How do I stop backing up to OneDrive?

OneDrive auto backup is convenient for you to save various types of data such as photos, videos, files, etc. to the cloud. But sometimes, you may not want OneDrive to back up your photos because they take up a lot of space.

You can get rid of cloud pictures by turning off OneDrive's automatic photo backup. In this article, we will show you detailed guides on how to stop OneDrive sync for photo albums on Android, iPhone, and PC.

What happens when you stop photo backup?

Before knowing how do I stop OneDrive from backing up my photos, we need to remind you about the possible effects that turning off OneDrive photo backup can have on you.

• Your pictures may get lost. After you stop photo backup, if you don't have an alternative method to back up your data, your precious photos may never be retrieved in the event of some unforeseen circumstances.
• Photos are not accessible from other devices. By turning off OneDrive photo backup, you won't be able to view new photos from multiple devices, including phones, tablets, and computers.

How to stop OneDrive from backing up photos on Android/iPhone/PC

Now, follow the steps below to know how to stop OneDrive backing up photos on Android, iPhone, and computer.

Part 1. Stop OneDrive from uploading photos on Android

You can go with the steps below to figure out how do I stop OneDrive from uploading pictures from my phone.

Step 1. Run the OneDrive application on your Android phone.

Step 2. Tap the “Me” tab in the bottom-right corner, and click “Settings”.

Step 3. Click the “Camera Upload” option to toggle it off.

Part 2. Stop OneDrive from uploading photos on iPhone

How to stop OneDrive from syncing photos on iPhone is explained as follows:

Step 1. Launch OneDrive, and click the profile picture in the top left corner.

Step 2. Hit the “Settings” option, then click on “Camera Upload.”

Step 3. Toggle it off for the account(s) you want to disable photo backup.

Part 3. Stop OneDrive from backing up photos on computer

Here is what to do about how to stop OneDrive syncing photos on Windows 11/10/8/7:

Step 1. Right-click the OneDrive icon in the notifications area, click on the Help & Settings (gear icon) and choose Settings.

Step 2. Go to the Backup tab, and uncheck the box next to Automatically save photos and videos to OneDrive whenever I connect a camera, phone, or other device to my PC. You can also untick Automatically save screenshots I capture to OneDrive to stop saving screenshots to the cloud.

How to protect your photos after turning off OneDrive backup

That's all about how to stop OneDrive from syncing photos on Android/iPhone/PC. When you turn off OneDrive photo backup, new photos will not be backed up. Once you encounter issues like device loss, accidental deletion of photos, etc., you will have no chance to get important photos back. Therefore, after disabling OneDrive photo backup, it is crucial to get another way to back up your pictures. Here we recommend a popular cloud backup tool named CBackup.

This freeware can help you back up your photos and videos online for free. You can use it to complete OneDrive photo backup, as well as backup pictures to CBackup Cloud (with 5GB free space), Google Drive, Dropbox, and other cloud drives.

✨ It allows you to backup data to cloud on four scheduled modes - One time only, Daily, Weekly, and Monthly.
✨ You can restore backups from cloud quickly if some problem occurs on your computer.
✨ It uses incremental backup to help you back up only newly added or changed pictures to save storage space.
✨ You can use its “Sync” feature to sync photos to OneDrive/Google Drive/Dropbox without a local copy.

Next, click the download button below to install this tool on your computer, and see how it works:

Step 1. Sign up for a CBackup account, and log in to its installed desktop program.

Step 2. Go to the “Backup” tab, and click Backup PC to CBackup Cloud.

Step 3. Select pictures and other files from PC to backup, and click Start Backup to protect them online.

How to increase OneDrive storage without payment

If the reason you want to know how to stop OneDrive from backing up photos is that they are taking up too much storage space, here is a way for you to get more OneDrive storage for free.

CBackup comes with a cloud storage combination function that enables you to merge cloud accounts to gain OneDrive 1TB free storage, 2TB free storage, and even unlimited OneDrive storage at no cost. Here is what to do:

Step 1. Run CBackup by signing in to your account.

Step 2. Click Storage, and choose + Add Cloud to add as many cloud accounts as you have to this software.

Step 3. After adding, select the + Add Combined Cloud option, tick all clouds, and click Next > Combine to merge them.

Then, you will get a huge combined cloud in the storage list. You can backup data to this cloud by clicking Backup > choose Backup PC to Combined Cloud.

To sum it up

Now, you know how to stop OneDrive from backing up photos on different devices. If you don't want to put your photos at risk, you can use CBackup to upload your photos to CBackup Cloud or other clouds for protection. Moreover, this tool can also help you increase OneDrive storage for free.