all my photos and files have been moved off my computers hard drive to one drive. AL

Microsoft did this to me after a routine update. I got varying pieces of advice from Microsoft advisers - not employees - I had no read idea who they were. I was given some instructions to put everything back - I think you can see it on the thread here, but it was only partially successful. I put everything on a portable hard drive and now keep all my photos on it. I was advised by the computer shop I visited not to use the cloud and now do not sync to the cloud. I now don't get constant messages that my cloud storage is full and to buy more space!

I was annoyed that Microsoft had the audacity to get my files and move them all, there was a message that I could press one button to make them all public. Why would I want to make photos of my family public?

Microsoft have zero customer service. The phone help just cuts you off.

I would go to a computer shop or get help from knowledgeable friends, them move to Apple.

This happened to me, too. When One Drive moved the pictures, it also changed the file path to One Drive which I do not want. I did not consent to this so how can I get the pictures back to my hard drive with the original file path to my Pictures folder on My Hard Drive and not Google's cloud. They're not Googles pics by the way so shouldn't just randomly take them to their cloud.

David, I am happy to walk you through.

Very important - don't try to move anything at all. We can sort this through.

This is the original instruction I gave you, in order for me to unpack anything and walk you through, I need to know which step you ran into issue/challenge, and we will work on this.

Right click on the OneDrive cloud icon on the lower right on your taskbar to go to Settings.

1. On the "Sync and Backup" tab, click on "Advanced Settings" to expand that section. Then under File On-Demand, click on "Download all files".
2. Give it plenty of time to allow the files to be downloaded from the online cloud. On your computer's file explorer, you can observe the OneDrive folder and its folders/files inside. You want all of the green checkmark icon to turn solid green with a white checkmark. Depends on how many files you have, this process can take a while, so please be patient.
3. Once all of the folders and files turn into the solid green icon with white checkmark, you can go back to OneDrive Settings. Very important - click on "Manage Backup" button, then turn off all folders listed there.

Hi David,

Thank you for your honest feedback, and I completely understand your frustration in your photos and how you organize them are deeply personal, and it’s upsetting when things are changed without clear consent. Just to clarify, OneDrive’s folder backup can sometimes activate automatically during setup or after updates, which leads to files being moved to the cloud without warning. It’s not intentional, and I agree and it should be more transparent.

Your plan to use a portable hard drive is a smart one if you want full control. In the meantime, if you'd like help restoring your folders as close to the original structure as possible, I’d be happy to guide you step-by-step to make it faster and less tedious.

Warm regards,

Cherrelyn

Impossible to get any help from Microsoft after they get into your files and reorganise them. I am going to keep everything on portable hard drives so they can’t do this again.