How to change OneDrive account in Windows 8.1?

2Charlie

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I have a personal account as well as a university account. In Windows 8.1, how do I switch from my personal account to my university account so that all my OneDrive for Business data is showing in Windows 8.1 instead of my personal OneDrive for consumer?

Thank you!
 

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    2Charlie
Hello Charlie, and welcome to Eight Forums.

If you needed to switch between the accounts often, then you might consider creating a new Microsoft account using your university address in Windows. This way you can easily switch between the user accounts in Windows as needed. :)
 

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I do not need to change often. I just need to change from my personal OneDrive to my University OneDrive account. I can do this easily in the OneDrive desktop version but Windows 8.1 do not have this option.
 

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    2Charlie
Since OneDrive is directly tied to your Microsoft account, it would be easier to access the other OneDrive online via your browser as needed instead of switching your Microsoft account in Windows each time you want to switch OneDrive accounts.

It depends on your needs though, so please let me know what would work best for you, and I'll be happy to help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Actually, this is a Surface Pro 3 that is joined to a University's domain. I logged with the university's credential. So, I don't get how it's a Microsoft account. To be honest, I don't remember I got it linked to my personal OneDrive at the beginning. The email I used to login to this computer is always a university email address.
 

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    2Charlie
In that case, it would definitely be easier to sign in to OneDrive online to use either.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
I don't think you understand my question. I already know how to sign to either account online. Since Windows 8.1 already have OneDrive integrated and I can't install the desktop version, which I preferred but can't. I need to have the University OneDrive synced in my computer so that I can work offline and automatically syncs back to OneDrive when my tablet is back online again. Sign to online account is not a option.
 

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    2Charlie

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Again, I already have two accounts. The university account is able to log in to office.com web site and use everything there. Let me try to make this as clear as possible. It seems you still misunderstood about my question. Forget about accessing two accounts.

I logged in to the tablet using University account. Here's what I want:
  1. Un-link **REMOVED** OneDrive for Consumer in the tablet from the university account **REMOVED**
  2. Link my **REMOVED** account in the tablet so I can start syncing the OneDrive for Business with my folders

Okay, making it even shorter and clearer. How to unlink and re-link OneDrive account in Windows 8.1?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

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    2Charlie
For your 2 steps above you could un-link your current MS account by converting to local account. Then connect to the new one by converting to MS account and giving the new e-mail.

1. http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/4842-local-account-switch-windows-8-a.html
2. http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/4840-microsoft-account-switch-windows-8-a.html

If that is what you are after :)

Edit: when you are in the interim local account phase you may want to move the contents of your current OneDrive folder (C:\Users\your name\Onedrive) to another directory so your personal onedrive stuff already on your local disk doesn't get synched to your university account.
 

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    Windows 10 Pro Prieview x64
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    MacBook Pro Core2Duo
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    T7600
    Memory
    3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon X1600
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    Internal
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 800
    Hard Drives
    40GB
    Keyboard
    Apple
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    Apple
    Internet Speed
    Varies
    Browser
    Various
    Antivirus
    Defender
I'm a complete novice, so forgive me if I've misunderstood your question, 2Charlie, but I battled with a similar challenge (switching between my work OneDrive and my personal OneDrive) and thought I'd share my solution:

If your employer uses "Office 365 for Business", then your work OneDrive will actually be "OneDrive for Business". Your personal account will be just "OneDrive". Whilst they sound the same, in reality, the two products are as separate as, say, Dropbox and Box.

On your laptop/desktop, this actually has an advantage: You can install two separate Apps from the Windows Store; "OneDrive" (and log in with your personal account details) and "OneDrive for Business" (and log in with your work account details).

The result in Windows Explorer is that both accounts are shown and you can even drag and drop files between accounts. See screenshot attached.

Regarding the mobile/tablet OneDrive app, I think I'm right in saying that you can either install two separate apps (as with the laptop/desktop approach), or, just install the "OneDrive" (personal) app, which now allows you to add a "OneDrive for Business" account.

62137-how-change-onedrive-account-windows-8-1-a-picture1.png
 

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