OneDrive - Save Documents to by Default in Windows 8.1

How to Save Your Documents to OneDrive by Default in Windows 8.1
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   Information

SkyDrive is now called OneDrive instead.

OneDrive is Now Available Worldwide: Free Cloud Storage for Microsoft, iOS, and Android Devices | OneDrive Blog

OneDrive is a cloud-based storage service where you can view, browse, upload, and share the files you saved online to OneDrive.com. When you save files to OneDrive, the files are automatically available to access or share from any device, even if something happens to your PC.

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off having documents that are saved to your Documents library automatically saved to OneDrive by default instead in Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1.

   Note

When you turn on having your documents saved to OneDrive, Windows will automatically set your "C:\Users\(user-name)\OneDrive\Documents" folder as the default save location for your Documents library.

When you turn off having your documents saved to OneDrive, Windows will automatically set whatever folder you had set prior as the default save location again for your Documents library.

Here's How:

1. Open PC settings, and click/tap on OneDrive on the left side. (see screenshot below)

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2. Click/tap on File storage on the left side of "OneDrive", and do step 3 or 4 below for what you want to do. (see screenshot below)

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3. To Save Your Documents to OneDrive by Default

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A) Move the Save documents to OneDrive by default slider to the right to turn it on, and go to step 5 below. (see screenshot below step 2)​

4. To Stop Saving Your Documents to OneDrive by Default

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A) Move the Save documents to OneDrive by default slider to the left to turn it off, and go to step 5 below. (see screenshot below step 2)​

5. When finished, you can close PC settings if you like.



That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Upload Photos and Videos from Your Camera Roll in Windows 8.1 to OneDrive
• Set "Default Save Location" and "Public Save Location" for Library in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Set up and Use File History in Windows 8 and 8.1
• Save Your Music, Pictures, and Videos to Removable Drive by Default in Windows 8.1
• How to Enable or Disable OneDrive Integration in Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1
• How to Sign in or out of OneDrive App in Windows 8, Windows 8.1, or Windows RT
• Make OneDrive Files and Folders Available Offline or Online-only in Windows 8.1
• How to Share Files and Folders and Change Permissions in your OneDrive
• How to Browse Your Files on OneDrive and This PC in OneDrive App in Windows 8.1
• How to Turn On or Off OneDrive Usage Over Metered Connections in Windows 8.1
• How to Manage and Buy more Storage Space for your OneDrive
• How to Sync, Pause syncing, and Resume syncing OneDrive Files in Windows 8.1

 

[Wotan]

This procedure doesn't appear to be available unless you're logged on to your PC as a Microsoft Account. Since I'm not, and don't want to be, I'll keep looking for a way to turn off SkyDrive as the default storage location.

 

[Brink]

Hello Wotan, and welcome to Eight Forums.

No worries. If you're not signed into Windows 8.1 with a Microsoft account, then nothing is being saved to SkyDrive since you must be signed in with a Microsoft account for the integrated SkyDrive to work.

 

[Wotan]

Hello Wotan, and welcome to Eight Forums.

No worries. If you're not signed into Windows 8.1 with a Microsoft account, then nothing is being saved to SkyDrive since you must be signed in with a Microsoft account for the integrated SkyDrive to work.

Thanks, Brink. That's good to know. What I noticed is that I go to save some downloaded file, and the default save location is a SkyDrive folder. I fiddled with some settings, but haven't tested it yet to see if my preference will be honored.

Nice icon, BTW. Am a UFO buff myself

 

[Brink]

Setting the Documents library like in the blue Note box at the top of the tutorial to the default save locations you want should work for this.

To bad there's not many decent UFO shows on TV anymore.

 

[bmax1985]

This keeps getting turned back on. Very annoying.

Any way how to permanently stop it as indicated above but not break SkyDrive as I use it to manually put files there?

 

[Brink]

Hello bmax,

I've noticed that as well. I believe that removing the "C:\Users\(user-name)\SkyDrive\Documents" from the Documents library may help, but I just recently tested this and it hasn't been long enough to see if it stops it from being turned back on yet. You might give it a try to see as well.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/13048-library-remove-folder-windows-8-a.html

 

[FunkyB]

"Save document to OneDrive by default" keeps getting silently turned back on every time Windows updates are installed. It's causing me a lot of trouble and nothing I've tried has stopped it, until now (hopefully). However there is a related thread about disabling OneDrive integration entirely and that gave me a hint. Here's what I've done which seems to work, although I won't know for sure until the next round of updates. Note that I have my OneDrive\Documents folder included in Libraries > Documents (not sure if that makes a difference.)

1. As described at the top of this thread, open PC Settings > One Drive > File Storage, and turn ON "Save Documents to OneDrive by default" (no, that's not a typo; this did not work with it OFF to begin with).
2. Run gpedit.msc
3. Navigate to Administrative Templates > Windows Components > OneDrive
4. Double click "Save Documents to OneDrive by default"
5. Set it to "Disabled", click Apply, click OK, close gpedit
6. Set the default save location for the Documents Library to your local Documents folder. (To keep this short, I'll assume everyone knows how to do that.) NOTE: This will cause "Save Documents to OneDrive by default" in PC Settings to be turned Off. (Not sure if this step is actually needed.)
7. Restart

Now, regardless of whether "Save Documents to OneDrive by default" in PC Settings is set On or Off, when you go to actually save a file, you should be directed to your local Documents folder. To test, I actually turned that setting back on in PC settings, and although it made OneDrive show a green check as the default Save location for the Documents library (appeared to reverse #5), that seems to be ignored and I am always taken my local Documents folder be default.

I hope this sticks through the next Windows Update, but if all the updates do are turn on the setting in PC Settings, then I should be OK.