OneDrive goes through continual upgrades and OneDrive folder protection is new in mid-2018. Now anyone with a OneDrive account (not just business accounts), can take advantage of this free service and sync (and protect) your Desktop items, My Documents Folder and Picture folder with a few clicks.
How To Start OneDrive Folder Protection
Click on your white (for consumer) OneDrive cloud in your system tray and go to Settings. Then click on the Auto-Save tab.
In the example below, I clicked on my white or OneDrive cloud and went to auto-save. If File Protection is ready to start-up, you’ll see the three folders with a check-mark by them.
You could get errors instead of the green check mark. The most common are .pst files or OneNote files that may be in your My Documents folder. OneDrive won’t sync these types of files from these three folders. You can read more from Microsoft here on these types of errors and what to do about them.
I had both a .pst and some OneNote folders. To fix the problem, I dragged them into OneDrive and did not get an error there.
After you click on the ‘Start Protecting’ button, you’ll eventually see this screen telling you things are syncing and take a look.
The time needed to complete the sync depends on how much you’ve added, but eventually it’ll be finished. Then open your OneDrive and check out your Desktop, MyDocuments and Pictures – they’re all there!
OneDrive Folder Protection How-to Video
Here’s a short video that’ll walk you through the steps and what to expect when you start your folder protection/OneDrive sync.
How To Stop OneDrive Folder Protection Sync
Maybe you’re getting low on space in your OneDrive, so you want to stop protecting your folder(s). Simply perform the same steps to get to the auto-save tab and then you’ll see your three folders and a ‘Stop protecting’ link under each folder. Here’s where you can unlink/unsync your OneDrive folders.
Be advised when you do, the folder remains along with its contents, but any new documents added to that folder will not sync. Since the sync has been broken, I’d recommend removing that folder from your OneDrive and deleting it. It just keeps things tidy.
That’s it – a simple thing to do, it’s free and easy. Take the five minutes to start your OneDrive folder sync and protection today.