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Quick Answer

Click the OneDrive cloud icon, then the gear icon > Settings > Account > Choose folders. Untick any folder you do not want on this PC and click OK. It leaves File Explorer and stays safe in the cloud.

How to Choose Which OneDrive Folders Sync to Your Computer ​

Applies to: Windows 11, Windows 10; OneDrive for work or school, OneDrive personal
Article Type: How-To
Last Updated: 2026-07-29

Summary ​

OneDrive's Choose folders setting — often called selective sync — lets you keep a folder out of File Explorer on one specific computer while leaving it untouched in the cloud. This article shows you how to untick folders, what happens to the files when you do, how the setting differs from Files On-Demand, and how to pause or unlink sync without losing anything.

Prerequisites ​

  • The OneDrive sync client signed in on your PC. It is pre-installed on Windows 11 and Windows 10 and shows as a cloud icon in the notification area at the bottom right of the taskbar.
  • Sync finished before you start. Click the cloud icon and confirm the panel reads Your files are synced rather than showing an upload count.
  • No admin rights required for any step in this guide.

Instructions ​

1. Open Your OneDrive Account Settings ​

Everything in this article starts from the same window, so get there once.

  1. Click the OneDrive cloud icon in the notification area at the bottom right of the taskbar. If you cannot see it, click the upward arrow to expand the hidden icons. The OneDrive activity panel opens.
  2. Click the gear icon at the top right of that panel, then select Settings. The OneDrive Settings window opens.
  3. Select Account in the left sidebar. The page shows your account email, a storage bar reading something like 120 GB of 1024 GB used, and a Choose folders button.

Note: On OneDrive builds released before 2023 the settings window uses tabs across the top instead of a left sidebar. Click the Account tab — Choose folders sits in the same place.

If you are signed in with more than one account, the Account page lists each one as its own block with its own Choose folders button. Confirm you are working under the right email before you change anything — see How to Use Personal and Work OneDrive on the Same Computer.

2. Untick the Folders You Do Not Want on This PC ​

This is the whole fix. It takes about thirty seconds.

  1. On the Account page, click Choose folders. A dialog titled Choose folders opens over the settings window.
  2. Look at the checkbox at the top: Make all files available. It is ticked by default, which is why every folder currently syncs.
  3. Untick Make all files available. The folder list underneath becomes editable, and each row shows a folder name with its size beside it.
  4. Untick every folder you want off this computer. The running total at the bottom of the dialog updates as you go.
  5. Click the arrow to the left of a folder name to expand it if you want to keep some subfolders and drop others.
  6. Click OK. The dialog closes and OneDrive removes the unticked folders from File Explorer within a few seconds.

Verification: Open File Explorer and click your OneDrive - CompanyName entry in the left sidebar. The folders you unticked are gone from the list. Open onedrive.com in a browser and they are all still there, contents intact.

If Desktop, Documents, or Pictures appear greyed out and refuse to untick, those three are controlled by folder backup rather than by selective sync. Understanding Why Your Desktop and Documents Moved to OneDrive explains that feature and how to switch it off.

3. What Actually Happens to a Folder You Untick ​

People hesitate here because the folder visibly disappears, and disappearing folders look like deleted folders. Here is exactly what the setting does:

  • The folder leaves this computer. Any downloaded copies are removed from the disk, and the folder stops appearing in File Explorer, in Windows Search results, and in the Open dialog of every app.
  • Nothing is deleted from the cloud. The folder, its subfolders, its version history, and its sharing links are all unchanged at onedrive.com.
  • Other devices are unaffected. Selective sync is a per-computer setting. Your phone and your other PCs keep the folder.
  • New files do not come down. If a colleague adds a file to that folder next week, it will not appear on this PC until you retick the folder.
  • Reticking is fast. Tick the folder again in Choose folders and click OK. With Files On-Demand on, it returns as online-only placeholders in seconds rather than downloading gigabytes.

The one thing to watch: a file that had never finished uploading has no cloud copy to fall back on. That is why the prerequisite above asks you to let sync finish first.

4. Choose Folders or Files On-Demand — Which One You Need ​

These two features solve overlapping problems, and picking the wrong one is the reason people untick folders they then cannot find. Files On-Demand is on by default on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Files On-DemandChoose folders (selective sync)
What File Explorer showsEvery folder and file, each with a status badgeOnly the folders you ticked
Disk space usedAlmost none until you open a fileZero for unticked folders
Opening a file you have not downloadedDouble-click it and it downloads on the spotNot possible — the folder is not on this PC
Windows Search finds the fileYes, by nameNo
ScopePer computerPer computer
Reversing itRight-click a folder and select Free up spaceRetick the folder and click OK

Reach for Choose folders when:

  • A folder holds tens of thousands of files. Even as placeholders they cost the sync client time and clutter every search result on the machine.
  • You will never need the folder on this particular device — a shared media archive on a work laptop, for example.
  • You are working on a small-SSD device where the placeholder metadata for a very large library is itself a problem.

Stay with Files On-Demand when:

  • You need occasional access to the folder. One double-click beats reopening settings.
  • You are trying to reclaim disk space and nothing more. Right-click the folder, select Free up space, and the files become blue cloud placeholders — full detail in How to Use OneDrive Files On-Demand.

Tip: To reclaim space automatically instead of manually, Windows can return unopened files to online-only on a schedule. See How to Use Storage Sense with OneDrive.

5. Pause Syncing Temporarily ​

Pausing is the right tool when the problem is bandwidth or battery rather than disk space — a hotel connection, a tethered phone, or a large upload competing with a video call.

  1. Click the OneDrive cloud icon in the notification area.
  2. Click the gear icon at the top right of the panel.
  3. Point at Pause syncing and choose 2 hours, 8 hours, or 24 hours from the submenu.
  4. The cloud icon in the notification area gains a small pause badge, and the panel header changes to read Syncing paused.

To start again, click the gear icon and select Resume syncing. OneDrive processes everything that queued while it was paused.

  • Pausing does not stop you working. Keep editing files — the changes upload when sync resumes.
  • Sync restarts on its own when the timer runs out, so a forgotten pause does not leave you unprotected forever.
  • OneDrive can pause itself. In the OneDrive Settings window, select Sync and backup in the left sidebar, then expand Preferences. Two toggles there pause syncing on a metered network and in battery saver mode.

6. Unlink This PC and What It Leaves Behind ​

Unlinking disconnects your account from the sync client on this computer. Use it when you are handing the machine back, when you signed in to the wrong account, or when a stubborn sync fault needs a clean reconnection.

  1. Open OneDrive Settings and select Account in the left sidebar.
  2. Click Unlink this PC under the account you want to disconnect.
  3. A dialog titled Unlink account on this PC? appears. Click Unlink account.
  4. Syncing stops at once and the Set up OneDrive window opens asking for an email address. Close that window unless you are signing in to a different account.

What survives on the computer afterwards:

  • The local folder stays. C:\Users\yourname\OneDrive - CompanyName remains in place, holding every file that had been downloaded. Those files become ordinary local files with no status badges and no connection to the cloud.
  • Online-only files disappear from that folder. They were placeholders with no contents on this disk, so unlinking leaves nothing behind for them. Every one of them is still in the cloud.
  • The cloud is untouched. Sign back in with the same account and the client reconnects to exactly the same content.
  • Folder backup keeps its redirection. If Desktop and Documents had been redirected into OneDrive, they keep pointing at that local folder path after unlinking, and it no longer syncs anywhere.

Tip: Before you unlink, right-click any folder you want to keep on the device and select Always keep on this device. Wait for the solid green circles to appear, then unlink.

Troubleshooting ​

WARNING

Let sync finish before you untick a folder or unlink the PC. Click the cloud icon and confirm the panel shows no pending uploads. A file that has never reached the cloud has no copy to fall back on, and both actions remove local files.

Symptom / ErrorPotential CauseSolution
Desktop, Documents, and Pictures are greyed out in Choose foldersFolder backup manages those foldersSelective sync cannot touch them. Turn the folder off in Manage backup instead — see Understanding Why Your Desktop and Documents Moved to OneDrive.
The Choose folders button is missing from the Account pageSync client is out of dateUpdate OneDrive from the Microsoft Store, or download the current client from onedrive.com/download and run it. Reopen Settings > Account.
Free disk space did not increase after unticking a folderThe folder was already online-onlyPlaceholder files use almost no disk space, so removing them frees almost none. For real space savings see How to Free Up Disk Space in Windows 11.
Files are missing in File Explorer but present at onedrive.comThe folder is unticked on this PCWorking as designed. Retick the folder using Step 2, or open the file in the browser.
Sync stays paused after the timer expiresMetered network or battery saver toggleOpen Settings > Sync and backup > Preferences and turn off the two pause toggles, or connect to an unmetered network (Step 5).
An unticked folder came back on its ownFolder backup or a re-added shortcutCheck Manage backup for a redirected folder with the same name, and check whether a shared folder shortcut was added back to your OneDrive.
Files sit at "Processing changes" and never sync after retickingLarge folder still being indexedLeave the PC on and connected for an hour. If it has not moved, work through How to Fix OneDrive Sync Problems — Pending, Stuck, or Files Not Uploading.