- Microsoft has a support article that tackles Windows Performance problems
- A tip is to turn off onedrive sync as it “can slow your PC”
- This is possibly one of the largest bugbears when it comes to sluggish File Explorer Performance in Windows 11
Microsoft has admitted that synchronizing files between your Windows 11 -PC and OneDrive can slow down your system while providing a lot of tips to improve your computer’s performance.
Neowin marked that Microsoft’s support account on X highlighted a post that contains that benefits tips for Windows 10 as well as Windows 11.
How to make your PC Faster: Step 1: Update it. Read on for more changes you can make: pic.twitter.com/olwt212ojpAugust 11, 2025
The tips are delivered in order so that the first is the most important and potentially effective, and the others follow, with the proposal related to OneDrive, which comes in number seven. (The others are mostly standard price: Update everything – which is number one – check disk space, disable unnecessary apps, tone smart graphics in Windows and so on).
Microsoft observes that OneDrive Sync is enabled by default in Windows 11 (and 10) – Mirrors files on your PC to the Cloud storage service – to let you access your files from any device wherever you are (as long as you are online). It also explains that these synchronization files in OneDrive also act as a backup.
However, Microsoft admits that the flip side of these benefits is that the process of synchronizing files on your computer to the cloud “can slow down your PC,” and then give you instructions on how to temporarily break OneDrive Sync. That way, if you have the slowdown of performance, you can stop this synchronization and see if it solves these hiccups.
If you are curious, the way to break on synchronization is to find the ontedrive icon in the taskbar’s system tray (right-right) -It’s cloud graphics-right-click it, and under the cog settings you see the opportunity to “the break synchronize”.
Analysis: Examination of causes of sluggishness
There have been a lot of complaints about File Explorer running extremely slowly in Windows 11 Microsoft has acknowledged and it is also something I have experienced myself on my Windows 11 laptop. OneDrive may well be tied to these kinds of retirement in some scenarios.
On my main PC, which is Windows 10, File Explorer is running noticeably snappers. And especially on my backup -PC, which also has Windows 11 – and which I have decoupled OneDrive – it also runs smoothly.
So if you are plagued by slow performance when working with files and folders on your desktop (File Explorer), it’s definitely worth keeping OneDrive Sync to see if this helps.
However, this is not necessarily only about File Explorer -Feature, and closure of OneDrive sync can help the performance in other areas of your PC -to run other software or PC games, maybe. As always, any effect of synchronization can be variable based on your particular PC configuration, system settings and the workload that OneDrive may take on at any given time has obvious significance for things.
You don’t have to use OneDrive with Windows 11 or 10, even though Microsoft wants you to need for obvious reasons – if you want to subscribe to cloud storage, the software giant will have you to choose his service (nor is it shy about promoting it).
However, you can remove your OneDrive account from your PC and then uninstall the OneDrive app, if you want to move on (that said, it may reappear via subsequent Windows 11 updates, or it has definitely been a complaint I’ve seen sent in the past).
Microsoft is right in the benefits of cloud sync for backup (and potentially submission of access from other devices), but remember that you don’t have to go with OneDrive – there are other cloud storage providers out there.
In fact, there are other backup solutions. Just make sure you have one and always remember that storing your data in the cloud with any service can be a good idea in some ways, but it gives some power to a third party, so you have to consider it as part of a total 3-2-1 backup strategy.
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