Changed OneDrive properties and Office locks on file open/save browse

I changed OneDrive properties and now all Office apps crash on file open/save browsing.

My family and I were confused between OneDrive and the Documents library in our recent install of Office 365 Office 2016. Sometimes we saved to OneDrive when we wanted to save to local Documents. So, I stupidly changed OneDrive to a 'hidden' folder on one of our machines thinking that was a quick and easy fix. Since then Office products (Word, Excel, etc.) all crash on that machine (i.e. go into Not Responding mode) whenever we try to perform a file save as browse or file open browse and I have to use Task Manager to end them and we lose the document.

First, I tried the Office 365 Quick Repair and the Online Repair. Then I tried 'un-hiding' OneDrive and reran Online Repair. Then I tried enabling "Prevent the usage of OneDrive for file storage" in the Local Group Policy Editor>>Computer Configuration>>Administrative Templates>>Windows Components>>OneDrive, accessing it with Win+R gpedit.msc. I left the other OneDrive configurations as 'not configured'. I reran Online Repair again. That didn't work.

My Windows 10 Pro has OneDrive Uninstall in System Settings, Add or Remove Programs. So I uninstalled OneDrive. Then I ran AVG Registry optimization and cleaned up the registry. I rebooted, ran Office Online Repair again, rebooted, and tested Word file save as browse. Word locked up again.

I don't think I have a suitable restore point to roll back to and I'm afraid of reinstalling Windows because I am not experienced with this stuff.

Any suggestions?

Hi sygnus21. I guess not every lecture is a learning moment.

I've used hidden file attributes in DOS and Windows for some time and just assumed it was no coincidence that Office apps started locking up when I change the OneDrive folder attribute. That was my mistake.

After doing a Win10 in-place upgrade and repairing Office again, the problem was still not resolved. So I started troubleshooting from the beginning.

Through the process of elimination I found a glitch in my malware software that caused Office apps to lock up on file browse. So my issue was not related to OneDrive or me changing the folder attributes to hidden. I didn't think to check my security software first because my three other machines are running fine. I reinstalled the malware security tools and all is good with my kit now.

And may I add condescending replies aren't very endearing and give PC support technicians all around the world a bad image. My humble guess is there isn't a single user on this forum that hasn't tried something without being sure how it could affect their system.

Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling oneDrive?

From an elevated command prompt

Complete Remove and Uninstall OneDrive

It’s possible to manually uninstall and remove OneDrive in Windows 10 by the step-by-step guide below. Run the commands to be executed in the process below.

Uninstall OneDrive

Terminate any process of OneDrive by running the following command:

taskkill /f /im OneDrive.exe

Uninstall OneDrive app by running one of the following commands :

In 32-bit Windows 10 (x86):

%SystemRoot%\System32\OneDriveSetup.exe /uninstall

in 64-bit Windows 10 (x64):

%SystemRoot%\SysWOW64\OneDriveSetup.exe /uninstall


Then to re-install.

if you’re using 64-bit
%SystemRoot%\SysWOW64\OneDriveSetup.exe
if you’re using 32-bit
%SystemRoot%\System32\OneDriveSetup.exe

sygnus21 said:

Sounds like you messed stuff up pretty badly there by messing where you shouldn't. ... .And may I add leaving things alone if you're not sure what they do or how they could affect your system :)

Sygnus21, your original response was clear. Your follow up reply, not so much. No one can tell what you mean that "your statement would be the same" - I guess that means that we all make mistakes and you'd still throw down the big, condescending hammer for no apparent reason.

So let me be crystal clear about my feedback to you: Words are important. You said I 'messed stuff up pretty badly there by messing where you shouldn't" and I should leave "...things alone if ... not sure what they do..." Those words are lecturing and condescending and that's exactly how I felt reading them. And they didn't help address the root cause.

If you hadn't opened, and closed, your reply with me as 'messing stuff up' I would have taken that as a learning opportunity and a gesture of genuine help - not a belittling lecture. No one likes to be lectured to or berated.

If I have a problem in the future and post for help, please don't reply. . . . Randy