OneDrive is an essential part of Microsoft's Office suite, but there are a lot of reasons why you might want to disable the cloud storage service on your PC – not the least of which is that keeping your files in sync with OneDrive can slow down your computer.
Depending on why you want to disable OneDrive, you may want to disable the service temporarily or remove it permanently.
Advertisem*nt
How to temporarily pause OneDrive on a PC
You can disable OneDrive for a period of time, which can be handy if you're not on Wi-Fi and have to pay for your internet access, or if you suspect OneDrive is slowing down your PC and you need to speed it up temporarily.
1. Click the OneDrive icon in the notification area of the taskbar in the lower right corner of your PC desktop.
2. In the OneDrive window, click "Help & Settings."
3. In the menu, click "Pause Syncing" and then choose 2, 8, or 24 hours.
4. OneDrive will be disabled for that time and start working again normally afterwards. You can re-enable OneDrive sooner by returning to "Help & Settings" and choosing "Resume Syncing."
How to permanently disable OneDrive on a PC by unlinking it
If you unlink your computer from OneDrive, any other devices linked to OneDrive will continue to sync normally, and no files will be deleted from your PC or OneDrive. But it will disable OneDrive on this PC so files are no longer kept in sync.
1. Click the OneDrive icon in the notification area of the taskbar in the lower right corner of your PC desktop.
2. In the OneDrive window, click "Help & Settings."
3. In the menu, click "Settings."
4. The OneDrive Settings window will appear.On the "Account" tab, click "Unlink this PC," and then confirm you want to do this by clicking "Unlink account."
Advertisem*nt
How to uninstall OneDrive from your PC
After unlinking OneDrive, you can keep OneDrive installed on your PC in case you want to re-enable it later, or you can delete the app from the computer.
1. In the Start search box, type "remove" and then select "Add or remove programs" when it appears in the search results.
2. Scroll down to find "Microsoft OneDrive" and click it.
3. Click "Uninstall."
Advertisem*nt
Related coverage fromTech Reference:
How to get the Microsoft Office Suite on your iPhone and use certain apps for free
How to get all of the Microsoft Office suite apps on an Android device for free or with a paid subscription
Yes, you can use Microsoft Word on a Chromebook — here's how to install it
How to sign out of iCloud on all of your devices at once to keep your account secure
How to cancel an iCloud storage plan in 3 ways and revert to the default storage or otherwise downgrade
Dave Johnson
Freelance Writer
Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.
