Disable OneDrive Integration in Windows 10

Onedrive Big Icon

In this article, we will see how to disable OneDrive integration in Windows 10. After doing that, all presence of OneDrive in the OS will be hidden without removing or uninstalling OneDrive.
OneDrive is bundled with Windows since Windows 8. It is the all-in-one solution built by Microsoft to provide the user the ability to have the same files on every PC he signs in with using his Microsoft Account. Previously known as SkyDrive, the service got rebranded some time ago.

The synchronization feature in OneDrive relies on Microsoft Account. To use OneDrive, you have to create one first. Besides OneDrive, Microsoft Account can be used to log in to Windows 10, Office 365 and most online Microsoft services.

When OneDrive integration is disabled, the OneDrive app won't appear in the system tray (notification area), and will be hidden in the navigation pane of File Explorer too. It won't open at startup. Also, the OneDrive API won't be accessible for Store (UWP) and Desktop apps, so file synchronization will be disabled along with the ability to upload your files to the Cloud.

To disable OneDrive integration in Windows 10, do the following.

  1. Open the Registry Editor app.
  2. Go to the following Registry key.
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\OneDrive

    See how to go to a Registry key with one click.

  3. On the right, modify or create a new 32-Bit DWORD value "DisableFileSyncNGSC". Set it to 1.Note: Even if you are running 64-bit Windows you must still create a 32-bit DWORD value.
  4. Restart Windows 10.

This will disable disable OneDrive integration in Windows 10. To save your time, you can download the following Registry files.

Download Registry Files

The undo tweak is included.

Disable OneDrive Integration in Windows 10 with Group Policy Editor

If your Windows 10 edition comes with the Group Policy app, you can use it to avoid Registry editing.

 

  1. Press Win + R keys together on your keyboard and type:
    gpedit.msc

    Press Enter.

  2. Group Policy Editor will open. Go to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\ Windows Components\OneDrive. Enable the policy option Prevent the usage of OneDrive for file storage as shown below.

That's it.

 

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

4 thoughts on “Disable OneDrive Integration in Windows 10”

  1. Windows 10: Piece of junk operating system
    Windows 7: Stable version operating system
    Linux: Really best operating system

    1. I guess you don’t have a 4k monitor then, do you?
      https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2017/04/04/high-dpi-scaling-improvements-desktop-applications-windows-10-creators-update/

  2. Granted, I’m a Beta tester of Windows 10, but I find even the Beta Builds of 10 to be more stable that Win 7. That’s my experience.

    As to the article itself, another gem, thank you Sergey. I use pCloud for my sync and swap via the Cloud. It is faster, and quicker to recognize and make available to others whatever content I want to get to them. OneDrive is slow, with no way to force a refresh of whatever content I want to share.

    Techie Bear

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