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Basem KhawajaFlag for United States of America

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onedrive

I noticed that there are 2 listings to onedrive under my apps. Any reason for that can one be removed?
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Tarik M. Zwain
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Here is an article from the following website https://appuals.com/fix-multiple-folders-icons-onedrive/, that provides the information that you are looking for:
Note: The text below is included in case the link above does not work.  The page that the link goes to is preferred as it includes screenshots.

OneDrive is Microsoft’s cloud storage platform that lets you store your important documents and media files on the cloud. Microsoft’s OneDrive also provide a great way of syncing your clout storage for access from multiple devices. There’s no doubt that there are many benefits of using OneDrive but sometimes you might face a few issues that are quite troublesome especially if you have important stuff stored on the cloud. Sometimes you might see not one but two instances of OneDrive in your Windows Explorer especially if you recently upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 8.
The problem of having two instances (or folders) showing in Windows Explorer only seems to be a cosmetic issue but it sometimes it isn’t. There are 3 variations (and possibly more) of this scenario.
1.      Both the folders have the same exact data and sync correctly. This means that the problem is only limited to what the Windows Explorer is showing. But it can still cause confusion in the future especially if the syncing stops for one folder
2.      Both folders have different data. This is obviously a problem since you want your data to be at a single place.
3.      Both folders have different data and your apps store data in the older folder rather than the newer one.
The problem basically occurs because of the Windows upgrade and drive name. If your drive was named SkyDrive in your previous Windows then upgrading to Windows 10 (where it is named OneDrive) causes this issue. Since the SkyDrive and OneDrive names are different, your system treats them differently and hence the 2 separate folders. This also is the reason for different data because some apps might still be set to store data in the older folder. If both of the drives have the same data and syncs correctly then it is mainly because of the issue with the Windows 10 and its upgrade.
Whatever is the reason or the case, there are plenty of methods mentioned below so follow them one by one until your problem is solved.
Note: It is advised to perform a backup of your data that is in OneDrive folders just to make sure no data loss occur.
Method 1: Unlinking and Linking the OneDrive
If you unlink the OneDrive and then re-Link it back then the problem might be solved. Follow the steps given below to unlink and re-link the OneDrive
1.      Right click your OneDrive icon in the system tray (right bottom corner). If you can’t see it then you might have to click the upward arrow button and it will show up.
2.      Select Settings
 
3.      Select Account tab
4.      Click Unlink this PC
 
5.      Click Unlink account
 
Now restart your computer and check if the issue is still there or not.
Method 2: Reset OneDrive
Resetting OneDrive also solves the problem if the second instance is just showing in the File Explorer without any back link.
1.      Hold Windows key and press R
2.      Type %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset and press Enter
 
Now check your system tray (right bottom corner) and you should be able to see OneDrive icon disappear and reappear after a couple of minutes.
If it doesn’t, you can restart the OneDrive yourself.
1.      Hold Windows key and press R
2.      Type %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe and press Enter
 
This should start the OneDrive again. Once it is started check if the extra instance is gone or not.
Method 3: Switching Accounts
Switching from a Microsoft’s Account to a local account and switching back again to the Microsoft Account solves the problem. This is so because this process completely refreshes the OneDrive service which sometimes removes the extra instance of OneDrive
1.      Press Windows Key once
2.      Select Settings
3.      Click Accounts
 
4.      Click Sign in with a local account instead
 
5.      Enter the password of your current Microsoft account
6.      Type in your username and password.
7.      Click Next
Repeat the above steps with your local account and select Sign in with a Microsoft account instead in step 4 to switch back to Microsoft Account.
Once you are done, check if the extra instance of OneDrive is gone or not.
Method 4: Using Registry Editor
You can also use Registry Editor to delete the registry of the extra OneDrive. This seems to work for most of the users.
1.      Hold Windows key and press E
2.      Check which one of the OneDrive instance contains your latest data and sync with it. Meaning which one is extra that you need to delete.
3.      Right click the OneDrive folder that contains your data and rename it to whatever you want. Also, backup your data to prevent data loss
4.      Hold Windows key and press R
5.      Type regedit.exe and press Enter
6.      Go to this location HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace If you don’t know how to navigate then follow the steps given below
1.      Double click HKEY_CURRENT_USER (from the left pane)
2.      Double click SOFTWARE (from the left pane)
3.      Double click Microsoft (from the left pane)
4.      Double click Windows (from the left pane)
5.      Double click CurrentVersion (from the left pane)
6.      Double click Explorer (from the left pane)
7.      Double click Desktop (from the left pane)
8.      Double click Namespace (from the left pane)
   
7.      Locate the folders that has OneDrive entry in it (from the left pane). You can click the folders one by one and look at the right pane to see the name of the registry. It should say OneDrive.
8.      Right click the OneDrive entry then select Delete
This should remove the extra instance folder showing up in the Windows Explorer. If it doesn’t work then restart the computer and then check.
Method 5: Using Registry Editor (Alternative)
This isn’t a solution but more of a hack to hide the extra OneDrive instance. This is suitable for people whose OneDrive instances properly sync and have the same data and can’t get rid of the extra folder for some reason. This solution will simply hide the extra folder and not purely remove it.
1.      Hold Windows key and press R
2.      Type regedit.exe and press Enter
3.      Go to this location HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace If you don’t know how to navigate then follow the steps given below
1.      Double click HKEY_CURRENT_USER (from the left pane)
2.      Double click SOFTWARE (from the left pane)
3.      Double click Microsoft (from the left pane)
4.      Double click Windows (from the left pane)
5.      Double click CurrentVersion (from the left pane)
6.      Double click Explorer (from the left pane)
7.      Double click Desktop (from the left pane)
8.      Double click Namespace (from the left pane)
4.      Locate the folders that has OneDrive entry in it (from the left pane). You can click the folders one by one and look at the right pane to see the name of the registry. It should say OneDrive. Copy or note the name of this folder somewhere
5.      Now navigate to this path HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ by double clicking HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and then double clicking CLSID folder
6.      Locate the folder with the same name as that of OneDrive folder (that you noted in step 4).
7.      Click the folder
8.      Double click the entry (right pane) named System.IsPinnedtoNameSpaceTree
 
9.      Make its value 0 and click Ok
This should hide the folder. If you want to reshow the folder again then just repeat all the above steps and make this value 1 again.
Avatar of Sajid Shaik M
yes the onedrive-1.JPG icon is  shortcut just simply right click (onedrive-1.JPG) and unpin....all the best

onedrive-2.JPG is the application which if you wnat completely remove ...to remove completely right click - uninstall.

all the best
Avatar of Basem Khawaja

ASKER

Sajid

I think you might have gotten the images reversed. Image 1 has uninstall when right clicking on it. Both images when I right click does not have a delete option. What do I need to do now?
Can someone help me please?
If you have office365, you may have two one drives where one is your personal drive and the other is the business/team drive.
is that normal to have ? what is the difference between the 2? How do I distinguish which is which in order to remove the business one?
Hovering over it or  just the title should tell you. Do you have office365? Not or in the past?
I did hover over it it does not say anything. I have office 365 . Please help.
I uninstalled onedrive. There is still another app under all apps . but it does not open. another thing before i uninstalled it one drive was not syncing my documents in my computer. Meaning I had added more one notebook documents but the new added ones were not showing up in one drive. Can someone help me please?
Try this 1st:

Note: It is advised to perform a backup of your data that is in OneDrive folders just to make sure no data loss occur.

Method 1: Unlinking and Linking the OneDrive
If you unlink the OneDrive and then re-Link it back then the problem might be solved. Follow the steps given below to unlink and re-link the OneDrive

1.      Right click your OneDrive icon in the system tray (right bottom corner). If you can’t see it then you might have to click the upward arrow button and it will show up.

2.      Select Settings
 
3.      Select Account tab

4.      Click Unlink this PC
 
5.      Click Unlink account
 
Now restart your computer and check if the issue is still there or not.
onedrive is not in the taskbar nor there is an up arrow either. There is only one one drive program under all apps and it does not open.
Try this:

Method 2: Reset OneDrive

Resetting OneDrive also solves the problem if the second instance is just showing in the File Explorer without any back link.

1.      Hold Windows key and press R

2.      Type %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset and press Enter
 
Now check your system tray (right bottom corner) and you should be able to see OneDrive icon disappear and reappear after a couple of minutes.

If it doesn’t, you can restart the OneDrive yourself.
1.      Hold Windows key and press R

2.      Type %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe and press Enter
 
This should start the OneDrive again. Once it is started check if the extra instance is gone or not.
both suggestions gave me an error message.User generated image
Click "Run as administrator"

What happens?

If nothing happens, click "Open file location"

What happens?
run as administrator nothing happens.
open file location it takes me to location but when i click on onedrive shortcut still nothing happens
Restart your computer.

Is there any change in the behavior of the OneDrive icon?
I restarted my PC nothing happened. Please someone help me.
Can you log on to OneDrive (business or personal) through a webpage with your Microsoft account?
Yes I can. But the documents in here are not syncing with my computer documents.
Please try this again:

Above you showed that doing the steps below resulted in a message about C:\Users\Basem...

Please make sure you type the command exactly as given below, better yet, copy and paste it.  If it truly takes you to or references C:\Users\Basem then there may be other issues with your system.

Method 2: Reset OneDrive
Resetting OneDrive also solves the problem if the second instance is just showing in the File Explorer without any back link.

1.      Hold Windows key and press R

2.      Type
%localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset

Open in new window

and press Enter
 
Now check your system tray (right bottom corner) and you should be able to see OneDrive icon disappear and reappear after a couple of minutes.

If it doesn’t, you can restart the OneDrive yourself.
1.      Hold Windows key and press R

2.      Type
%localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe

Open in new window

and press Enter
 
This should start the OneDrive again. Once it is started check if the extra instance is gone or not.
after using both suggestions i got the same error message .
Going back to your original question
I noticed that there are 2 listings to onedrive under my apps. Any reason for that can one be removed?

The reason is one is for personal and one is for business. If you want to disable your personal drive, there are instructions here and it may be similar to what was just provided https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_onedrivefb-mso_o365app/how-to-turn-offhide-onedrive-personal-but-leave/bea35a10-78e9-4b35-a5df-c69060ad509b.  If you do have a paid office365 account and you are the administrator, you can contact Microsoft directly and  they can do a screenshare where they will point out exactly what you need to do. I have used o365 support like this myself and they have been very helpful.
I do not have onedrive showing up twice. still hovering over it does not say personal or business. Can I reinstall one drive and do I know which one to install personal or business? since I don't know which one I have now. Lastly, Logging into onedrive.com I do see my documents, pictures but they are not updating with my my pc documents as I add more thing to my pc documents the change is not seen in one drive. Thank you
UPDATE

I guess I would have to live with 2 instances of onedrive. So I went ahead and re-installed the onedrive app from the windows app store. My problem is that when hovering over the app it does not say personal or business. What is the difference between them? also I would like to know how to sync things in onedrive with my pc? Can someone please help me? Thank you.
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Basem Khawaja
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