the command prompt, check whether your Windows 10 is 64 bit or 32 bit OS. To check this, follow the steps below: 

1. Go to Control Panel.
2. Select System and Security. 
3. Click on System.
4. You can find information on the OS below the Windows logo. 
   

Once you know which OS your device has, follow the steps below: 

1. Click on the Windows logo. 
2. Type “Command Prompt”
3. Type in:  taskkill /f /im OneDrive.exeto close the app from running.
4. Copy the following text into the box if you have 32 bit OS: %systemroot%\System32\OneDriveSetup.exe /uninstall 
5. Copy the following text into the box if you have 64 bit OS: %systemroot%\SysWOW64\OneDriveSetup.exe /uninstall
   
6. Press Enter.