Windows 11 Is Now Automatically Enabling OneDrive Folder Backup

Microsoft has quietly made changes to Windows 11’s initial setup that can enable automatic folder backup to OneDrive without asking for permission.

According to a report by Neowin, the new installation of Windows 11 will now automatically turn on the OneDrive folder backup to synchronize the contents of folders such as Desktop Pictures, Documents, Music, and Videos and upload them to the Cloud without informing the user about it.  

In other words, new Windows 11 users with a Microsoft account will now get desktops with OneDrive that already have folders like Desktop Pictures, Documents, Music, and Videos synced to them.

While OneDrive folder backup is certainly a very practical feature, it may not work well for users who have a lot of data stored in their folders, as this may quickly eat up the 5GB storage limit.

If you wish to opt out of OneDrive’s folder backup feature, you can disable the feature by following the below steps:

1. Right-click on the OneDrive icon in the Taskbar and select Settings.
2. In the Settings window, go to the “Sync and Backup” tab and click “Manage backup.”
3. Turn off all the folders that you don’t want to back up in OneDrive and confirm the changes.

If you have an older OneDrive version with the classic tabbed interface, go to Open OneDrive Settings > Select Backup—Manage backup > Stop backup > Stop backup to stop backing up a folder.