How to unsync my folders from onedrive to on my mac

Hi, Alyssa Britney Hartnett

It sounds like OneDrive changed your Mac’s folders when it was set up, and uninstalling the app alone usually does not switch those folders back to normal local-only storage.

Here are some suggestions you can try:

If possible, reinstall OneDrive, open the cloud icon in the menu bar, go to Help & Settings > Preferences > Account, then choose Unlink this Mac. Unlinking properly disconnects the Mac from OneDrive, while just deleting the app often leaves the sync setup behind.

After that, uninstall OneDrive again and restart your Mac. Some OneDrive background files and Finder links can stay behind until the Mac fully restarts.

If you want to keep OneDrive but not sync everything, reinstall it and use Choose Folders in OneDrive settings to uncheck the folders you do not want on the Mac. This works because OneDrive lets you stop syncing selected folders without deleting them from the cloud.

If the OneDrive folder is still showing oddly in Finder, check Finder > Settings > Sidebar and make sure Cloud Storage is set the way you want. A few Mac users found the folder view there can make it seem like OneDrive is still taking over.

Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you. 

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On macOS, uninstalling OneDrive does not automatically “unsync” or relink Desktop/Documents/Pictures back to local-only storage. Use OneDrive’s unlink function and then reinstall or reconfigure so files are stored on the Mac again.

Follow these steps:

1. Unlink OneDrive from the Mac
   1. Click the OneDrive cloud icon in the menu bar.
   2. Select Help & Settings > Preferences.
   3. Go to the Account tab.
   4. Select Unlink this Mac.
   This stops sync but does not delete your cloud files.
2. Remove the OneDrive app (if still installed)
   1. Quit OneDrive.
   2. In Applications, drag OneDrive to the Trash.
3. Reinstall and set up OneDrive (optional, if OneDrive is still wanted but not controlling all folders)
   1. Download the Microsoft OneDrive app from the website.
   2. Open the downloaded file and sign in.
   3. When prompted for the OneDrive folder location, choose or confirm a folder under the Mac user profile (e.g., in the home folder) and then use OneDrive only from that folder.
   4. After setup, use Preferences > Account > Choose folders (if needed, per the linked docs) to limit which OneDrive folders sync locally.
4. Save files locally again After unlinking and/or reinstalling, in apps like Word/Excel/PowerPoint or other programs, use Save As and choose a location under On My Mac (e.g., Documents) instead of the OneDrive folder. Once Desktop/Documents/Pictures are no longer redirected into the OneDrive folder, they will behave as normal local folders.

If OneDrive had created a CloudStorage-based folder and you see duplicate OneDrive locations, resolve that by unlinking and reinstalling as above so only one active OneDrive folder remains.

References:

• Unlink and re-link OneDrive
• Reinstall OneDrive
• Why do I have two versions of OneDrive on my Mac?
• Work with synced files in File Explorer