OneDrive is a great tool to protect your data from loss for different reasons, like a hard drive failure.
If you’re a Windows user, you automatically get it on your PC and can use its 5GB of free storage.
However, you may notice that your PC slows down while running the app.
In other cases, your PC randomly slows down, and you may want to know if OneDrive is the culprit.
Does OneDrive Slow Down Your Computer?
The main factor that slows down a PC is apps using too many CPU resources.
Generally, OneDrive isn’t a resource-intensive program, mainly because it’s a cloud-based application that stores your data on a distant server.
In addition, it doesn’t eat resources when other applications need them, so it’s generally easy on them.
However, like any other app, it can slow down your computer because it uses RAM and CPU to function.
You can feel your computer is working slowly, particularly when OneDrive is syncing your data.
Since OneDrive requires a fast internet connection for syncing data, it can slow down other applications that rely on the internet to run.
Again, it shouldn’t cause severe issues unless you have a slow internet connection, and the other applications are also network-heavy.
You can make sure OneDrive is slowing down your computer and then take measures to alleviate its effect on your system speed.
How To Ensure OneDrive Affects Your Speed
When OneDrive is syncing your data, you can see the cloud icon on the right corner of the taskbar.
It shows two circular arrows on the cloud icon, indicating the sync is in progress.
That’s the exact time you should perform the following tests to make sure OneDrive isn’t slowing down your computer.
1. Use The Task Manager
One of the best ways to see how OneDrive affects your PC performance is by checking your CPU usage while syncing.
Right-click a blank spot on the taskbar and select Task Manager.
In the Processes tab, look for OneDrive and see its RAM and CPU usage.
You may also want to measure your CPU usage when OneDrive isn’t syncing and compare the values.
If OneDrive’s CPU usage is more than 20%–30%, it can affect your performance, and you can take action to resolve the issue.
While using Task Manager to monitor your CPU usage, looking at other processes is also helpful.
Too many processes may be running in the background and slowing down the computer.
In such cases, OneDrive isn’t the culprit, and you should rule out other possibilities.
2. Use System Monitoring Tools
Windows has a built-in Performance Monitor that allows you to watch your resources and how the apps are using them.
You can also use third-party apps to monitor your system resources and analyze them to track your system’s health and performance.
These tools can help you identify the programs that hog your system resources and give you a detailed report on when and how they do so.
3. Pause OneDrive Syncing
If you ascertain that OneDrive is hogging your system resources while syncing, you should temporarily stop the syncing feature and monitor your PC’s performance.
If your PC speeds up, you can ensure OneDrive is the culprit.
Here’s how to do it:
Expand the notification panel on your taskbar and find the OneDrive icon.
Right-click it and select More.
You can see a popup screen on which you should choose Pause syncing.
Here, you can choose a timeframe, from two hours, eight hours, and 24 hours.
You could choose the 24-hour timeframe to comprehensively view your system performance and how OneDrive can affect it.
However, if OneDrive is slowing down your PC, you can feel a speed boost immediately after you stop syncing.
How To Stop Onedrive From Slowing Down The PC
If you’re 100% sure that OneDrive is the main culprit behind your PC speed issues, you can use the following solutions.
1. Restart OneDrive
Restarting an app is like restarting the PC.
It flushes the caches and removes the glitches that prevent the app from working properly.
To close the app, you need to terminate it in Task Manager.
Open Task Manager by pressing Alt + Ctrl + Del and go to the Processes tab.
Locate OneDrive and select it.
Right-click it and select End task.
Restart your computer, and it should launch upon bootup.
2. Remove OneDrive From Startup Programs
Generally, too many startup programs can slow down your computer because they eat up many resources from the beginning.
OneDrive is no exception, so you can speed up your system by preventing it from launching upon bootup.
Here’s how to do it.
Go to Task Manager and click on the Startup tab.
Right-click OneDrive and select Disable.
Restart your computer and see if OneDrive launches when the PC boots.
If it doesn’t, check whether the PC works faster.
3. Delete Unnecessary Files
Some files, such as temporary and cached files, can slow down your computer no matter to which app they belong.
You can try deleting these files for OneDrive and see if it boosts your PC speed.
OneDrive has two problematic files that you can delete:
Open Task Manager and select Processes.
Scroll down to find Microsoft OneDrive setup, right-click it, and select End task.
Now, press Win + R to open a Run box, type in %localappdata%, and press Enter.
Go to Microsoft > OneDrive> Setup > Logs.
Locate the following files and delete them:
UserTelemetryCache.otc.session
UserTelemetryCache.otc
You may not have both of these files in this folder, so delete any of them that you find.
Now, go to the main OneDrive folder under Local and find the OneDriveSetup.exe file in the Update folder or the one labeled with the numbers 19.222.1110.0006.
By running this file, you can update OneDrive and fix any issues that prevented your app from running properly and hogged your CPU resources.
4. Reset OneDrive
If restarting the OneDrive app doesn’t help speed up your computer, you can reset it.
This is different from restarting and stops syncing by disconnecting all the syncing connections set up for your account.
If you have connected two accounts, like work and school, you will need to reset both.
It doesn’t remove or affect your saved data.
However, if you don’t sync all your files and have selected specific files to sync, you need to select them again after resetting.
Here’s how to do it:
Open the Run box and type in wsreset.exe.
Press Ok to see a blank Command Prompt window that disappears after ten seconds.
If the app isn’t reset after this command, you can copy and paste the following command in the Run box to initiate the reset.
%localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset
The process can take some time, so wait until the OneDrive icon disappears from the notification panel and reappears after it’s reset.
Restart your PC and see if you still have the issue.
5. Unlink OneDrive
Unlinking your OneDrive account is another way to remove the glitches that make it use too many CPU resources.
It doesn’t remove your data or files and temporarily disconnects your local files from the cloud.
After relinking your OneDrive, it will sync all the files created while it was unlinked.
Click the OneDrive icon in the system tray and go to Settings.
Note. If you can’t find OneDrive in the system tray or notification area, search it in Cortana’s search box and select it from the results.
Once in the OneDrive settings, go to the Account tab and select Unlink this computer > Unlink account.
Now, create a new OneDrive folder to move your data and solve your issues.
Type Credentials in the toolbar’s search box and open Credential Manager.
Go to Windows Credentials > Generic Credentials > OneDrive Cached Credentials > Remove.
Now, open OneDrive and sign in.
Select Choose new folder to move all your previous data to this new location.
OneDrive will start syncing your data and make sure the move hasn’t left any files damaged.
6. Uninstall OneDrive
The above solutions should help you fix your issue with OneDrive slowing down your PC.
Most of them reset OneDrive settings and remove problematic files that make it hog your system resources.
However, if you still have the issue, you can uninstall and reinstall the app.
Again, uninstalling OneDrive doesn’t remove your data; you can access them when you sign in to your OneDrive account.
To do So, go to Settings > Apps & Features.
Scroll down to Microsoft OneDrive and click it.
Select Uninstall.
Follow the on-screen prompts to finish uninstalling the app.
Now, go to Microsoft’s OneDrive page and download the app.
Adjust the settings and see if it helps speed up your computer.
7. Disable The Telemetry Service
Some users have reported that the Telemetry service has a bug that makes OneDrive use too many CPU resources and can slow down computers.
Disabling the Telemetry service has proved useful as a workaround.
However, it involves deleting and editing registry keys, which can harm your computer if done improperly.
Therefore, you may want to do this as a last resort and create a restore point to avoid losing your data if things go wrong.
Here’s how to do it.
Sign in with your Admin username because you need admin rights to use the registry edit tool.
Right-click the Start button and select Settings > Privacy > Feedback & Diagnostics.
Select Required Diagnostic Data under Diagnostics and Data Usage.
Now open a Run box, type in Regedit, and press Ok.
Find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection in the registry editor window and click it.
Build a new DWORD value by right-clicking Data Collection and selecting New.
From the context menu, select DWORD Value.
Rename the DWORD Value file to Allow Telemetry and double-click the renamed file.
Select zero under value data.
Now, type File Explorer in Cortana’s search box, right-click it and select Manage to open Computer Management.
Open Applications & Services and click Services.
Locate Connected User Experiences and Telemetry and dmwappushsvc, double-click them, and expand the menu under Startup type.
Select Disabled > Ok.
These steps disable the telemetry of all apps on your device, which you shouldn’t worry about because it doesn’t affect your PC’s performance.
If OneDrive is slowing down your computer because of this bug, this workaround will solve it.
How To Make OneDrive Run Faster
OneDrive is constantly syncing your data, taking resources, and slowing down your PC.
The issue can be less severe if you have selected a few files to sync.
However, the app can also run slow, taking forever to sync your files.
Even if it hogs your system resources, it can affect your performance less if it does its job faster.
Here’s what you can do to make OneDrive run faster:
1. Check Your Internet Speed
OneDrive requires a fast internet connection to sync your files with the cloud.
Make sure you have a fast connection to help it do its job as quickly as possible.
You can do an online speed test and compare the results with your purchased plan.
If other apps run in the background with high network usage, you can disable them for a short while until OneDrive finishes syncing.
You can also use a wired Ethernet connection to get a faster speed.
That’s because a wireless connection is less reliable due to interference from other channels and devices.
2. Check OneDrive’s Network Settings
OneDrive has an option that allows you to limit syncing speed to avoid hogging the internet.
This can slow down syncing, though, affecting your computer’s speed if it keeps your CPU resources for too long.
You can raise the network limits in OneDrive settings to speed up syncing.
Right-click the OneDrive icon on the system tray and go to Settings.
Click on the Network tab and select Don’t Limit under Upload rate.
3. Close Intensive Apps
If you have a slow internet speed, it’s better to avoid multitasking and running apps that require a fast internet connection.
The same applies to CPU resources.
If it’s possible for you, try not to run intensive apps simultaneously.
Granted, it may not seem like a viable solution, but you can avoid many hassles of a slow connection or system if none of the solutions have worked.
4. Sync When Not Using The Computer
Many users prefer to back up their files when not using their computers to avoid issues like reduced speed.
Windows Task Scheduler allows you to schedule your tasks, including OneDrive syncing.
Here’s how to do it:
Type task scheduler in the taskbar’s search box and select the first result.
Go to the Action tab and select Create Task.
Under the General tab, you can configure your task by selecting the name, adding descriptions, and adjusting the security settings.
Now, go to the Triggers tab and set the time and frequency of syncing.
Go back to Create Task and add OneDrive by clicking the Browse button.
Using the task scheduler allows you to continue syncing even when your computer is in sleep mode.
That’s a big limitation for those who do the syncing when they’re not using their PCs.
If their PCs go to sleep, the syncing will stop.
You should either turn off the sleep feature or use the task scheduler.
5. Use The Web Version
Some users have experienced faster upload speeds if they use OneDrive’s web version.
You can access it here, and after signing in, click OneDrive to access your uploaded files.
You can access OneDrive’s web client on any web browser, but choose a light one to speed up syncing.
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