Microsoft is retiring its OneDrive storage service in Windows 10. The company says that users will be able to continue using the service until July 15, 2020. After that date, users will no longer be able to access their files or folders. OneDrive was first introduced with Windows 8 and was designed as a way for users to store their files online. It allowed users to access their files from any device they had access to the internet. However, Microsoft has been struggling to compete with services like Google Drive and iCloud. In March of this year, Microsoft announced that it would be retiring OneDrive in favor of its new Files app. Users have been vocal about their displeasure with the change. Many have argued that Files doesn’t offer the same level of functionality as OneDrive and that it’s difficult to find information about how to use it. Others have said that they don’t want Microsoft storing their data online in the first place. ..
Microsoft has announced that it is ending OneDrive support on Windows 7 and 8. That means you’ll need to update to a newer version of Windows if you want to keep using the desktop OneDrive app.
The company posted on its tech support forum that OneDrive support on older Windows versions would end on March 1, 2022. The post says, “In order to focus resources on new technologies and operating systems, and to provide users with the most up-to-date and secure experience, beginning January 1, 2022, updates will no longer be provided for the OneDrive desktop application on your personal Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 devices. Personal OneDrive desktop applications running on these operating systems will stop syncing to the cloud on March 1, 2022.”
This isn’t a case of Microsoft no longer offering updates for OneDrive on older operating systems, as the support post says that “After March 1, 2022, your personal files will no longer sync and should be uploaded/accessed directly on OneDrive for web.”
While you can use OneDrive on the web, as mentioned by Microsoft, your files won’t sync automatically, so you’ll need to upload them manually, which will become tedious rather quickly if you’re making a lot of changes to your files and folders.
The best course of action is probably to update to Windows 10 or Windows 11. However, you also have the option of switching to another cloud storage solution if you’re really determined to keep using the older version of Windows.
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