How to Disable or Completely Remove OneDrive in Windows 10

OneDrive is a feature that comes with Windows 10. OneDrive is a cloud service that stores your documents and files. However, OneDrive collects your data automatically, and that may compromise your privacy. In this tutorial, you will learn how to disable or completely remove OneDrive in Windows 10.

Disable OneDrive in Windows 10

This option is only available for Windows Pro and above. Some Windows editions do not have the Group Policy editor feature. You can confirm which Windows edition your computer is running by following the steps below:

1. Open the File Explorer
2. Right click on ‘This PC’ and select ‘Properties.’
3. The System Properties tab will open, and you can view your Windows edition at the top as follows

Once you confirm you have a Windows edition that allows group policy editing, you can proceed.

Step 1

Double press ‘Windows Key + R’ then type and run ‘gpedit.msc’ as illustrated below:

Step 2

On the Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to ‘Windows Components’ found under ‘Administrative Templates.’ Once you click on ‘Windows Components’ find ‘OneDrive’ on the right side and open the folder.

Step 3

Within OneDrive, find and open the setting ‘Prevent the usage of OneDrive for file storage’ as illustrated below:

Step 4

After opening the setting (double click), you need to enable the setting then hit ‘Apply’ then ‘OK’ to save your changes.

You have successfully disabled OneDrive integration in Windows 10. Your files will now only be stored on your local machine.

Completely Remove OneDrive in Windows 10

The steps that follow will enable you to remove OneDrive in any Windows 10 computer completely. Removing OneDrive increases your privacy as well as saves your battery usage (OneDrive sync).

Step 1

You need to copy and paste the code below into notepad and save as ‘uninstall onedrive.cmd.’

 
@echo off
cls
set x86="%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\OneDriveSetup.exe"
set x64="%SYSTEMROOT%\SysWOW64\OneDriveSetup.exe"
echo Closing OneDrive process.
echo.
taskkill /f /im OneDrive.exe > NUL 2>&1
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 5 > NUL 2>&1
echo Uninstalling OneDrive.
echo.
if exist %x64% (
%x64% /uninstall
) else (
%x86% /uninstall
)
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 10 > NUL 2>&1
echo Removing OneDrive leftovers.
echo.
rd "%USERPROFILE%\OneDrive" /Q /S > NUL 2>&1
rd "C:\OneDriveTemp" /Q /S > NUL 2>&1
rd "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\OneDrive" /Q /S > NUL 2>&1
rd "%PROGRAMDATA%\Microsoft OneDrive" /Q /S > NUL 2>&1
echo Removing OneDrive from the Explorer Side Panel.
echo.
REG DELETE "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}" /f > NUL 2>&1
REG DELETE "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}" /f > NUL 2>&1
pause 

Your ‘uninstall onedrive.cmd’ file should look like the image below:

Step 2

Right click on the ‘uninstall onedrive.cmd’ file and run as administrator as illustrated below.

Step 3

Once all the operations have been completed as shown below, click on any button to exit the command prompt.

Step 4

You now need to run ‘regedit’ then navigate to the path shown in the image below. Delete the ‘OneDrive’ folder from the Windows Registry as illustrated below

Step 5

Double press ‘ctrl +F’ then find and delete all the instances associated with ‘OneDrive.’

Note: Do not attempt to perform this step if you are not competent in working with Windows Registry. Do not delete any registry entry if you are unsure of its purpose or relation to OneDrive.

Step 6

Finally, navigate to the Microsoft folder as shown below. Delete the OneDrive folder if present.

You have successfully removed OneDrive completely in Windows 10.

Conclusion

You can now disable or completely remove OneDrive in Windows 10. Which option worked best for you? Please share your feedback on the comment section below.