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Microsoft gives in and lets you close OneDrive on Windows without explaining yourself

Microsoft gives in and lets you close OneDrive on Windows without explaining yourself

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It was just a test, the company explains while removing the prompt that forced users to fill out a survey on why they dared quit the application.

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A dialog box inside OneDrive that asks you to explain why you’re closing the app
You now have to let Microsoft know why you want to close the OneDrive app.

Update November 10th, 4:45AM ET: Microsoft has removed the dialog forcing users to fill out a survey when quitting OneDrive, and reverted to the original prompt. In a statement sent to The Verge, Microsoft says:

Between Nov. 1 and 8, a small subset of consumer OneDrive users were presented with a dialog box when closing the OneDrive sync client, asking for feedback on the reason they chose to close the application. This type of user feedback helps inform our ongoing efforts to enhance the quality of our products.

The story below is unchanged.


Microsoft now wants you to explain exactly why you’re attempting to close its OneDrive for Windows app before it allows you to do so. Neowin has spotted that the latest update to OneDrive now includes an annoying dialog box that asks you to select the reason why you’re closing the app every single time you attempt to close OneDrive from the taskbar.

Closing OneDrive is already buried away and not a simple task, with Microsoft hiding it under a “pause syncing” option when you right-click on OneDrive in the taskbar. But now, the quit option is grayed out until you select a reason for quitting OneDrive from a drop-down box. Here are the options:

  • I don’t want OneDrive running all the time
  • I don’t know what OneDrive is
  • I don’t use OneDrive
  • I’m trying to fix a problem with OneDrive
  • I’m trying to speed up my computer
  • I get too many notifications
  • Other
A screenshot of The OneDrive poll that appears when you try and close the app.
The OneDrive poll that appears when you try and close the app.

You’ll need to select one to close OneDrive, but Microsoft hasn’t included a “go away and let me close the damn application” option, unfortunately.

Microsoft has been pushing OneDrive in Windows for years, with it taking over the Documents and Pictures libraries in Windows 11 by default to sync files to Microsoft’s cloud-powered storage. There are also a variety of prompts throughout Windows if you haven’t set up OneDrive, including one that appears when you change a Windows desktop wallpaper.

This new behavior follows years of Microsoft’s demanding Edge prompts that appear if you dare to download Chrome or change your default browser. Last month, Microsoft even thirstily started injecting a poll into the download page of Chrome asking why people were downloading an alternative browser. Now, Microsoft wants to know why you’re closing OneDrive.

What’s next? Hopefully, Microsoft won’t start injecting a poll at shutdown demanding to know why I’m turning my PC off for the day.

If you want to avoid this latest OneDrive nonsense, then feel free to open Task Manager, search for Microsoft OneDrive, and end that task the old-school way.

Screenshots by Tom Warren / The Verge