Many people balk at the idea of using cloud storage to back up potentially sensitive information. The contents of all the folders I select will be downloaded and mirrored on my PC. If this is your first use of OneDrive, your folder list may be empty. Since I already have and use OneDrive, it displays a list of the folders already included there. You’ll be presented with a list of folders in your OneDrive account. That puts the OneDrive folder alongside other folders you may commonly use: That location will be “C:\Users\\OneDrive”, where “” is replaced with your log-in identifier. Unless you have a specific reason to change it - such as placing it on a different drive - leaving it at the default location is fine. Once signed in, you’ll be shown the location of your OneDrive folder, with the option to change that location. Setting up OneDriveįirst, you’ll be asked for the email address corresponding to your Microsoft account. If you don’t see the icon, you may need to click the “Show hidden icons” carat ( ^ - not present above) to make the OneDrive icon appear in the notification area.Ĭlick the OneDrive icon to launch the setup process. If OneDrive has not yet been set up, you’ll often get a notification to “finish” setting it up, and the taskbar icon may have a red error indicator.
(It can also be download and installed in previous versions of Windows from the OneDrive website.) In fact, it’s downright difficult to remove.
As with all things online, the faster the better. It’s best if you’re constantly connected, but it’ll work with an intermittent connection as well. You will also need to be online for OneDrive to work. If not, and you don’t have a Microsoft account at all, I’d recommend visiting and signing up for a new account.
If you’re logging in with an email address - particularly if it’s a or other Microsoft-provided email domain - you already have one. You may already use one to log into your PC.
You’ll need a Microsoft account to use OneDrive.
Top-to-bottom, end-to-end, Backing Up In Windows 10 will walk you through all the steps you need to keep your data safe, using Windows 10's built-in tools, as well as a free alternative. This article is excerpted from Backing Up In Windows 10, available now.