How to Prevent Windows From Saving Files to OneDrive

Fancy keeping all your files locally? Here's how to stop Windows from saving files to OneDrive. OneDrive is a powerful cloud storage client that comes pre-installed on both Windows

10 and Windows 11 computers. With it, you can easily store your data in the cloud and share files across multiple devices. However, if OneDrive isn’t your preferred cloud storage

app or if you want to store your files locally, you can stop Windows from saving files to OneDrive. We'll show you how. 1. Temporarily Stop Windows From Saving Files to OneDrive

You can temporarily prevent Windows from saving files to OneDrive by pausing the sync process. This can be useful if you’re using a metered connection in a bid to control your

battery usage on Windows 10, or if you want to preserve your laptop's battery. Start by clicking the OneDrive icon on the taskbar. Click the gear icon and select Pause syncing.

Then, specify how long you wish to pause OneDrive sync. 2. Prevent OneDrive From Backing Up Folders If you're looking for a more permanent solution, you can stop OneDrive from

backing up your folders and saving media files from external devices. Here are the steps for the same. Click the OneDrive icon on the taskbar. Click the gear icon and select

Settings from the resulting menu. In the Sync and backup tab, disable toggles for Save photos and videos from devices and Save screenshots I capture to OneDrive. Next, click the

Manage backup button. Disable toggles for folders you don't want to be backed up to OneDrive. Click the Save changes button. 3. Prevent Office Apps From Saving Files to OneDrive

Although syncing your Office files to OneDrive lets you access them across multiple devices, you may want to avoid doing so for various reasons. Thankfully, it’s fairly simple to

accomplish that. Open any Office app, such as Word or Excel. Click the File menu in the top left corner. Select Options from the left pane. In the Save tab, tick the Save to

Computer by default option. In the Default local file location box, specify where you want to save your Office files. Click OK to save the changes. The above changes will be

applied to all Office apps. Don't worry, you can still manually save files to OneDrive if you want. 4. Use Group Policy Editor to Stop Windows From Saving Files to OneDrive Another

method to stop Windows from saving files to OneDrive is to use the Group Policy Editor. You can access the Group Policy Editor on Professional, Education, or Enterprise editions of

Windows. If you’re using Windows Home, learn how to access the Group Policy Editor on Windows Home before you try these steps. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box. Type