{"id":564949,"date":"2023-03-16T17:51:24","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T14:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-to-stop-onedrive-from-syncing-windows-desktop-shortcuts\/"},"modified":"2023-03-16T17:51:24","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T14:51:24","slug":"how-to-stop-onedrive-from-syncing-windows-desktop-shortcuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-stop-onedrive-from-syncing-windows-desktop-shortcuts\/","title":{"rendered":"#How to Stop OneDrive From Syncing Windows Desktop Shortcuts"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2ecd8db6e8f\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2ecd8db6e8f\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-stop-onedrive-from-syncing-windows-desktop-shortcuts\/#%E2%80%9CHow_to_Stop_OneDrive_From_Syncing_Windows_Desktop_Shortcuts%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;How to Stop OneDrive From Syncing Windows Desktop Shortcuts&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-stop-onedrive-from-syncing-windows-desktop-shortcuts\/#How_to_Make_OneDrive_Stop_Syncing_Your_Desktop_Folder\" >How to Make OneDrive Stop Syncing Your Desktop Folder<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-stop-onedrive-from-syncing-windows-desktop-shortcuts\/#How_to_Make_OneDrive_Desktop_Icon_Sync_Less_Annoying\" >How to Make OneDrive Desktop Icon Sync Less Annoying<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-stop-onedrive-from-syncing-windows-desktop-shortcuts\/#Hide_Your_Desktop_Icons\" >Hide Your Desktop Icons<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-stop-onedrive-from-syncing-windows-desktop-shortcuts\/#Move_Shortcuts_to_the_Public_Desktop_Folder\" >Move Shortcuts to the Public Desktop Folder<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CHow_to_Stop_OneDrive_From_Syncing_Windows_Desktop_Shortcuts%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;How to Stop OneDrive From Syncing Windows Desktop Shortcuts&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1920px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage size-full wp-image-879715\" data-pagespeed-no-defer=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/52687750468_bfcd8cbb49_k.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\">Jordan Gloor \/ How-To Geek<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>To stop OneDrive from syncing desktop shortcuts, you must stop it from syncing your Desktop folder. Go into OneDrive settings, click &#8220;Manage Backup,&#8221; and toggle the &#8220;Desktop&#8221; folder off. Repeat this process on your other PCs running OneDrive.<\/p>\n<p>OneDrive automatically syncs your desktop files between your Windows 10 and Windows 11 PCs, leaving you with a bunch of broken desktop icons on some of your PCs. Here\u2019s how to put a stop to it.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Make_OneDrive_Stop_Syncing_Your_Desktop_Folder\"><\/span>How to Make OneDrive Stop Syncing Your Desktop Folder<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>To stop OneDrive from syncing desktop shortcuts on a Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC to its cloud storage, the easiest thing to do is to make OneDrive stop syncing your Desktop folder entirely. It can still sync your other folders, including Documents and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download<\/a>s. (You could also turn off OneDrive entirely, but you don\u2019t need to.)<\/p>\n<p>To do this, locate the cloud-shaped OneDrive icon in your notification area and click it.<\/p>\n<p>Click the gear icon at the top-right corner of the OneDrive popup menu and select \u201cSettings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignnone wp-image-879721 size-full\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/open-onedrive-settings.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"730\" height=\"694\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Click the \u201cManage Backup\u201d button at the top of the OneDrive Settings window to control which folders are backed up.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-879722\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/manage-backup.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"730\" height=\"390\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Disable the \u201cDesktop\u201d option by clicking the switch to its right. Click \u201cStop Backup\u201d to confirm, and then click \u201cClose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Keep in mind any files you place on your Desktop will no longer sync with OneDrive. Be sure to put them in another folder that is synced if you want them to be backed up to your Microsoft account and synced between your PCs.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"admonishment_note\"><p><strong>Note:<\/strong> This will only stop OneDrive from syncing the Desktop folder to and from the PC you\u2019re configuring it on. You will want to change this setting on each PC you use to prevent OneDrive from syncing your Desktop.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-879724\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/disable-desktop-sync.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Toggle Desktop folder sync off in OneDrive.\" width=\"730\" height=\"555\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>You can also choose which other folders you want to sync to OneDrive from here. By default, OneDrive syncs Documents, Pictures, and Desktop. You can also have it sync Music and Videos if you want. (OneDrive will continue syncing the main OneDrive folder itself, even if you disable the other folders here.)<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Make_OneDrive_Desktop_Icon_Sync_Less_Annoying\"><\/span>How to Make OneDrive Desktop Icon Sync Less Annoying<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you don\u2019t want to disable Desktop sync entirely, there are some alternative things you can do:<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hide_Your_Desktop_Icons\"><\/span>Hide Your Desktop Icons<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>If you don\u2019t want to see desktop icons, you can just hide them. The broken shortcuts will be there, but you won\u2019t see them on your desktop all the time.<\/p>\n<p>To hide desktop icons on either Windows 10 or Windows 11, right-click the desktop and toggle View &gt; Show Desktop Icons.<\/p>\n<p>You can open the Desktop folder in File Explorer or toggle desktop icons back on to see them.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-879725\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/show-desktop-icons.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"730\" height=\"332\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Move_Shortcuts_to_the_Public_Desktop_Folder\"><\/span>Move Shortcuts to the Public Desktop Folder<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>OneDrive syncs everything in your Windows user account\u2019s Desktop folder. However, the Windows desktop shows shortcuts from both your user account\u2019s Desktop folder and the \u201cPublic\u201d user account\u2019s desktop folder. This folder is located at\u00a0C:\\Users\\Public\\Desktop by default. In other words, icons in this folder will be displayed on every Windows user\u2019s desktop on that machine. They also won\u2019t be synced.<\/p>\n<p>So, if you have desktop shortcuts you won\u2019t want to sync, move them to this folder.<\/p>\n<p>To do this, you can open a Terminal or Command Prompt window as Administrator. On Windows 11, right-click the Start button and select \u201cTerminal (Admin)\u201d. On Windows 10, right-click the Start button and click \u201cCommand Prompt (Admin)\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-879726\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/launch-terminal-as-admin.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Launch the Terminal as Administrator.\" width=\"730\" height=\"418\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Run the following command to switch the working directory to the Desktop folder in your user account\u2019s OneDrive folder:<\/p>\n<pre>cd OneDrive\\Desktop<\/pre>\n<p>Run the following command to move all shortcut (.lnk) files to the Public desktop folder:<\/p>\n<pre>move *.lnk c:\\Users\\Public\\Desktop<\/pre>\n<p>Run the following command to move all web shortcut (.url) files to the Public desktop folder, too:<\/p>\n<pre>move *.url c:\\Users\\Public\\Desktop<\/pre>\n<blockquote class=\"admonishment_note\"><p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Moving URL shortcuts was necessary on our test system, as Steam created its shortcuts to installed <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>s with the URL file extension. It may or may not be necessary on your Windows PC depending on the type of desktop shortcuts you have. If you don\u2019t have any URL shortcuts, there\u2019s no harm in running it\u2014it won\u2019t do anything.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-879728\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/move-shortcuts-in-terminal.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Use the move command to move LNK and URL files to the Publid Desktop folder.\" width=\"730\" height=\"270\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Other Windows user accounts on your PC will now see the shortcut files, too. They will appear on your desktop, but OneDrive won\u2019t sync them. You will want to repeat this process on each computer you use. After moving the shortcut files, you can delete any you don\u2019t want to use from each PC.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, as you install Windows applications in the future, they will often place new shortcut files on your desktop and you will need to move those shortcut files once again.<\/p>\n<p>Ideally, Microsoft would fix this problem by causing OneDrive to ignore shortcut (LNK and URL) files\u2014or Windows could at least not show broken shortcut files synced via OneDrive on its desktop.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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Go into OneDrive settings, click &#8220;Manage Backup,&#8221; and toggle the &#8220;Desktop&#8221; folder off. Repeat this process on your other PCs running OneDrive. OneDrive automatically syncs&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":564950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/52687750468_bfcd8cbb49_k.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-564949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}