How to remove OneDrive from File Explorer on Windows 10

By Mauro Huculak
published

You can quickly remove the OneDrive entry from File Explorer, if you don't find a use for it, and in this guide, we'll show you how to!

OneDrive can be considered one of the best cloud storage service you can use. If you're a PC user, OneDrive even comes built-in on Windows 10. It also adds an entry to the left pane in File Explorer, which if you might not want to see if you're not a OneDrive user — or you're an advanced user that syncs everything automatically to OneDrive.

While Windows 10 doesn't include an option to remove the OneDrive shortcut, you can jump into the Registry to remove the shortcut manually.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to tweak the Registry to remove the OneDrive entry in the left pane of File Explorer, but without ditching the service completely in case you need to manage or upload files to the cloud.

How to remove OneDrive from File Explorer

Important: As always, this is a friendly reminder warning that editing the registry is risky, and it can cause irreversible damage to your installation if you don't do it correctly. It's recommended to make a full backup of your computer before proceeding.

  1. Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command.
  2. Type regedit, and click OK to open the registry.
  3. Browse the following path:HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}If you're having difficulties finding this particular entry, do the following:
    1. Use the Ctrl + F keyboard shortcut to open Find.
    2. Copy and paste the Registry entry you're looking for, in this case:018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6
    3. Click Find Next to start a search.
    This particular entry can be repeated multiple times in the database, as such make sure to click the Find Next button several times until the Status Bar at the bottom of the Registry reads: Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}.

  1. Select the {018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6} key, and on the right side, double-click the System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree DWORD.
  2. Change the DWORD value from 1 to 0.

  1. Close the Registry to complete the task.

Once you completed the steps, close and reopen File Explorer, and you should no longer see the OneDrive entry on the left pane. If you don't see the change, try restarting your PC.

File Explorer with OneDrive (left), File Explorer without OneDrive (right)

Quick Tip: If you ever need to access the OneDrive root folder, simply type OneDrive in the address bar of File Explorer and press Enter.

If you want to revert the changes, follow the same steps mentioned above, but this time on step 5 change the System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree DWORD value from 0 to 1.

Keep in mind that this won't uninstall the OneDrive client from Windows 10, we're simply removing the entry from File Explorer when you don't have a use for it.

More Windows 10 resources

For more help articles, coverage, and answers on Windows 10, you can visit the following resources:

Mauro Huculak
Mauro Huculak

Mauro Huculak is technical writer for WindowsCentral.com. His primary focus is to write comprehensive how-tos to help users get the most out of Windows 10 and its many related technologies. He has an IT background with professional certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, and CompTIA, and he's a recognized member of the Microsoft MVP community.

19 Comments
  • Thanks. I didn't need to get rid of OneDrive, but I did want to get rid of the Creative Cloud Files link which I am not using, and this got me on the right track.
  • Thanks a lot....!!!!!
  • Well, and now, if you have the OneDrive app installed, the app instance becomes an option in File Explorer for saves and opens. I think this approach is not only optimal, but very cool. Broadens the scope of File Explorer integration IMO.
  • Nooooo! I get it.  To each their own. but Nooooo!
  • She wull the day come for one drive Ben and powerful enough to replace file explorer
  • Nice wallpaper :)
  • This a good fix until one drive comes back with the old option of having access to everything in the cloud via file explorer without having it locally stored. I forget what that feature was called.
  • Placeholders I believe. Great feature, totally agree :)
  • So the fix in this article only works for a short period of time?  Can you explain at what point it will stop working?   I do remember implementing something like what is listed in the article and later finding that One Drive came back.  Seems not worth it to me in that case.
  • I have a question. How can I change the location of where the OneDrive files are on my machine, I would much rather have all my music on the SD card, but still be in the "OneDrive" folder. Is there a way to do it?
  • You should be able to right-click on the OneDrive icon in the system tray, choose Settings and then choose Unlink this PC.  This should release the folder structure.  Then you should be able to right-click on the folder, choose properties and select the Location tab.  From there you can follow the process to alter the location.  I have my OneDrive on SD cards on my Surface Pro 3 and my Lumia 950.  I also have the OneDrive location on an external hard drive on our media server.
  • I use the OneDrive almost exclusively.  The problem is that OneDrive is NOT very stable.  Particularly frustrating is the fact that, regardless of what I have synced, everything I try to open gives me a message warning me that opening internet content can be dangerous and then it tries to re-download the file.  That being said, rather than not wanting the OneDrive entry on File Explorer, the first thing I did was get rid of the stupid Quick Access entry.  I also configured all my default libraries to point to appropriate folders on the OneDrive.  Fast, efficient.
  • The option is in Group Policy. You can deny it from running and deny access to it in UWP apps as well. It's that I did. You need Pro, though. Might downgrade to 8.1 to recover my Win32 sticky notes, calculator, and voice apps, though. I use them a lot and they were better before they were replaced. I also want to get rid of the other UWP apps that run in the background often and drain my laptop battery.
  • I wrote a powershell script for the destruction and removal of those apps with the exception of the store. If I change my mind someday I can redownload them all from the store.
  • Who in the world of cloud storage would do that?
  • My problem is that i have two duplicate OneDrive icons in my File Explorer tree list. I wonder if i can use this registry edit to remove just one of them?
  • EDIT I followed these steps, and did not save the end result, and it has removed my duplicate entry for OneDrive, superb, and thanks to the author, having two OneDrive entries has been irritating
  • I leave OneDrive in, because it's easier moving files from PC to OneDrive or move files back to OneDrive.  I have multiple computers access, so that helps me.
  • OneDrive finally gone from File Explorer :). Now to eviscerate it from Office 2016 and the Save/Open dialogue will be useful again (and pigs will fly :(