External backup drive-folders present but no files

I have been using SyncBack Free backup software for many years on many different Windows 10 PCs. Never had a problem until now with a Windows 11 HP Desktop. Problem seems to be related to OneDrive, even when I completely shut OneDrive down. I do not want to backup to the cloud, I use multiple portable external drives for backing up about 1TB of data.

My source for backup is C:\Users\xxx\ . All the correct folders show up on the backup drive but almost none of the actual files. For some reason two folders have a few old video files in them.

When in File Explorer, on the left side of the window, dropping vertically, is:

Home
Gallery

Desktop
Downloads
Documents
Pictures
Music
Videos

OneDrive
--Desktop
--Documents
--Pictures

This PC
--Local Disk (C:)
----Users
------xxx
---------Documents, Music, Pictures, etc. folders present but not the files.

Starting at the top, Home has all the correct folders & files. The next set of folders has all the correct files. OneDrive folder has all the appropriate files & folders but only for Desktop, Documents & Pictures.

This PC, which is apparently my selected source, uses C:\Users\xxx. Here the folders are present but almost no files.

What should I be using as my source for backup? For the most part, I'm backing up Documents, Pictures, Videos, etc.

Are there duplicate sets of files & folders or just shortcuts? If so, how do I get rid of extra sets, which ones do I keep?

Thanks.

If you are using a MS account the default location for documents, desktop, pictures, and videos is Onedrive. These files are not in your user folder on your hard drive.
You first have to turn off backup folder syncing. This tutorial tells you how and also how to get your files onto your local drive.
https://www.elevenforum.com/t/turn-on-or-off-onedrive-folder-backup-syncing-across-windows-11-devices.4321/

NOTE: ONLY IF FOLDERS DO NOT MOVE TO DEFAULT LOCATION IN STEP 1 ABOVE DO THIS

If this happens, then you could try option three below to restore the default folder location and move your files manually from Onedrive into the folders..

• Move or Restore Default Location of Desktop Folder in Windows 11
• Move or Restore Default Location of Documents Folder in Windows 11 Tutorial
• Move or Restore Default Location of Pictures Folder in Windows 11
• Move or Restore Default Location of Videos Folder in Windows 11

2. Then you have to unlink account & PC from onedrive.
https://www.elevenforum.com/t/unlink-account-and-pc-from-onedrive-in-windows-11.15162/
Once you do this the files you have in onedrive will remain there until you login to Onedrive on the Web and delete them.
Sign in - Microsoft OneDrive

3. You can then either uninstall Onedrive or disable it. I prefer to disable it. Open Task Manager>Startup Apps
Find Onedrive in the list and, right click on it, select disable. This prevents Onedrive from auto-starting.

4. If you want to uninstall it instead use Revo Uninstaller Freeware Portable. Be sure to delete any leftover files and registry entries Revo finds. Download Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Free and Full Download



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Took me a while to stop avoiding this task. I moved the folders & files from the OneDrive folder to the C:\Users\xxx2 folder. Seems to work OK.

Users\xxx2 is what Windows defaulted to when I set up new PC. From my old PC, I moved over my previous login ID folder of Users\ABC. Currently, Users\ABC\AppData\Local has different files than Users\xxx2\AppData\Local. Can I move all the files & folders from Users\xxx2 to Users\ABC and make old ABC my default instead of new xxx2? Thanks.

You can not MOVE them but you can copy them to external media, login to new account and copy the folders/files from external media into your user folders.
If you do not do it this way, you will run into permission problems on the folders/files