You’ve probably heard of OneDrive – Microsoft’s cloud storage solution that provides Windows 10 users with enough space to back up their documents free of charge. However, you may have also noticed that the OneDrive sync folder is its own entity. Anything outside of the directory won’t be stored in the cloud, which can be frustrating if you want to backup pictures, downloads, or game saves as they’re created. Today we’re going to show you how to enable OneDrive folder sync for any directory via mklink. If you are looking for a replacement to the buried OneDrive Fetch Files feature, please check here.
What is a OneDrive mklink?
mklink is a Windows command that lets users create symbolic or hard links between directories and files. You can think of them as a full shortcut, where the link doesn’t just point to a folder – it makes Windows think its contents are actually there.
We can utilize this feature to create a OneDrive mklink junction in our OneDrive sync folder that points to the directory of our choice. For all intents and purposes, OneDrive will now think it has ownership of the files, but the originals will remain. Here’s how to do it:
How to Sync a Local Folder to OneDrive via mklink
This process only takes a minute and doesn’t require any additional setup. The only restriction is the amount of space in your OneDrive account; if you try to sync a large folder you may hit your storage limit. Also bear in mind that uploading files every time they change will use data, which could be a problem if you’re on a metered connection.
- Open Command Prompt
Press the “Windows” button and type “command prompt”, clicking on the first result.
- Create a OneDrive mklink to add a folder to OneDrive
In command prompt, type the following command, being careful to adjust it to suit your preferences using the information below:
mklink /j "%UserProfile%\OneDrive\Documents" "C:\Users\Winbuzzer\Documents"You should choose folders to sync to OneDrive yourself. The first quotations contain the name you want the folder to appear as after
\OneDrive. This can’t be the same as an existing directory. The second should be the source folder you want to link, withWinbuzzer\Documentsreplaced with your username and the folder or another location entirely, such as"D:\Films".
- Wait for the app to Sync the local folder to OneDrive
If you head to your source folder, you’ll see that it’s still there, unchanged.
You can now head to your OneDrive folder, where you should see the OneDrive mklink with the folder name you specified. In our case, “Documents”.
Next to it will be a ↻ icon if it’s still syncing, or a ☁ if it’s fully synced.
Source Winbuzzer
