Although the OneDrive app is deeply integrated into Windows 10, moving all your data from your desktop to Microsoft’s cloud storage, OneDrive can be quite a task. Realizing this, Microsoft has a rolled out a new feature for its users – Known Folder Move (KFM) for OneDrive.
Known Folder Move for OneDrive
The feature is primarily designed to help Windows users move their docs, desktop, and pictures into OneDrive to enable them to organize their most important files and access them across different applications.
All the user content is automatically synced to Microsoft’s cloud storage without disrupting productivity.
There is nothing a user needs to do to prepare for this change. Once rolled out (anticipate rollout completion by late July) the user could move content from the Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders to OneDrive via a single dedicated button. All his files will be in the same familiar Windows “Known Folders”.
Then, with KFM configured he will view the folders redirecting to OneDrive (circled in red). As you can see from the image above, Downloads folder will not be moved to OneDrive. The feature would also use OneDrive Files on Demand capability, where icons would become visible to the user beside each folder. The cloud icon signifies it’s only in OneDrive, the green tick shows it remains on the device itself (as well as in OneDrive).
An additional benefit Known Folder Move (KFM) for OneDrive offers is that if you are an IT Admin, you can automate this task by using Group Policy. You can deploy a group policy to users in your organization to encourage them to perform KFM operations.
Transfer files to OneDrive with KFM
Eligible end users can get to the KFM experience when they notice and click on one of the KFM toast notifications visible or navigate via OneDrive settings to AutoSave option and then, choose Update folders section.
When enabled, The KFM experience begins and does a brief scan for any unsupported files.
The scan, when completed displays all files supported and confirms that the user now has access to the option to move the desired folders to OneDrive.
Apart from the end users, Microsoft has something to offer for IT administrators also. For instance, IT admins get two additional options for their users, including
Silent redirection of Windows known folders to OneDrive – Invariably makes it possible to move data to OneDrive without any notification sent to users when the process is complete. Please note that If you disable or do not configure this setting, the “Set up protection of important folders” window won’t appear automatically for your users. When this policy is set with the notification flag, the end user will see a toast bearing the message as shown in the image below.
Preventing users from redirecting the Windows known folders – This setting forces user to keep his Documents, Pictures, and Desktop folders directed to OneDrive. When enabled, the “Stop protecting” button in the “Set up protection of important folders” window will be turned off or disabled, and users will see an error message flashing on their screen if they try to stop syncing a known folder. If you disable or choose to not configure this setting, users can choose to redirect their known folders back to their PC.
You can use group policies alongside any other group policies including Silent Account Configuration but make sure if you are setting policies, it does not create a conflict.
Known Folder Move works with the OneDrive desktop app on Windows 10, Windows 8 and Windows 7. It’s been announced for OneDrive for Business users, but there’s news that the company is also testing it with a small subset of OneDrive personal users.
For more details, you may visit techcommunity.microsoft.com.