New laptop - old desktop not appearing on new machine even though signed in with onedrive

Tim Hooper 20 Reputation points
2025-11-05T17:56:11.79+00:00

Ive setup my new laptop and signed into MS account. Outlook setup and configured no problem. Onedrive is connected and indicated up to date but the old desktop is not active. If I look in the File Explorer in the new PC I see all my onedrive folders and files from my old machine are up to date. Below I also see another Desktop folder which is not connected to onedrive, just located on the new machine. It is empty but being used by the new machine. Effectively in the File Explorer I see two desktops. I want the new machine to use the onedrive version from the old PC. Any suggestions would be great.

Many thanks, TH

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Windows
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Answer accepted by question author
Arlene D 36,270 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2025-11-05T18:30:02.2566667+00:00

Hello, thanks for reaching out.

Did you turn on the Desktop backup in OneDrive on your old computer? On your new laptop, right-click the OneDrive icon, select Settings, go to Sync and Backup, then choose Manage Back up. Make sure Desktop is turned on. This will connect your new laptop to the same OneDrive Desktop folder and sync your files automatically. Hope it helps!

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