Move OneDrive Files to Internal Drive

Who This Affects and What It Fixes

This guide is for small-business employees who need to move files out of Microsoft OneDrive and onto an internal or network drive. Following these steps correctly ensures your data transfers cleanly, removes it from the cloud OneDrive location, and avoids leaving duplicate or orphaned copies behind.

Before You Begin

Make sure you have enough free space on your destination drive to hold all the OneDrive content you plan to move. Also confirm that your OneDrive folder is fully synced to your local machine before starting—all files should show a green checkmark or “Up to date” status in File Explorer.

Steps to Move OneDrive Files to an Internal Drive

Open File Explorer and navigate to your OneDrive folder.
Select all files and folders inside the OneDrive folder. You can press Ctrl + A to select everything at once.
When prompted about keeping files on this device, choose to keep all files on the local drive. This ensures the data is fully downloaded before the move.
Move the selected files to your preferred internal or network location. Use cut-and-paste (Ctrl + X, then Ctrl + V) or drag-and-drop with the right mouse button and choose Move here. Do not copy the files—moving them is required to remove them from the cloud OneDrive location.
Verify that the files appear correctly in the destination folder and that the OneDrive folder is now empty.

Need Help?

If you run into any issues during this process, the team at Advanced Computer Solutions is ready to assist. Contact ACS here.

Common questions

Why should I move the files instead of copying them?

Moving the files removes them from the cloud OneDrive location. If you copy instead of move, the files will remain in OneDrive, which means you will have duplicates and the cloud storage will not be cleared.

Do I need to keep the files on the local drive before moving them?

Yes. Before moving, you should select all data in the OneDrive folder and choose to keep it all on the local drive. This ensures every file is fully downloaded to your machine so nothing is lost during the move.

Will this process delete my files from OneDrive permanently?

Moving the files out of the synced OneDrive folder will remove them from the cloud OneDrive location. Make sure your destination drive is reliable and backed up, since the cloud copy will no longer be retained after the move.