If you’re connecting a device to your OneDrive account for the first time, you may find that you need to download files that are currently saved on the cloud. If you don’t want to download those files, you’ll need to unselect the folders you’re downloading from. But there are other options available, which we’ll explore in this OneDrive training video.
Resources
Unselect folders
1) Open OneDrive from the taskbar.
2) Click the cog icon (top right).
3) Select “Settings.”
4) Go to “Account.”
5) Click “Choose folders.”
6) Unselect the folders you don’t want to sync with.
7) Then hit “OK.”
Limit downloads
1) Open OneDrive from the taskbar.
2) Click the cog icon (top right).
3) Select “Settings.”
4) Go to “Sync and backup.”
5) Click on “Advanced settings.”
6) Toggle on “Limit download rate.”
7) Click the down arrow next to the toggle and set a lower limit if required.
Pause syncing while you work
1) Open OneDrive from the taskbar.
2) Click the cog icon (top right).
3) Click “Pause syncing.”
4) Select a duration that covers your working hours to avoid interference.
Free up space
1) Open File Explorer.
2) Right-click your OneDrive folder.
3) Select “Free up space.”
In this video, we’ll also show you how to install and use the Group Policy Editor to prevent OneDrive from storing files from the cloud.
Code to install gpedit.msc
@echo off
pushd "%~dp0"
dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientExtensions-Package~3*.mum >List.txt
dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientTools-Package~3*.mum >>List.txt
for /f %%i in ('findstr /i . List.txt 2^>nul') do dism /online /norestart /add-package:"%SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\%%i"
pauseFrom: https://businesstechplanet.com/tools/gpedit.txt
Important: OneDrive settings in gpedit.msc are designed to work with the following Operating Systems: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1