How to sync any folder to OneDrive: Like Google Drive and other cloud storage services, OneDrive is a great way to back up and sync your files online for access from other devices, like your smartphone, anywhere in the world. However, what distinguishes this service most is that it is integrated into the Windows system, and if you sign in with a Microsoft account, you will get 5 GB of free storage space on OneDrive. By default, the service does not sync any folders on the computer, only the files that you place in the folder designated for the service. Still, there is a handy trick that relies on a feature in Windows called the Symbolic link through which we can synchronize a specific folder on the hard drive with OneDrive so that the contents of this folder remain on the hard drive and, at the same time accessible from anywhere. Let’s go over how to do this trick in straightforward steps.
Although it is possible to perform this trick without programs through the command prompt, the process will be tricky for beginners. So we’ll use a free program that does the job much easier than the command prompt; this program is OneDrive Bully, which uses Symbolic Links to link your folders anywhere on your computer to the OneDrive folder to sync without having to move the folder itself inside OneDrive. The program has a simple user interface that is easy to deal with to synchronize any folders and any new files placed in those folders; the program will automatically sync them in the background within a period that you specify in advance.
OneDrive
You can download the OneDrive Bully program from its page on the GitHub platform for free; the program size is tiny. It will not take up space from the computer’s storage capacity, and its work in the background permanently will not burden the device’s resources. All you have to do after downloading is to install the program traditionally, then run it in administrator mode by pressing the Win keys + the letter S (S) together, then write “one drive bully” in the search bar, and when the program appears in the results, press “Run as administrator.” ”
After opening the program for the first time, you will need to select the main OneDrive folder on your device, then press the “Browse” button from the window that appears, go to the OneDrive folder, and you can identify it by its icon that contains the blue OneDrive logo, or it can usually be found in path C:\Users\UserName. After selecting it, press OK, and then choose from the Bully Every X Minutes checkbox the time interval to force OneDrive to sync the folder’s contents, for example, every 5 minutes. Finally, click “Save” on the right to save the changes. You can also enable the “Load on Windows Startup” option to automatically launch the program when Windows starts.
After completing the initial settings above, all that remains is to set the folder you want to sync with OneDrive. To do this, press the “Add” button, then from the window that appears, navigate to this folder, select it, and then press OK. Note that you can add as many folders as you need to frequent across your devices. Once done, a message will appear confirming that you want to create a link between this folder on the hard drive and the main OneDrive folder. Select the “Yes” option, as the second option (No), will move the entire folder to OneDrive.
The added folder will be inserted into the program and synced with OneDrive without physically copying it to the OneDrive folder. You can now close the program, and it will still run in the background to force an automatic sync process at the preset interval so that any new file you add to this folder is also added to its connected copy on OneDrive. To make sure, open the OneDrive folder in File Explorer, and see the new folder with all its contents as it is on the hard drive. Again, the program did not copy the folder to OneDrive on the computer; it is still in its original location on the hard drive. Only a link was created to work around OneDrive limitations.
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