Stop Syncing OneDrive Items You No Longer Need

OneDrive
Syncing Teams or SharePoint files using OneDrive is a great way to get quick and easy access via the familiar Windows Explorer. However, over time you might end up syncing large numbers of files you don’t need or rarely ever use.

OneDrive keeps a record of changes in a cache which may over time get stuck or corrupted and cause syncing issues (See our guide ’How to Reset OneDrive’ if you have problems with the sync). You can easily stop syncing SharePoint or Teams to free up space and reduce the burden on the OneDrive app.

Click on the OneDrive icon in the System Tray and go to Settings

Settings
Open OneDrive Settings

You will see a list of Teams files or SharePoint libraries you are syncing. To stop syncing, simply click on ‘Stop Sync’ next the library you no longer need to keep. This will remove the files from your PC.

Stop-Sync
Stop syncing any libraries you no longer need

Once you have stopped syncing, you can delete the library by right-clicking on it in Explorer. This will remove the files and folders from the PC but will not delete them from SharePoint or Teams.

NOTE: Do not delete the library before you have stopped syncing it!

Delete
Delete the un synced libraries from Explorer

Other Useful Tips

Over time, your PC hard drive may start to get full if you sync a large amount of files. Use StorageSense to offload files you haven’t opened periodically, as well as clear up your downloads folder and recycle bin:

Manage storage in OneDrive using Storage Sense

If you have other sync problems, you might also need to occasionally reset the OneDrive cache:

How to Reset OneDrive

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