Microsofthas been working hard to wedge you into its ecosystem, and it appears to have taken one step further by making OneDrive backups an opt-out feature. OneDrive is Microsoft’s cloud drive service, much likeGoogleDrive and iCloud. It comes standard with 5GB of free storage for anyone who signs up for a Microsoft Account, which you’ll likely do from now on, sincethe company recently turned off the easy bypass to Windows 11’s online setup.
While Apple and Google offer online backups on their devices, these are opt-in, and you can always decline thembeforeeither of them starts syncing your device contents. However, Microsoft is irking its users by turning on OneDrive backups by default, as discovered byNeowin, thus anyone who intends to complete a cleanWindows 11install is currently being surprised by OneDrive desktop icons and drive folders on their newly installed operating system.
If you prefer backing up your files via the cloud, OneDrive is an excellent option, especially as it seamlessly syncs with Windows File Explorer. However, there are times when users want to only backup specific files, and there are also situations when you want a clean PC with no bloat. If that is the case, then automatic OneDrive synchronization with a new PC would indeed be an unwanted annoyance.
Microsoft has clearly been pushing its users towards its closed ecosystem. For example, the companyremoved official instructions on how to convert your Windows 11 Microsoft Account login into a local accountfrom its guide page. So, if you didn’tinstall Windows 11 using the local account bypass, you have to find less-official results to find instructions on converting your login account. Microsoft Edge willask you why you’re moving to Chromeif you download its installer. Furthermore, even if you’ve already set a different default browser, searching from the Start Menu will still pull up the results on Edge — one of the company’s shady practices when it comes toanti-competitive behaviorin Windows 11.
In fairness to Microsoft, OneDrive is one of the moreaffordable cloud storage options on the market at $2 a month. It’s also quite a robust product, with features including file versions, which helps protect you in case of file loss or a ransomware attack. However, shoving it down users’ throats isn’t the way to go if you want them to pay for it. Instead, the company should make using OneDrive a more seamless experience so much so that people will want to use it over Google Drive or iCloud. Or at least it should ask users first if they want to turn on device syncing via OneDrive, so they can get a clean install if they want to.
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Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
