Sync Your Settings - Turn On or Off in Windows 8

How to Turn On or Off Your Sync Settings Between PCs in Windows 8 and 8.1​


information   Information
If you use a Microsoft account to sign in to Windows 8 or 8.1, then you will be able to sync your settings between your other confirmed trusted PCs running Windows 8 or 8.1 that you sign in to with the same Microsoft account.

This tutorial will show you how to turn your sync settings on or off for your Microsoft account in Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, and Windows RT 8.1.

Note   Note
Settings to Sync in Windows 8 and Windows RT
When you turn on sync settings on your PC, you will also be able to turn on or off the individual settings to sync between your PCs.

  • Personalize - Colors, background, lock screen, and your account picture
  • Desktop personalization - Themes, taskbar, and more
  • Ease of Access - Settings for Narrator, Magnifier, and more
  • Language preferences - Keyboards, other input methods, display language, and more
  • App settings - Certain settings in your apps, but not all
  • Browser settings - Internet Explorer history and bookmarks (favorites)
  • Other Windows settings - File Explorer and mouse settings
  • Sign-in info - For some apps, websites, networks, and HomeGroup


Settings to Sync in Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1
When you sign in to Windows 8.1 with a Microsoft account, the PC settings and app data you choose to sync are also saved on OneDrive. When you turn on sync settings on your PC, you will also be able to turn on or off the individual settings to sync between your PCs.

  • Start screen - Start screen tiles and tile layout
  • Appearance - Colors, background, lock screen, and account picture
  • Desktop personalization - Themes, taskbar, high contrast, and more
  • Installed Apps - Apps installed on your PCs
  • App settings - Your settings and purchases with apps. (This setting can only be synced and not backed up.)
  • Web Browser - Your favorites, open tabs, home pages, history, and settings
  • Passwords - Your sign-in info for some apps, websites, networks, and HomeGroup
  • Language preferences - Keyboards, input methods, display language, personal dictionary, and more
  • Ease of Access - Settings for Narrator, Magnifier, and more
  • Other Windows settings - File Explorer mouse, printers, and more
  • Back up settings - Allows you to set whether you want Windows 8.1 to back up your settings even if you don't choose to sync them between PCs and devices.

When you are setting up Windows 8.1 with a Microsoft account (see step 17E at link), you will be able to select to copy one of your synced settings from any Windows 8.1 PC that is still available in "Backed up device settings" on your OneDrive.

8_1_clean_install_setup-2.jpg

Tip   Tip
If you're having problems syncing your settings, you can try running the Microsoft Accounts troubleshooter. It's an automated tool that can find and automatically fix some syncing problems.

warning   Warning
You will not be able to sync your settings if you sign in to Windows with a local user account. You will need to use a Microsoft account to use to sign in to Windows with instead.


CONTENTS:
  • Option One: To Turn On or Off your Sync Settings in PC Settings
  • Option Two: To Turn On or Off your Sync Settings in Registry Editor






OPTION ONE

To Turn On or Off your Sync Settings in PC Settings


​
1. Do step 2 or step 3 below depending on what Windows you have.​
​
​
2. In Windows 8 and Windows RT, open PC settings, and click/tap on Sync your settings on the left side.​
​
A) If you have not already, then you will need you will need to click/tap on the Trust this PC link on the right side to add this Windows 8 PC as a trusted PC before you will be able to sync with your Microsoft account. (see screenshot below)​
​
B) Go to step 4 below.​
​
confirm1.jpg​

​
3. In Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1, open PC settings, and click/tap on OneDrive on the left side. (see screenshot below)​
​
​
Windows_8_1_Sync-1.png​
​
​
A) Click/tap on Sync settings on the left side of "OneDrive". (see screenshot below)​
​
B) If you have not already, then you will need to click/tap on the Verify link on the right side to add this Windows 8.1 PC as a trusted PC before you will be able to sync with your Microsoft account.​
​
C) Go to step 4 below.​
​
8_1_Sync_Settings-2.png​

​
4. Do either step 5, step 6, step 7, or step 8 below for what you would like to do.​
​
​
5. To Turn On Sync Your Settings​
​
A) On the right side under Sync settings on this PC, move the slider to the right to turn it on, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshots below step 3C and below)​
​
Sync-On-1.jpg​

​
6. To Turn On or Off to Back up Settings that Aren't Synced​
​
A) In Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1, under Back up settings on the right side, move the slider to the right (turn on) or left (turn off) for what you want, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below step 3C)​

​
7. To Change Sync Settings​
​
A) If you have not already, do step 5 above.​
​
B) On the right side you can move the slider to the left (off) or right (on) for each individual sync setting to what you want, and go to step 9 below. (see screenshots below steps 3C and 5A)​

​
8. To Completely Turn Off Sync Your Settings​
​
A) On the right side under Sync your settings, move the slider to the left to turn it off, and go to step 9 below. (see screenshot below)​
NOTE: This will gray out all sync settings.​
​
Sync-Off-.jpg​
​

​
9. When finished, you can close PC settings if you like.​






OPTION TWO

To Turn On or Off your Sync Settings in Registry Editor


​
1. Press the :winkey: + R keys to open the Run dialog, type regedit, and click/tap on OK.​
​
2. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes.​
​
3. In Registry Editor, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)​
​
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SettingSync\Groups​
​
​
Sync_Settings_Registry-1.jpg​

​
4. Expand open the Groups key, and click on the subkey for the sync setting that you want to turn on or off. (see screenshot above)​
​
​
[TABLE=class:-grid,-width:-700][TR][TD]
Registry Subkey
[/TD]
[TD]
Sync Setting
[/TD]
[TD]
Description
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Accessibility
[/TD]
[TD]
Other settings -> Ease of Access
[/TD]
[TD]
Narrator, Magnifier, and more
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
AppSync
[/TD]
[TD]
App settings -> Apps
[/TD]
[TD]
The list of apps I've installed
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
BrowserSettings
[/TD]
[TD]
Other settings -> Web Browser
[/TD]
[TD]
My favorites, open tabs, home pages, history, and settings
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Credentials
[/TD]
[TD]
Other settings -> Passwords
[/TD]
[TD]
My sign-in info for some apps, websites, networks, and HomeGroup
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
DesktopTheme
[/TD]
[TD]
Personalization settings -> Desktop personalization
[/TD]
[TD]
My themes, taskbar, high contrast, and more
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Language
[/TD]
[TD]
Other settings -> Language preferences
[/TD]
[TD]
Keyboards, input methods, display language, personal dictionary, and more
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
PackageState
[/TD]
[TD]
App settings -> App data
[/TD]
[TD]
My settings and purchases within apps
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Personalization
[/TD]
[TD]
Personalization settings -> Appearance
[/TD]
[TD]
My colors, backgrounds, lock screen, and account picture
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
StartLayout
[/TD]
[TD]
Personalization settings -> Start screen
[/TD]
[TD]
My Start screen tiles and tile layout
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Windows
[/TD]
[TD]
Other settings -> Other Windows settings
[/TD]
[TD]
File Explorer, mouse, printers, and more
[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]

5. In the right pane of the subkey (ex: Accessibility), double/click tap on the Enabled DWORD to modify it. (see screenshot below step 3)​
​
6. Do step 7 or 8 below for what you would like to do.​
​
7. To Turn On Sync Setting​
NOTE: This is the default setting.​
​
A) Type 1, click/tap on OK, and go to step 9 below. (see screenshot below)​
​
Sync_Settings_Registry-2.jpg​

​
8. To Turn Off Sync Setting​
​
A) Type 0 (zero), click/tap on OK, and go to step 9 below. (see screenshot above)​

​
9. Repeat step 5 if you would like to turn on or off any other of your sync settings.​
​
10. When finished, you can close Registry Editor.​



That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials


 

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Last edited by a moderator:
Click to expand...
Hello Dave,

Thank you.

Sorry, but no. It only added the user picture back for me after signing in with my Microsoft account when doing that. It will only sync if it's a currently running installation with a Microsoft account. :(
 
Yeah, that would be nice. Maybe in the future.

UPDATE:
Microsoft says that Sync will be fully operational by the time Windows 8 is shipped. Hopefully so. :)
 
Last edited:
How to do hard reset on Windows RT 8.1 Surface 2 tablet?

Brink said:
Yeah, that would be nice. Maybe in the future.

UPDATE:
Microsoft says that Sync will be fully operational by the time Windows 8 is shipped. Hopefully so. :)
Click to expand...


Hello sir, how can I completely reset my Windows RT 8.1 Surface 2 back to completely original factory settings, theme, etc.? I would like to make my tablet look as if it's brand new again. Here's my problem and I am practically praying that you can help me solve it!

I tried to do a full reset through my settings but when everything was done, my old start screen configuration was still there. I would like to completely wipe any backup settings and everything associated with my tablet. I made some mistakes and I would just like to completely reset it as if it is factory new. Please help me with this.

Another issue of mine involving Skydrive is, when I went to this link: https://skydrive.live.com/ and went to Manage Storage -> Device Settings, I erased my laptop and tablet's settings profile from there. Now I want to re-sync my devices (separately from one another) and when I go back there, no devices are shown. But in my settings I have syncing turned on for both devices.

I have a Windows 8.1 laptop and for some reason it synced my laptop's start screen onto my tablet. I would just like to set up my tablet as a new PC and erase all of my synced data with my tablet (maybe even laptop) and start from 0. I basically want to not have my pc and tablet sync settings with one another but I would, however, like to use Skydrive's storage app with both of them. My customization on my 15" laptop just doesn't look good on my 10.1" tablet you know what I mean? The tiles end up looking very unorganized..

The main issue is that my RT 8.1 keeps syncing with my laptop's start screen even though I chose the option to set up a new device when I initially set up my tablet. I would just like to have these two devices separate.

Thanks in advance!
 
Last edited:
Hello AGorrila, and welcome to Eight Forums.

It sounds like you may have mistakenly checked the "Sync my Start screen layout" option when setting up Windows 8.1.

Turning off syncing the Start screen in the settings in this tutorial should stop that.


30788d1383245660-clean-install-windows-8-windows_8.1_clean_install_setup-2.jpg

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn
 
Wow that makes perfect sense! The only problem is though, when I reset my tablet and go through the installation again, this option of setting up my tablet as a new pc does not even show up :/ It showed up the very first time I used my tablet but never again since. Lol should I just return my tablet and get it again cuss this is crazy?! Thanks for replying so fast man I finally have a source of support!
 
Other than turning off your sync settings on one of the PCs (ex: tablet) that you don't want to be synced, you could use a separate Microsoft account on each PC.
 
Brink said:
Other than turning off your sync settings on one of the PCs (ex: tablet) that you don't want to be synced, you could use a separate Microsoft account on each PC.
Click to expand...

Ok, but what if I reset my tablet in the future and I would like my start screen that I custom organized back? Wouldn't that stop my Surface 2 from saving it's full configurations to the cloud? I want my PC and my Tablet to save and upload to the cloud all of their settings and not to sync with one another. Please let me know if I can do that, thank you sir.
 
It should if you select to "Set this up as a new PC instead" option with "Sync my Start screen layout" unchecked. :)
 
Tutorial updated to add OPTION TWO to turn on/off your sync settings in Registry Editor. :)
 
Where are wallpapers stored?

Thanks for the tutorial... one question... did Windows send to OneDrive all the JPGs that I had in my wallpapers folder on my PC1, and the download them all locally to my PC2 in some specific location? Where could I find that location, and if I were to add more JPGs in that folder on PC2, would they also get added to the original wallpapers folder on PC1?
 
Hello Orlando,

The sync settings for a PC are stored on your OneDrive. The tutorial below for how to delete them can help to see how they look.
The synced "Personalization" setting would only include the current wallpaper and not all of them though.

If you like, you could save them in the OneDrive Pictures folder and have them made available offline to keep them available on both your PC and OneDrive.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/28148-onedrive-available-offline-online-windows-8-1-a.html

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn
 
Brink said:
Hello Orlando,

The sync settings for a PC are stored on your OneDrive. The tutorial below for how to delete them can help to see how they look.
The synced "Personalization" setting would only include the current wallpaper and not all of them though.

If you like, you could save them in the OneDrive Pictures folder and have them made available offline to keep them available on both your PC and OneDrive.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/28148-onedrive-available-offline-online-windows-8-1-a.html

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn
Click to expand...

Not sure this really explains it Shawn... my desktop rotates different wallpapers every 15 minutes... my laptop seems to be scrolling thru a bunch too... my OneDrive is empty.....
 
Usually the sync data for a PC will be stored on your online OneDrive in the (user-name)->(computer name) folder. You won't see them as normal image files though.
 
Brink said:
[...]

[/tip]
warning   Warning
You will not be able to sync your settings if you sign in to Windows with a local user account. You will need to use a Microsoft account to use to sign in to Windows with instead.



[...]




OPTION TWO

To Turn On or Off your Sync Settings in Registry Editor


[...]


8. To Turn Off Sync Setting

A) Type 0 (zero), click/tap on OK, and go to step 9 below. (see screenshot above)
​
Click to expand...


​

When I do as instructed by 8 (A) for AppSync, the 'value name' remains 'Enabled'. You don't specifically state that this ought to be manually amended, and the rest of your instructions here seem quite thorough, based on a quick scan. Should this 'value name' automagically change to 'Disabled' when 'value data' is changed to 0? (I would have thought it should, so as to avoid confusion.)

Notes:
  1. I'm familiar enough with Regedit to be confident when changing values, but am by no means an expert in its use -- I use it once in a blue moon.
  2. I note the warning (included in the quote above) -- might this be relevant? (If it is: since I am trying to disable a feature I do not need that is enabled by default on the incorrect assumption that I do want it (and having not asked me whether I do) then it's a bit rich to require me to jump through other hoops first. Something like a spammer sending me his crap and then providing me with an 'unsubscribe' link that takes me somewhere else that requires me to register before being able to unsub -- as though I'm likely to do that (not). Life is too short for all this rubbish.

Thanks :)
 
Hello Pendantry,

The DWORD name remains named "Enabled" for each key. It's only the "Data" value below that you change for the "Enabled" DWORD. Step 5 in OPTION TWO specifies this. :)

0 = Turn off Syncing for that key

1 = Turn on Syncing for that key
 
Brink said:
Hello Pendantry,

The DWORD name remains named "Enabled" for each key. It's only the "Data" value below that you change for the "Enabled" DWORD. Step 5 in OPTION TWO specifies this. :)

0 = Turn off Syncing for that key

1 = Turn on Syncing for that key
Click to expand...


Hi Brink, thanks for the response.

OK, I think I get it. 'Enabled' means that the key is enabled. My mistake, I guess.

From what I'm now seeing in the Event Viewer it looks as though AppSync is now disabled.

Thank you for your help! :)
 
Nope. That's not correct.

"Enabled" is just the name of the DWORD. The name does not ever change. The 0 or 1 set for it is what determines if it is enabled or disabled.
 
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