How to Auto Sync OneDrive to External Hard Drive

Why backup or sync OneDrive to an external hard drive?

OneDrive is a very useful cloud storage that helps to manage your personal files everywhere on any platform. With the OneDrive app installed, your files saved in the cloud will be synced to your local storage in real time. But besides the local computer, sometimes users want to sync OneDrive to an external hard drive because of the following reasons:

• Data Security: Provides an additional layer of protection against data loss due to accidental deletion, system crashes, or hardware failures. The corrupted or encrypted files may be synced to the OneDrive cloud immediately. To avoid such unexpected data loss, you should backup your OneDrive folder offsite for an extra layer of data protection.

• Offline Access: Ensures access to your files even without an internet connection or during temporary OneDrive service outages.

• Data Control: Gives you more control over your data, allowing you to manage and access files directly from the external hard drive.

• Faster Access: Offers quicker access to files compared to downloading them from the cloud, especially for large files or when internet speeds are slow.

• Redundancy: Creates redundancy by storing copies of your files in multiple locations, reducing the risk of data loss.

Then, how to sync OneDrive to an external hard drive? Please keep reading below and you will get 3 helpful ways.

Method 1: Move the OneDrive folder to an external drive

If you do not want to keep the original OneDrive folder, you can redirect the OneDrive folder to another location. Note that One Drive will treat the missing files and folders as deleted, so please disable OneDrive before moving it. Otherwise, this operation may result in data loss.

Step-by-step to move the OneDrive folder to an external drive:

1. Right-click on the OneDrive taskbar icon and then select Settings.

2. Click the Account tab and select Unlink this PC. A OneDrive setup screen will pop out, and just ignore it for now.

3. Open File Explorer and locate your OneDrive folder. Then click the “Move to” button from the upper column and then select a folder on the external hard drive.

4. When all the contents in the OneDrive are moved to the external drive, bring out the OneDrive setup screen, and sign in with your OneDrive account.

5. In the This is your OneDrive folder screen, click the link “Change location".  Then select the new OneDrive folder location and click Use this location. 

6. Click Next and complete the setup process via on-screen instructions. After that, it will sync your files again. 

Method 2: Download folders from OneDrive website

To backup OneDrive to an external hard drive, you'll use the web-based OneDrive interface to download your files and then transfer them to the external drive. However, it's important to be aware that there's a chance of losing or corrupting data, especially with large files. Additionally, the download process might be slow, so it could take some time to get all your files transferred.

1. Go to the OneDrive website and log in.

2. Select the files or folders you want to backup and click Download.

3. Once downloaded, transfer them to your external hard drive.

💡 Note: To set your external drive as the backup location, click the three-dot button in Chrome, then go to Settings > Downloads > Change, and choose your external drive.

Method 3: Sync OneDrive with an external hard drive automatically

Except for moving the OneDrive folder to an external drive, you can still sync OneDrive with a free and reliable file sync software for Windows 11/10/8/7 to ensure your files are always safe. AOMEI Backupper Standard is a great option because of the following advantages. 

★ You can set up a one-way sync task to sync some or all files in the OneDrive folder to a removable storage device.
★ If you want the files to be synchronized automatically, you can add a schedule to run the sync task. Five schedule modes are available: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event Triggers, and USB plug-in.
★ Besides OneDrive, you can use it to sync Dropbox to the external hard drive. Other cloud drives like Box, SugarSync, hubiC, and Cloudme are also supported.

After a brief understanding, you may want to have a try. Assuming you have the OneDrive desktop app installed and configured, you can simply download and install this sync software to have a try:

AOMEI Backupper

Best free file sync software for personal use.

Download Freeware
Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7

How to sync OneDrive to an external drive with a schedule:

1. At the main console, click Sync and choose Basic Sync.

2. In the Basic Sync screen, click Add Folder and select the OneDrive folder as the source folder to be synced. 

💡 Tips:

• If you don't want to sync the whole OneDrive folder, you can select one or more subfolders containing files you want to sync as the source folder(s) to transfer files from OneDrive to a USB drive or other external devices.
• You can exclude some files with a certain file extension that you don’t want to sync with Filter settings, which is available in higher editions.

3. Select a folder on your external hard drive as the destination path.

4. Click Schedule Sync to configure an automatic sync task based on your need.

5. After that, click Start Sync > Add the schedule and start sync now or Only add the schedule. Then the contents in the OneDrive folder will be synced to your external drive as you configured.

📖 Notes: 

• For more options like email notification or syncing deletions, you can click Options.
• The steps are the same to sync the external hard drive to OneDrive. You just need to change the source folders and destination path.

📖 More sync modes available in advanced editions:  

• Real-Time Sync: sync changed files from the source directory to the destination directory in real-time.
• Mirror Sync: always keep the files in the destination directory exactly the same as the source directory.
• Two-Way Sync: any changes in the source of the destination directory will be synced to the other side mutually.

Supplement: backup OneDrive to an external drive automatically

Besides file and folder sync, this free software provides a file backup feature to help you back up OneDrive to an external drive automatically. Click Backup > File Backup. Then, select the OneDrive folder to be backed up and select the external hard drive to hold the backup image. Finally, enable Schedule Backup and click Start Backup.

By comparison, it adds an extra protection layer to your files by compressing all the files to an image file, and you can only access them by restoring files from the image first. Moreover, if you create an AOMEI account, you are able to backup files to AOMEI Cloud. It offers you 1TB of free storage for 15 days after you sign up for an AOMEI account.

Summary 

As previously mentioned, the default location of the OneDrive folder may not provide the best protection for your data. To enhance data security, consider backing up OneDrive to an external drive. Alternatively, you can sync OneDrive to an external hard drive while keeping the original OneDrive folder structure intact. This ensures that your files are backed up and easily accessible from an external source, providing an extra layer of safety for your data.

And the latter way is suggested. By using it, you can sync files to OneDrive as usual and keep a copy of the original files. Then, if something bad happens to your computer, you still can use the copy on the external hard drive. Except for this, AOMEI Backupper enables you to backup files/system/disk or clone C drive to SSD. Try it out to discover more!

FAQs about OneDrive sync to external drive

1. What happens if I disconnect the external hard drive while OneDrive is syncing?

Answer: If the external hard drive is disconnected during syncing, OneDrive will encounter errors and might not be able to complete the syncing process. Reconnecting the external hard drive should allow OneDrive to resume syncing from where it left off.

2. Are there any limitations or considerations for syncing to an external hard drive?

Answer: One consideration is the storage capacity of the external drive. Ensure it has enough space to accommodate the OneDrive content you want to sync. Also, be mindful of the drive's health and reliability as it could affect the integrity of your synced files.

3. How often should I sync OneDrive to an external hard drive?

Answer: The frequency of syncing depends on how frequently your files change. For important files, you might want to sync daily or weekly. For less critical content, syncing monthly might be sufficient.