* Microsoft OneDrive

[Johnr65]

Do you remember, Mike when you helped me to set up OneDrive on my pc and it worked very well until yesterday when it said I've got to sign in again! Try as I might I can't sign in and there is no way to contact MS to sort it out that I can find? Maybe it'd be best to delete it and put the info on Google Drive?

[tatewise]

Please persevere with OneDrive. That type of request does occur from time to time with any cloud service.

As is my usual request, please give us some more clues.
Just saying "Try as I might I can't sign in" does not help us much.
Screenshots of your sign in attempt with the error message would be far more useful.

Is it simply that you have forgotten the Microsoft account Email address or its password?

Do you sign in to your PC account with the Microsoft account or is it a local PC account?

Have you tried simply signing out of your PC account and signing back in?

Have you tried Restarting the PC (not Shutdown and reboot, but Restart)?

[Johnr65]

I've restarted the pc but to no avail.
My login and password is for Hotmail which I must admit I don't use very often; however,

MS password.JPG (57.1 KiB) Viewed 1488 times

I use a fully paid password manager to hold my ids and passwords securely.
When I try to reset the password it sends me into a loop and I get nowhere!

[tatewise]

It is NOT the Password for your johnwrosser@hotmail.com Email service account that is required.
i.e. It is not the password you would use to access that Hotmail Email server.

It is the Password for your Microsoft Account that is required and should be different.
Are you sure the password manager is giving your Microsoft Account password and not the Hotmail account password?

You did not answer my question about whether you use johnwrosser@hotmail.com to sign in to your PC account.

The password is the same for all Microsoft services such as OneDrive, Outlook, Office Online, Microsoft Store, etc.
Did you try the Forgotten your password? link?

I think the process usually involves sending an Email message to your johnwrosser@hotmail.com address.
So it is vitally important to use an active Email address for your Microsoft Account.

You should also set an alternative Email address, and Mobile Phone number into your Microsoft Account Profile to provide alternative methods of validating who you are for security purposes that prevent somebody else hacking your account.

(The same goes for any online cloud account ~ Google Drive , Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.)

[NickWalker]

A Hotmail account is a Microsoft account so it may well be the hotmail email address that John uses to login and the same password. In Windows 10 settings there is an Accounts section and that should show the account email used to login.

[Johnr65]

I have set up a phone number on there. My MS a/c uses my gmail email address according to the settings on my pc.; I reset the password and the 'actual a/c' on MS accepted it but OneDrive won't! So I've disabled it and I'll use Google drive now instead as I pay for that too now due to my tree size.
I think MS updates have messed up yet again!

[tatewise]

John, your MS account setup seems a bit unusual.
If your MS account is based on a Gmail address, why are you using a Hotmail address for OneDrive?
You should be using the same MS account Gmail address & password for all MS services including OneDrive.

[Johnr65]

Mike, as you know everything to do with me, is unusual. Over the years I've had many email addresses. In this case, my MS a/c is Gmail email but OneDrive asks for a password for Hotmail-how ridiculous is that?
I'll do without it, I'm really frustrated and fed up with it.

[tatewise]

Looking back over the earlier long reconstruction process, you did mention using a Hotmail address with OneDrive.
I enquired at the time whether that was your Microsoft account Email address but did not get a suitable reply.
So I am not convinced it is the fault of OneDrive that it is using Hotmail instead of your Gmail MS account.

[Johnr65]

Well, I'll delete One Drive and just use Google Drive as I'm paying for it. I think MS has messed up.

[ColeValleyGirl]

I doubt you can delete OneDrive -- it's built into windows. And you certainly don't want to delete the folders in it, as they're built into Windows as well.

[tatewise]

You can close OneDrive and change its settings so it will not start when you sign in.
You can then delete the OneDrive folder if its contents are no longer needed.
(It will get rebuilt as necessary if OneDrive is ever run in the future.)

StartOneDrive.png (17.88 KiB) Viewed 1165 times

[victor]

One Drive does ask for a new password from time to time to improve your security. I have had this request quite a few times and it won't allow me to use a passowrd I had used before so I always had to think of a new password which will then apply to all MS accounts. I do like One Drive and it is on my phone from where I can view details when I am away from my computer

Victor

[Mark1834]

I occasionally have to re-enter my password in OneDrive or Outlook, but it never asks me to change it. Do you have two factor authentication enabled (where you provide additional authorisation via a phone app for example)? If you don’t, you probably should, as it is more secure.

[Johnr65]

I've deleted One Drive from the taskbar and moved what was in there to Google Drive.