How to Back Up Any Folder With OneDrive

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 22:00:00 +0000

OneDrive backs up what is inside its own folder, usually C:\Users\<you>\OneDrive, and nothing else. Its built-in folder backup extends that to a fixed set of folders: Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos.¹ A folder anywhere else, say D:\Projects, is not backed up unless it is moved into OneDrive, and moving it breaks every program, shortcut and script that expects it at D:\Projects.

The trick that gets passed around is to leave the folder where it is and put a symbolic link to it inside OneDrive. That does not work reliably, for reasons explained below. What works is the same idea pointed the other way: move the folder into OneDrive, where it syncs like any other folder, and leave a link at the old path, so everything that used D:\Projects still finds it there.

Common Windows Issues and How I Fix Them

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 19:00:00 +0000

This page is a reference rather than an article: problems I have hit on Windows more than once, with the fix written down so I do not have to search for it again. Each entry says what the problem looks like, what is going on underneath, and the steps that solve it. The file locations below were checked on Windows 11 Pro on 21 October 2026.

Blank or outdated icons: rebuilding the icon cache

What it looks like. Explorer, the desktop or the taskbar shows a blank white icon, a generic one, or the old icon of an application that has since been updated.

Windows on Artur Rios Lab

How to Back Up Any Folder With OneDrive

Common Windows Issues and How I Fix Them

Blank or outdated icons: rebuilding the icon cache