"Continue your PC Backup" won't go away

Hello, let's see if I can help you.

I looked into your question and found that typically, that notification appears when there's an old backup configuration that Windows is trying to resume. I think you can address it this way:

— Open Control Panel.
— In Control Panel, go to “Backup and Restore (Windows 7).”
— If you see an old backup configuration, click "Change settings" or "Manage Space."
— Make sure your backup drive is still connected and recognized.
— If you want to keep using the old backup drive, ensure it’s selected and accessible. If you no longer want that backup, disable it or click "Stop using this backup" and set up a new one.

After making these changes, restart your PC. The notification should either disappear or let you click "Try again" once the backup location is correctly recognized.

This only adjusts the backup settings. If it doesn’t work, we can try to disable OneDrive itself or its configuration.
Feel free to write me and let me know. When you reply, I’ll do my best to get back to you as soon as I can. I think we’re in different time zones, so apologies in advance if it takes me a bit longer to respond.

Hello, let's see if I can help you.

I looked into your question and found that typically, that notification appears when there's an old backup configuration that Windows is trying to resume. I think you can address it this way:

— Open Control Panel.
— In Control Panel, go to “Backup and Restore (Windows 7).”
— If you see an old backup configuration, click "Change settings" or "Manage Space."
— Make sure your backup drive is still connected and recognized.
— If you want to keep using the old backup drive, ensure it’s selected and accessible. If you no longer want that backup, disable it or click "Stop using this backup" and set up a new one.

After making these changes, restart your PC. The notification should either disappear or let you click "Try again" once the backup location is correctly recognized.

This only adjusts the backup settings. If it doesn’t work, we can try to disable OneDrive itself or its configuration.
Feel free to write me and let me know. When you reply, I’ll do my best to get back to you as soon as I can. I think we’re in different time zones, so apologies in advance if it takes me a bit longer to respond.

Hi SergioAguntu

I'm a bit confused.

— In Control Panel, go to “Backup and Restore (Windows 7).”

I have a multiboot system. In my OP, the first image is from the Disk 0, with the fresh install, and clearly indicates that the files are synced. So, maybe I don't understand, but I don't see how this could be a connection issue. My other installation, on Disk 1, states the same, but is not prompting me with the message to get more storage

Hello again. It took me a while because I’ve been looking into this issue. Thank you for including screenshots — everything I’ve researched so far has been based on the context they provide. Please confirm if I’ve understood correctly:

You have more than one operating system installed on the same computer. OneDrive seems to be working the same on both installations, but only one shows the notification. The button is disabled, and the settings don’t appear to have any effect. So what you want is to get rid of that notification, either by continuing the backup or canceling it completely. Sorry, I should have asked you more questions about this before, because from my perspective, what I can suggest depends on two possible scenarios.

Based on what I’ve been reading in the Community, this issue can appear due to various technical reasons: if the initial backup setup was postponed; if the important folders (like Documents or Pictures) were moved from their default location; if they contain other folders managed by OneDrive or other cloud services (like Dropbox or iCloud); or if there are files with invalid names, paths that are too long, or files exceeding the maximum allowed size. For the notification to disappear, you need to either complete or explicitly reject the backup.

Like I said, I think there are two paths:

——Scenario 1: Allow the OneDrive backup to complete correctly, (this is if you want to use OneDrive’s feature to back up your user folders and remove the notification by finishing the setup).

The notification should only go away if you have addressed its request and OneDrive proceeds to protect your files.

Click the OneDrive icon in the notification area. Then click Help & Settings (gear icon) and select Settings. In the OneDrive settings window, go to the “Sync and backup” tab.
Select “Manage backup” and toggle the switch for each folder you want OneDrive to back up. Start the backup, and OneDrive will begin moving/syncing the content of those folders to your cloud storage.

If the process doesn’t start and the “Try again” button still appears grayed out, look for any error message under any folder in the list. OneDrive typically points out the cause (for example: “contains another cloud storage location,” “file name not allowed,” etc.). If so, resolve the conflict accordingly, for instance:

—>If it indicates that a certain folder contains another cloud folder, remove or move that third-party subfolder.
—>If it says the folder is not syncing on this PC, then go to OneDrive options > Choose Folders and ensure that folder is checked to be included in local sync. A common error occurs with Pictures if subfolders like Screenshots weren’t selected; check them, then retry the backup.
—>If the error mentions incompatible files (very long file names or invalid characters), you need to rename or remove them from the folder before proceeding.

Once it starts, OneDrive will upload the folder contents. Make sure you have enough space in OneDrive to complete the backup. After you finish these steps, the PC backup should be properly enabled. If the system recognizes that the backup is already configured, the “Continue your PC backup” notification will no longer appear,. Any new files you put in those folders will automatically sync to OneDrive (unless you disable the feature).


——Scenario 2: Disable or remove the OneDrive notification if you do not want to perform the backup, (this is if you prefer not to use OneDrive to back up your personal folders and want to permanently remove the notification, you must turn off the folder backup feature in OneDrive).

—A first method is via OneDrive settings. Follow the same initial steps to open OneDrive Settings > Sync and backup tab > Manage backup, as described above. Once you’re in the “Back up your folders” dialog, just make sure to leave all boxes unchecked.
When you disable a folder that had a pending backup, OneDrive may display a warning. For example, if some files in that folder had already been uploaded, you might see a message indicating that the files will remain on OneDrive (in the cloud) even if you disable the backup. Confirm to continue.
For the particular case of disabling Desktop, it may ask whether you want to keep the files only on this computer so that your desktop files stop syncing to the cloud. Apply/save the changes and close the window.

Essentially, you are telling OneDrive “do not back up folder X.” After that, OneDrive stops backing up those locations. Keep in mind that any files that were already in OneDrive will stay there (they’re not automatically deleted when you stop backing up).

The important thing is that OneDrive will no longer attempt to sync these folders going forward. Any new file you place in Documents/Desktop/etc. will no longer be automatically uploaded, and therefore the “pending backup” notification will disappear.

—Another alternate method is to unlink OneDrive (but that’s more of a last resort). If for some reason you want to remove OneDrive entirely, you can choose to unlink your OneDrive account from the PC or uninstall OneDrive.
To unlink OneDrive, open OneDrive Settings > Account tab > click “Unlink this PC.” This logs you out of the app and stops all syncing (removing any backup-related alerts, since OneDrive will no longer be active). Remember that unlinking or uninstalling OneDrive does not delete your files in the cloud; it just stops local syncing. You can always access your files by signing in to OneDrive.com with your account, but you’ll lose the convenience of automatic syncing on this PC.

In most cases, removing the folder from the backup plan will cause OneDrive to stop asking to back up that folder. For instance, if you have disabled all folders (Desktop, Documents, Pictures), OneDrive will no longer have any pending backup suggestion to display.

If you use the same OneDrive account in future Windows installations, the system may remember your preference. Microsoft says that the “sync/PC folder backup” setting may apply to all devices using your Microsoft account. This means that if you’ve set no folders to be backed up, a new Windows installation might detect that and not show you the “Continue your PC backup” wizard. In any case, just to be sure, you can always open OneDrive, go to Manage backup, and simply cancel/disable any backup options before they get activated.

Please, if I’ve misunderstood the issue or taken the wrong approach, let me know and I’ll keep looking into possible solutions. Based on that, if you have any additional information that might be helpful or relevant, feel free to share it.
I'm waiting for your reply.

Best regards.

HI SergioAguntu,

Thanks for your comprehensive response. I will document it for future reference.

The notification should only go away if you have addressed its request and OneDrive proceeds to protect your files.

In the settings, this is the same for both installations.

The prompt says "Get more storage to finish the backup you started while setting up your PC".

We have already established that on both installations, the business of Onedrive sync and backup has completed

So, the question I would ask you is, when the internal settings are as displayed in the image, showing only "PIctures" selected", why does Onedrive present the scenario with "Documents" and "Desktop" also as enabled, and instruct the user to "Get more storage".

This initial message to "Continue your PC Backup" is not a new behavior. However, in the past, if you uncheck "Documents" and "Desktop", under normal circumstances we would expect the "Save" option to be active. But we have just he opposite. It is dormant.

Thus, the prompt to "Get more storage" continues.

Hello again, Nolan,

maybe I’m wrong, but it seems logical to me that this issue is caused by an inconsistency in OneDrive between what the user interface currently displays and the internal record of folders originally marked for backup (I am assuming it originally included "Documents" and "Desktop").

This is because when the system was first configured, OneDrive internally recorded that "Documents" and "Desktop" were selected for backup. However, due to insufficient disk space at the time (as shown in the second picture of your OP, about 93 GB were required on the C:\ drive), OneDrive couldn’t complete the operation successfully. As a result, the internal process of enabling backup for those folders remains unfinished.

That’s why I think the inactive "Save changes" button suggests that OneDrive still considers the process pending and requires space to complete it, even if you have unchecked the problematic folders. In other words, OneDrive is maintaining an internal state indicating that the backup process for those two folders hasn't been completed, which causes the UI not to acknowledge the changes you’ve made.
Long story short, there’s a discrepancy between OneDrive's internal backup configuration and what the UI shows.

Tonight I found a command that might interest you, it resets OneDrive’s internal state. You can run it from the Run box (Win + R). I found it here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/rese...

and here’s the command:
%localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDrive.exe /reset

Wait a few moments (it may take a minute), then restart OneDrive either by searching "OneDrive" in the Start menu or by running this command:
%localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDrive.exe

After this, you can reconfigure the Backup settings:
Open OneDrive Settings → Backup → Manage backup. Confirm that only "Pictures" is selected.

Check if the notification disappears. After saving these settings, the internal state might sync with your explicit configuration. I'd say OneDrive should no longer think that a backup is pending for the unchecked folders; resetting OneDrive forces the app to reload its entire internal configuration, discarding residual or corrupted backup state entries.
As stated in the Microsoft Support article (“What does resetting OneDrive do? […] You won't lose any data by resetting OneDrive”), the reset won’t delete any cloud-stored data, it will just restart synchronization on your local device.

You can verify your data by logging in to onedrive.live.com. After the reset and signing back in, OneDrive will compare your local files with the cloud and re-sync as needed. This might take some time.

With this command, the following should happen: the OneDrive app is restarted and its local internal configuration and sync state are cleared. Pending backup tasks and similar internal states are removed. You’ll be signed out locally and need to sign in again (or it may resume automatically if your session is still active, I can't really say for sure).

All in all, just in case, I recommend some precautions like make sure all important files are synced to the cloud before resetting. You can verify this on the OneDrive website. After the reset, double-check that your local OneDrive folder is syncing correctly to avoid any confusion.

What do you think about it? I’ll wait for your reply. Best regards.

Hello again, Nolan,

maybe I’m wrong, but it seems logical to me that this issue is caused by an inconsistency in OneDrive between what the user interface currently displays and the internal record of folders originally marked for backup (I am assuming it originally included "Documents" and "Desktop").

This is because when the system was first configured, OneDrive internally recorded that "Documents" and "Desktop" were selected for backup. However, due to insufficient disk space at the time (as shown in the second picture of your OP, about 93 GB were required on the C:\ drive), OneDrive couldn’t complete the operation successfully. As a result, the internal process of enabling backup for those folders remains unfinished.

That’s why I think the inactive "Save changes" button suggests that OneDrive still considers the process pending and requires space to complete it, even if you have unchecked the problematic folders. In other words, OneDrive is maintaining an internal state indicating that the backup process for those two folders hasn't been completed, which causes the UI not to acknowledge the changes you’ve made.
Long story short, there’s a discrepancy between OneDrive's internal backup configuration and what the UI shows.

Tonight I found a command that might interest you, it resets OneDrive’s internal state. You can run it from the Run box (Win + R). I found it here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/rese...

and here’s the command:
%localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDrive.exe /reset

Wait a few moments (it may take a minute), then restart OneDrive either by searching "OneDrive" in the Start menu or by running this command:
%localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDrive.exe

After this, you can reconfigure the Backup settings:
Open OneDrive Settings → Backup → Manage backup. Confirm that only "Pictures" is selected.

Check if the notification disappears. After saving these settings, the internal state might sync with your explicit configuration. I'd say OneDrive should no longer think that a backup is pending for the unchecked folders; resetting OneDrive forces the app to reload its entire internal configuration, discarding residual or corrupted backup state entries.
As stated in the Microsoft Support article (“What does resetting OneDrive do? […] You won't lose any data by resetting OneDrive”), the reset won’t delete any cloud-stored data, it will just restart synchronization on your local device.

You can verify your data by logging in to onedrive.live.com. After the reset and signing back in, OneDrive will compare your local files with the cloud and re-sync as needed. This might take some time.

With this command, the following should happen: the OneDrive app is restarted and its local internal configuration and sync state are cleared. Pending backup tasks and similar internal states are removed. You’ll be signed out locally and need to sign in again (or it may resume automatically if your session is still active, I can't really say for sure).

All in all, just in case, I recommend some precautions like make sure all important files are synced to the cloud before resetting. You can verify this on the OneDrive website. After the reset, double-check that your local OneDrive folder is syncing correctly to avoid any confusion.

What do you think about it? I’ll wait for your reply. Best regards.

Thanks for responding.

I understand that, since what is happening, were looking for even the slimmest possibility of a solution.

"This is because when the system was first configured, OneDrive internally recorded that "Documents" and "Desktop" were selected for backup. However, due to insufficient disk space at the time (as shown in the second picture of your OP, about 93 GB were required on the C:\ drive)"

My response to the suggestion is, when the fresh install on DIsk 0 was created, I was I operating from my OS on my other internal Disk 1, which already had Onedrive installed. Disk 1 is logged in with the same Microsoft account credentials as Disk 0, and therefore, those credentials extend to OneDrive, and the internal settings of OneDrive on both drives look like this.

So, with that reality, how do we logically explain that the existence of this persistent OneDrive "Upgrade" message on Disk 0, which does not appear in Disk 1, was prompted by the notion that "Documents" and "Desktop" were selected for backup, who's own internal settings are a contradiction, and every bit of verifiable evidence says so.

Frankly, I've seen odd behavior with OneDrive in the past. I know you mean well,m and I'm not saying this would happen, but I'm nervous about running any script that might result in loss of data.

Here are my thoughts on the matter,

I’d say OneDrive handles synchronization in two distinct ways:
(1) Microsoft account-level synchronization (cloud-based), and
(2) Local state configuration (within each Windows installation).

(1) The cloud-based synchronization determines which folders you want to back up by default. These preferences are saved to your Microsoft account and automatically apply to any new installation where you log in. So, when you install Windows on another disk or perform a fresh install, OneDrive will suggest backing up the same folders previously configured under your account.

(2) With local state configuration, when OneDrive is installed on a new OS, it tries to apply the backup settings retrieved from your Microsoft account and records internally that a backup process has started. However, if the backup doesn't complete successfully, these local preferences are not synced back to the cloud. In other words, if something goes wrong during the initial sync (such as insufficient disk space), OneDrive ends up in a "pending" or incomplete state that doesn’t automatically resolve.

On Disk 1, the backup settings were either completed successfully or explicitly canceled, resulting in a clean and conflict-free local state.

On Disk 0, during the fresh installation, OneDrive inherited the backup preferences from your Microsoft account and immediately attempted to sync the specified folders. However, due to insufficient disk space, the process remained in an incomplete or pending state.

It seems to me that OneDrive locally recorded a pending backup for "Documents" and "Desktop," which is why it keeps displaying notifications like "Get more storage." These folders appear disabled in the UI, but internally they’re still marked as pending.

One thing for sure: OneDrive clearly separates the visual UI state from the internal synchronization state. When you disable folders in the OneDrive UI after an error (such as low disk space), it should ideally update the internal state accordingly. However, due to certain behaviors, OneDrive may fail to update its internal state properly. Even if you manually deselect the folders in the UI, OneDrive may still "remember" the pending backup operation from your Microsoft account. This is likely the cause of the persistent notification.

Your configuration on Disk 1 likely completed or was cleanly dismissed, aligning both visually and internally = no conflict.

However, on Disk 0, OneDrive inherited your account settings, attempted to execute them, failed due to low space. This sequence created an internal inconsistency.

So even if the settings look correct in the UI, OneDrive’s local state continues to report a pending operation that couldn’t complete. Visually, it says “nothing is pending,” but internally, OneDrive insists there is. This contradiction triggers the repeated notification asking for more storage.

This conflict on Disk 0 stems from the backup preference inherited from your Microsoft account, which left OneDrive in a sort of internal logical limbo.

On Disk 0, during the fresh installation, OneDrive inherited the backup preferences from your Microsoft account and immediately attempted to sync the specified folders. However, due to insufficient disk space, the process remained in an incomplete or pending state.

I appreciate your expertise. I"m not qualified to dispute your conclusions, but I'm having difficulty processing all of that. I don't understand the Cloud vs Local aspect.

The image source is the same as all my other images posted here, including the one above?

Hello Nolan,

This new info is actually relevant.

But first, about the Local and Cloud aspect...

When you first set up OneDrive using your Microsoft account, it records your backup preferences in the Cloud. This means it “remembers” which folders (like Documents, Desktop, Pictures, etc.) you intended to back up, regardless of the specific local paths.

On each Windows installation, OneDrive also configures local settings that include the exact file paths to your backup folders. For example, one installation might use: D:\Users\OldUsername\OneDrive\Documents
while another, with a different admin username, might use:
D:\Users\NewUsername\OneDrive\Documents

Your intuition here makes sense to me. Yes, it’s possible that the multiboot setup created a subtle path inconsistency due to a different Windows username in the fresh install.

I have some questions for you regarding this. Could you help confirm a few things?

— First, does the local OneDrive folder (on the shared data partition) contain subfolders like "Documents" and "Desktop" that were synced from a previous installation?

— Another question: were the files inside those folders originally created from Disk 1 (the previous installation)? OneDrive might be detecting that the files already existed and trying to link them to the previous backup. However, if the full paths don’t match exactly, it could cause conflicts or duplications. That’s why it’s important to compare the exact paths on OneDrive Web between the two installations. For example, check if one path appears as:
PCs > Disk1-PC > Desktop > file.txt
and in the new installation as:
PCs > Disk2-PC > Desktop > file.txt

If that’s the case, the issue likely comes from path differences—even if the content is identical.

This hypothesis makes sense if the OneDrive folder is located in a shared partition between systems, but the full paths differ in each installation. OneDrive expects to find the “old” paths when inheriting account settings.

When OneDrive syncs settings via your Microsoft account, it primarily remembers folder names and structure at an abstract level (like "Documents" and "Desktop"). But locally, it also requires an explicit file path to know exactly where those folders are on your disk.

I hope we can check if this is truly the cause.
You can go to the OneDrive website (onedrive.live.com) and look inside the Documents or Desktop folders for files that belong to a path that no longer exists in the new installation. Also, check for any duplicates or empty folders tied to previous usernames.

You can open PowerShell and type "whoami" to confirm your current user path. Compare that with the path OneDrive is using to back up your files (Settings > Account > OneDrive folder location).

If possible, open OneDrive’s settings on both installations (Disk 0 and Disk 1) and compare the exact folder paths and backup status for each. If Disk 1 shows correct paths without conflicts while Disk 0 references mismatching ones, that would support this theory.

— Can you see any difference in the exact (full) path of the synced files on OneDrive Web between the two installations?

With this information, I’m thinking we might be able to temporarily change the backup folder location in OneDrive’s settings to explicitly match your current local paths (the new username folder). If OneDrive detects and accepts this correction, it may resolve the issue without needing the OneDrive's internal configuration reset I mentioned in earlier posts.


About the issues with the Community Forum and the images and the submit button — I have no idea; they’ve been acting up lately, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

Looking forward to your reply.
Best regards.