In terms of operating systems, the end game is upgrading to Windows 10. Sooner or later, all computers that run on a Windows OS should feature the latest version, which is Windows 10. Those that have installed Windows 10 got a surprise that was more or less unpleasant. This comes in the form of Microsoft OneDrive, the company’s own cloud storage service. For some, it’s great as they constantly use cloud storage and are pleased with what OneDrive offers. For others however, it’s just a waste of space and an inconvenience. For those that would rather not have OneDrive installed, here is how to get rid of it.
The available options to getting rid of OneDrive
When it comes to getting rid of OneDrive, users have two options: They either uninstall it completely, or they just disable it. Some may find benefits in the latter solution even if momentarily they don’t see themselves using it ever. If the moment does come when a user decides they actually want to use OneDrive, it’s a lot quicker and simpler to just enable it instead of having to re-install.
How to uninstall OneDrive
Here are the steps for those that want to fully remove the software from their computers, leaving nothing behind that would be related to OneDrive:
- The first step is to open Command Prompt in Admin Mode
- To stop any ongoing process related to OneDrive, enter this command in Command Prompt: taskkill /f /im OneDrive.exe
- The next step is to use the command for uninstalling, so use the first one for 320bit systems and the second one for 64-bit systems:
%SystemRoot%\System32\OneDriveSetup.exe /uninstall
%SystemRoot%\SysWOW64\OneDriveSetup.exe /uninstall
The last step is to accept with Enter when the prompt pops up saying that OneDrive is being uninstalled.
How to disable OneDrive
This is for those that don’t want OneDrive right now but aren’t really sure about later, thus giving them a chance to revisit the service later on:
- The first step is to type gpedit.msc in the Windows search bar in order to find and open the Group Policy Editor
- The next step is to follow this string: Local Computer Policy> Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > One Drive
- Here, there will be a category named Prevent the usage of OneDrive for file storage, which needs to be double clicked
- The last step is to click on Enable and Apply, then confirm with Ok
This is how users can either uninstall or disable OneDrive on their Windows 10 machines. It’s great that there are two distinct options and people don’t have to commit to uninstalling the service just because they’re not using it for the moment.
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