Microsoft now forces automatic OneDrive backups — feature enabled during clean Windows installs, users surprised with desktop icons and files

Microsoft has been working hard to wedge you into its ecosystem, and it appears to have taken one step further by making OneDrive backups an opt-out feature. OneDrive is Microsoft’s cloud drive service, much like Google Drive and iCloud. It comes standard with 5GB of free storage for anyone who signs up for a Microsoft Account, which you’ll likely do from now on, since the company recently turned off the easy bypass to Windows 11’s online setup.

While Apple and Google offer online backups on their devices, these are opt-in, and you can always decline them before either of them starts syncing your device contents. However, Microsoft is irking its users by turning on OneDrive backups by default, as discovered by Neowin, thus anyone who intends to complete a clean Windows 11 install is currently being surprised by OneDrive desktop icons and drive folders on their newly installed operating system. 

If you prefer backing up your files via the cloud, OneDrive is an excellent option, especially as it seamlessly syncs with Windows File Explorer. However, there are times when users want to only backup specific files, and there are also situations when you want a clean PC with no bloat. If that is the case, then automatic OneDrive synchronization with a new PC would indeed be an unwanted annoyance.

Microsoft has clearly been pushing its users towards its closed ecosystem. For example, the company removed official instructions on how to convert your Windows 11 Microsoft Account login into a local account from its guide page. So, if you didn’t install Windows 11 using the local account bypass, you have to find less-official results to find instructions on converting your login account. Microsoft Edge will ask you why you’re moving to Chrome if you download its installer. Furthermore, even if you’ve already set a different default browser, searching from the Start Menu will still pull up the results on Edge — one of the company’s shady practices when it comes to anti-competitive behavior in Windows 11.

In fairness to Microsoft, OneDrive is one of the more affordable cloud storage options on the market at $2 a month. It’s also quite a robust product, with features including file versions, which helps protect you in case of file loss or a ransomware attack. However, shoving it down users’ throats isn’t the way to go if you want them to pay for it. Instead, the company should make using OneDrive a more seamless experience so much so that people will want to use it over Google Drive or iCloud. Or at least it should ask users first if they want to turn on device syncing via OneDrive, so they can get a clean install if they want to.