I don't understand the new one drive!

Question

I don't understand the new one drive!

Carey Baff 0

I have used a personal one drive account for a few years and keep all my docs on it. Recently I uploaded some photos, some from one drive and some from a memory card, I put to save them to one drive, but they did not go to my personal account and I can't see how to transfer them to my personal account. I tried downloading them, but had to do this one at a time so time consuming. How can I just save to my personal onedrive?

Carey Baff 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T16:22:22.9833333+00:00

AI bot replied:

To save files directly to a personal OneDrive account, use one of these supported methods: In a browser: Sign in to office.com and select OneDrive. Select Add new > Files upload or Folder upload. Choose the photos or folder and select Open or Select Folder. In File Explorer on Windows: Open File Explorer. Select OneDrive – Personal. Copy the photos into that folder. OneDrive will sync them to the personal account. From an Office app: Select File > Save a Copy > OneDrive - Personal. If OneDrive - Personal is missing, select Add a Place > OneDrive and sign in with the Microsoft account. If photos were saved to the wrong OneDrive account, the supported way to move them is to copy them into the OneDrive – Personal folder in File Explorer. Microsoft recommends copy/paste rather than drag/drop because it is less prone to errors. Important points: Make sure the destination is OneDrive – Personal, not another OneDrive location. If both work/school and personal OneDrive accounts are set up on the PC, files can be copied from one OneDrive folder to the other. [---]

Still having problems.

I have opened one drive and clicked upload but the one drive where they are stored is not an available option.

I have tried copying, it seemingly has to be for one item at a time, not done en bloc or for an album and the only option is to copy it to the clipboard, but when I open the clipboard it is not there.
Carey Baff 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T16:23:51.8366667+00:00

You've just repeated the first answer which did not work. Need some human intelligence here
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3 answers

Your answer

Carey Baff 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T16:22:22.9833333+00:00

AI bot replied:

To save files directly to a personal OneDrive account, use one of these supported methods: In a browser: Sign in to office.com and select OneDrive. Select Add new > Files upload or Folder upload. Choose the photos or folder and select Open or Select Folder. In File Explorer on Windows: Open File Explorer. Select OneDrive – Personal. Copy the photos into that folder. OneDrive will sync them to the personal account. From an Office app: Select File > Save a Copy > OneDrive - Personal. If OneDrive - Personal is missing, select Add a Place > OneDrive and sign in with the Microsoft account. If photos were saved to the wrong OneDrive account, the supported way to move them is to copy them into the OneDrive – Personal folder in File Explorer. Microsoft recommends copy/paste rather than drag/drop because it is less prone to errors. Important points: Make sure the destination is OneDrive – Personal, not another OneDrive location. If both work/school and personal OneDrive accounts are set up on the PC, files can be copied from one OneDrive folder to the other. [---]

Still having problems.

I have opened one drive and clicked upload but the one drive where they are stored is not an available option.

I have tried copying, it seemingly has to be for one item at a time, not done en bloc or for an album and the only option is to copy it to the clipboard, but when I open the clipboard it is not there.
Carey Baff 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T16:23:51.8366667+00:00

You've just repeated the first answer which did not work. Need some human intelligence here
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.

Answer 1

Craig Long 18,745

If you have set up both accounts on your computer, sign in to the account that has the files you want to move. Your OneDrive files are located in your OneDrive folder.

If they show up as blue cloud icons, set them to "Always available". See this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzIA9uykIhE&t=43s

Copy the files you want to move to an external drive and eject the drive. Now, sign in to your other account on your computer and copy the files from the external drive to OneDrive.

If you want to transfer files from a business account to a personal account or vice versa, it's easy. See this: https://youtu.be/iRQWD0rdRTw?t=19

Carey Baff 0 Reputation points

2026-10-06T11:40:24.09+00:00

I did not know there were 2 accounts, I had to replace my laptop a couple of weeks ago and thought the only OneDrive account on it was the one I had before, my Personal One. Really I'd like to delete or at least disable the other one but I can't see how and am concerned that as deleting items on the other account causes them to be deleted on my personal account I will lose files I want to keep. I am reasonably competent with computers but I find this very confusing.

Answer 2

I did download [...] from a memory card, and saved them to OneDrive but seemingly not my personal OneDrive (I didn't know there were different ones). I am trying to transfer them to my personal OneDrive, the only way I have found to do this is to put the picture into an album then download it and them save the download to my personal account. Not only is this tedious but when I then delete it from the other OneDrive it is deleted from my personal account. Having found there was a problem I have saved something from an external hard drive, not using the OneDrive option but I have tried downloading the pictures from the memory card again and they are not accepted because they are already on OneDrive.

Your observation is correct. There is no way to copy files between OneDrive accounts. You have to download them and upload them to the correct OneDrive account.

Answer 3

Manoel Barros 22,240 Independent Advisor

Hi!

From what I understand, you are trying to upload images from the memory card, correct?

Have you tried uploading images from another device as well, such as an external hard drive, USB flash drive, mobile phone, etc.?

Are you uploading the images via OneDrive Web, OneDrive Desktop, or OneDrive Mobile?

If the issue only occurs with files from the memory card, try the following test:

Copy a few images from the memory card to your computer (for example, to the Pictures folder).
Then, upload the images you copied to the Pictures folder to OneDrive. Check if it works and if they appear in your personal account.

Carey Baff 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T18:55:11.0766667+00:00

That's not quite it. I did download them from a memory card, and saved them to OneDrive but seemingly not my personal OneDrive (I didn't know there were different ones). I am trying to transfer them to my personal OneDrive, the only way I have found to do this is to put the picture into an album then download it and them save the download to my personal account. Not only is this tedious but when I then delete it from the other OneDrive it is deleted from my personal account. Having found there was a problem I have saved something from an external hard drive, not using the OneDrive option but I have tried downloading the pictures from the memory card again and they are not accepted because they are already on OneDrive.
Manoel Barros 22,240 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-06T00:12:27.7233333+00:00
Thanks for your details!

It really is a complicated situation. You mentioned that if you delete an image from the other OneDrive, it gets deleted from your Personal OneDrive. If you are actually downloading and then uploading the image (not sharing it, but downloading and uploading), this shouldn't happen unless the two accounts are linked in some way.

If you are using the OneDrive desktop app (the version installed on Windows), click the up-arrow icon in the taskbar (next to the sound icon) > Cloud icon > Gear icon > Settings > Account > Check if both accounts are synced within the app.

Also, click on Sync and backup > Manage backup > Check which folders have backup enabled. If both accounts are connected, you should verify whether they are syncing the same folders.
Carey Baff 0 Reputation points

2026-10-06T09:26:21.2866667+00:00

Thank you very much for your reply. If it looks complicated to you it certainly is to me. I have used OneDrive for about 5 years and only knew about the personal version and have used it without problems. I recently had to buy a new laptop, I assume the other version came with it but I did not know there was anything different. I have looked at both my personal one and the other and can't find the icons you refer to or anything about syncing, but it looks as if they are synced because the other one is showing actions in my personal one. Also I was able last night to download the pictures from the memory card again and made sure these were stored in my personal one drive but again they were deleted when I deleted them from the other One Drive. Really I'd like to just disable that one, but am concerned that I'd lose photos so am now backing them all up on an external one drive which I guess will take a while. I think then I will have to ask someone with much more expertise to deal with the problem. I think it is an issue Microsoft need to think about, both that navigating this is very difficult and it feels that I am not in control of my own documents.
Manoel Barros 22,240 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-06T16:22:08.4566667+00:00

Could you send me a screenshot of that other OneDrive? Does it happen to be named "OneDrive Photos"?

Please remove any personal information from the photo, such as email addresses or images of yourself.

Also, please try this test:

Open a web browser > Open an incognito/private window (Ctrl + Shift + N) to prevent automatic login from other accounts > Go to https://onedrive.live.com/photos > Log in with the same account used on your computer > Check if the photos you organized into the album appear.