Backup to OneDrive without Syncing to All Devices | Fix Now

Content Quick Navigation:

• Can I Automatic Backup to OneDrive without Syncing?
• About OneDrive
• Is OneDrive a backup solution?
• OneDrive Backup vs. Sync
• Can I Automatically Backup to OneDrive without Syncing? 4 Ways
• Bonus Tip: Backup OneDrive to Another Cloud Automatically
• On the Bottom Line

Can I Automatic Backup to OneDrive without Syncing?

About OneDrive

OneDrive is Microsoft's cloud storage service, allowing you to store, share, and sync files securely online. Integrated with Microsoft 365, OneDrive provides easy access to files from virtually any device, including Windows PCs, Macs, smartphones, and tablets.

With OneDrive, you can enjoy 5GB of free cloud space, and paid plans, like OneDrive Standalone (100 GB) and Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscriptions, provide significantly more storage (1 TB or more) along with additional Office apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Is OneDrive a backup solution?

Is OneDrive a backup solution? Although OneDrive is a sync service for you to manage files easily, it’s also a backup solution for you because it provides the backup feature to protect your important files like Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos. It also offers features like Personal Vault, a secure space for sensitive files, and data encryption to protect your privacy.

OneDrive Backup vs. Sync

To show you the differences between OneDrive backup and sync, check the following table for reference if you’re confused about this spot.

OneDrive Backup vs. Sync

Feature	OneDrive Backup	OneDrive Sync
Purpose	Store file copies in the cloud	Keeps files identical across devices
File Changes	Backup at specified times	Continuously protected
Device Access	Files are stored in the cloud but aren’t updated in real time on all devices	Real-time access to the latest file versions on all synced devices
Space Usage	Only uses cloud storage	Uses both cloud and local storage for synced files
Offline Access	Files not automatically available offline	Files are available offline if they’re saved to local storage during sync
Folder Control	Only Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos	You can sync custom folders or subfolders
Editing Capabilities	View and download backed-up files, but editing requires re-uploading	Allows seamless editing across devices; updates automatically saved
Ideal Use	Preserving important files without constant access on multiple devices	Frequent access to the same files across multiple devices

From the above chart, you can find the main differences: OneDrive Backup only protects your Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Music, and Videos folders on your computer, if files get lost, you can download them to restore easily. On the other hand, OneDrive sync files help you to access these files on multiple devices instead of protect them online only.

Can I Automatically Backup to OneDrive without Syncing? 4 Ways

If you prefer to automatically backup files to OneDrive without syncing, here are some ways for you to make it. Just find the way that suits you best.

• Way 1. Upload Files to OneDrive Manually without Syncing
• Way 2. Use OneDrive Desktop App to Manage Backup
• Way 3. Upload Files to OneDrive without Syncing via MultCloud
• Way 4. Enable OneDrive Files On-Demand

Way 1. Upload Files to OneDrive Manually without Syncing

The easiest way to backup to OneDrive without syncing is upload files to OneDrive manually on the OneDrive web app. It’s highly recommended to create a new folder to distinguish from others, then upload these files to the newly-created folder. So, here are the simple steps:

1. Please head to the OneDrive website, then log in to your OneDrive account.

2. On the OneDrive web app, tap + Add new > Folder, then rename it.

3. Click to open the newly-created folder, hit + Add new > Folder upload or Files upload.

4. Pick these folders you’d like to backup, then hit Open or Upload to backup to OneDrive without syncing.

To protect files online only, don’t install the OneDrive desktop app to archive that goal.

Way 2. Use OneDrive Desktop App to Manage Backup

In fact, you can manage which folders can be backed up to OneDrive on your computer, that is the Manage backup feature, here is how to backup to OneDrive without syncing steps:

1. Please download the OneDrive desktop app on your computer; Or run it directly if you’re on a Windows 10/11 computer, because it’s pre-installed.

2. Log in to your OneDrive account, then tap the OneDrive icon on the system tray.

3. Choose the Help & Settings icon on the top right, then choose Settings from the list.

4. Select Sync and backup from the left side, then click the Manage backup button.

5. Enable these folders you’d like to backup, and hit Save changes, it will start backing up your files to your OneDrive server.

However, you can only backup these certain folders, it’s not flexible to use. If you want to backup other folders, just create a copy of the folders, then move these copies into the OneDrive folder to backup them up, that is a sync way in fact.

Way 3. Upload Files to OneDrive without Syncing via MultCloud

Except for the above ways, you can also backup files to OneDrive without syncing with the useful web-based multiple cloud storage manager - MultCloud. Why? Check the benefits below:

It supports 40+ clouds, including OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint online, pCloud, MEGA, MediaFire, ownCloud, Backblaze, IceDrive, IDrive e2, Google Drive, Dropbox, Gmail, Google Photos, iCloud Drive, iCloud Photos, and many more.

You can upload files to OneDrive directly as you want.

If you need to backup OneDrive, MultCloud can also do the trick.

Except for backing up files to OneDrive, you can also do the remote upload, which uploads files from URL, Magnets, Torrent to your cloud, like OneDrive, and others.

So, how to backup files to OneDrive without syncing on the MultCloud interface, here is how:

1. Please log in to your MultCloud account after registering.

2. Click Add Cloud > OneDrive, then follow the instructions to add to MultCloud.

3. It will list OneDrive automatically once added successfully, or click OneDrive to show OneDrive files.

4. Open a OneDrive folder, then click Upload File.

5. Then choose the computer files to backup, hit Open to backup files to OneDrive without syncing.

Way 4. Enable OneDrive Files On-Demand

If you just want to backup files to OneDrive without syncing files across devices, you can enable OneDrive Files On-Demand on all devices that you don’t want to sync, just keep synced files online only instead of downloading them to local computer.

Here is how to enable OneDrive Files On-Demand feature, then remove OneDrive files from computer:

1. Please log in to your OneDrive desktop app, then tap the OneDrive icon > Help & Settings > Settings.

2. Tap Sync and backup on the left, then expand Advanced settings.

3. Scroll down to find the Files On-Demand section, enable it.

4. It will restart the app, then find the Files On-Demand option, choose Free up disk space to unsync these files to your computer.

5. Do the above steps on all the devices that you don’t want to sync files.

Bonus Tip: Backup OneDrive to Another Cloud Automatically

Until now, you might have backed up files to OneDrive without syncing. Besides, you can backup OneDrive to another cloud directly and keep versions for you to restore easily. To show you how it works, here we will show you how to backup OneDrive to Google Drive:

1. Please ensure you have added OneDrive and Google Drive to MultCloud. Tap Cloud Backup from the left.

2. Choose OneDrive or its files as the source and a folder in Google Drive as the target location.

3. Click the Backup Now button to backup OneDrive to Google Drive directly.

On the Bottom Line

Backup to OneDrive without syncing is quite easy for you as long as you follow the above steps. Find the best way to protect your OneDrive files. Besides, you can move photos from OneDrive to Google Photos to manage photos centrally, manage all clouds in one place.