posted in Technology

Mereo@mereo@piefed.ca

Microsoft never learns, IT admins rage as a new OneDrive app invades Windows 11 and keeps coming back when you remove it

www.windowslatest.com/2026/08/04/microsoft-never-learns-it-admins-rage-as-a-new-onedrive-app-invades-windows-11-and-keeps-coming-back-when-you-remove-it/
Windows LatestMicrosoft never learns, IT admins rage as a new OneDrive app invades Windows 11 and keeps coming back when you remove itIT admins rage as Microsoft force-installs OneDrive Photos on Windows 11, and it keeps coming back when you remove it.
Hal-5700X@hal_5700X@sh.itjust.works
edited

Replying to @⁨mereo@piefed.ca⁩

How to turn off OneDrive with Group Policy.

Press Windows + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > OneDrive.

  • Save documents to OneDrive by default: Disabled
  • Prevent OneDrive from generating network traffic until the user signs in to OneDrive: Enabled
  • Prevent the usage of OneDrive for file storage: Enabled

The last setting disables OneDrive on your system; make sure to change it to Disabled if you use OneDrive.

Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

wizardbeard@wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com

Replying to @⁨artyom@piefed.social⁩

Except that these are group policy settings. The stuff they provide to allow businesses to manage their endpoints. Businesses that actually have enough size and money for Microsoft to care. Businesses that can have strict audit and data security requirements relating to things like not allowing data to even brush against something like OneDrive.

To be more direct, the only reason I can’t count the number of times they’ve broken a Group Policy is because I legitimately don’t recall it happening in the past decade.

en
Elvith Ma'for@elvith@feddit.org

Replying to @⁨wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com⁩

Yes and no. They started to limit GPOs. Some are only valid on Enterprise Licenses or Windows Server and will be ignored by your usual Windows Pro License at home. With Windows Home, you’re SOL regarding GPOs.

Also they started to migrate some of these settings to their Intune Device Management and will ignore those if not set via Intune.

Read: Companies can still disenshittify Windows to some degree, but they make it harder and harder for normal people to do so.

wizardbeard@wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com

Replying to @⁨ark3@lemmy.dbzer0.com⁩

Fair enough. I work in IT but endpoint config and group policy isn’t my area at work, so most of my experience is with my personal computers at home. I at least usually hear the latest bullshit Microsoft is pulling from our endpoint management/config guy.

I should also bear in mind that I stripped down and customized the hell out of the install media before I last installed Windows on any of my devices, and I’ve run a shit ton of other customization/privacy/debloat tools afterwards as well. Usually by examining the policy and registry edits or PowerShell code they run and just picking and choosing parts for myself. Lots of good tools out there, but none I trust to do exactly what I want with no oversight or investigation.

I’d still say that Group Policy is usually the best option for configuration shit sticking though, due to it being Microsoft’s “business side” solution for endpoint config for quite a while now.