How to Move OneDrive Folder to Another Drive (Step by Step)

Want to move OneDrive to another drive, like moving OneDrive from C drive to D drive? Follow the stepwise guide on this page to change OneDrive location hassle-free.

By @Jonna Last Updated October 10, 2024

Can I move my OneDrive folder to another drive?

I've been using OneDrive a lot, but my OneDrive default location is C drive, which has much less space than the other drives on my computer. Is it possible to move OneDrive folder to another drive, for example changing OneDrive folder from C drive to D drive?

User case from answers.microsoft.com

Why move OneDrive to another drive?

OneDrive is a popular cloud storage service that allows you to store files online and sync data across computers and mobile devices. The OneDrive default location is C:\Users\Username \OneDrive.

When you use OneDrive to upload files, OneDrive will sync your cloud files to the OneDrive folder on your local hard disk, which allows you to access online files without an Internet connection. However, a large number of synchronized files may also fill up your hard drive, causing C drive full, the system to freeze, or other performance issues. A quick solution to this is to change OneDrive folder location on Windows 10/11 or Mac to another disk to free up space.

Bonus Tip: How to backup OneDrive before moving OneDrive location

When you plan to move OneDrive to another drive, you may worry about data loss. To avoid important OneDrive file loss during the process, it is highly recommended to back up OneDrive in advance using the free cloud backup service CBackup.

You are allowed to backup OneDrive to Dropbox, Google Drive, FTP/SFTP, and transfer files from one OneDrive account to another fast and easily with this freeware. The robust features of CBackup include:

It allows you to restore OneDrive file backups quickly and freely to the original computer or a new computer.

It enables you to back up the entire OneDrive cloud or certain OneDrive files.

It offers auto backup to create copies of OneDrive files to another cloud on daily, weekly, monthly, and other frequencies.

In addition to backing up OneDrive files, it is capable of backing up files to OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, and CBackup Cloud (with 5GB of free storage space).

Its Sync feature makes it easy to sync files to OneDrive, so to keep files on your computer and OneDrive the same.

Click the download button below to download and install the CBackup software on your computer and go on with the instructions below to backup OneDrive files before you move OneDrive folder to another drive.

Download CBackupWin 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP

Secure Download

Step 1. If you don’t have a CBackup account, apply for an account for it on its website. Then, launch the CBackup backup software to log in.

Step 2. Click Storage, select OneDrive, and tap Authorize Now to permit CBackup access to your cloud files. Then, click + Add Cloud to add another cloud drive to save your OneDrive files.

Note: CBackup is based on OAuth, which is an open standard protocol for token-based authentication & authorization, ensuring your online files’ security and privacy.

Step 3. Select Backup and then Backup Public Cloud to Public Cloud under Cloud to Cloud Backup.

Step 4. Choose the whole OneDrive or expand OneDrive to select specific files. Then, pick another cloud as the backup destination path. Finally, press Start Backup to backup OneDrive folder before moving OneDrive folder to D drive or other disks.

Note: To backup files on OneDrive automatically, you could click Settings to enable Scheduler and pick a backup schedule as needed. Here, you could also set up Email Notification for backup tasks so you can know immediately when file backups are complete and use File Filter to exclude files from OneDrive sync using different file types.

How to move OneDrive folder to another drive on Windows/Mac

For how to move OneDrive to another disk in Windows 10/11 and Mac, you can follow the following steps:

Note: If you want to move OneDrive to an external drive, you should plug it into your computer before you carry out the following OneDrive changing folder location process.

Step 1. Run the OneDrive app. Then, click the OneDrive taskbar icon and select Help and Settings > Settings on Windows)/the three dots button > Preferences on Mac.

Step 2. On the Account tab, click on Unlink this PC > Unlink account. Ignore the pop-up OneDrive set-up screen.

Step 3. Go to Windows File Explorer/Mac Finder and locate the OneDrive sync folder.

Step 4. Click Move to on the top and tap Choose location to select a folder on another drive as your new OneDrive location. Then, click Move.

Step 5. Enter your email address on the Set up OneDrive window to sign in. Click Change location to select the new OneDrive location. Then, select Use this folder and click Next.

Step 6. Follow the on-screen guide to set up OneDrive. When you see Open my OneDrive folder, you have moved OneDrive folder to another hard drive successfully and you could check your OneDrive files on another disk.

Wrap things up

With all OneDrive files synced to the C drive, you may burden the system drive and cause system crashes. Using the guide above, you could easily move OneDrive folder to another drive, such as moving from C drive to D drive, on your computer! You can also move OneDrive to your external hard drive, as long as you have enough space. In this way, you can back up OneDrive to external hard drive easily.

Besides, to prevent data loss, we provide you with a free way to back up OneDrive files - using CBackup to back up OneDrive to another cloud. It allows you to quickly restore backups when accidents happen. Also, you could rely on this tool to back up and sync local drives to OneDrive freely.