How to delete Windows 10 settings synced to a Microsoft account

It's possible to delete those Windows 10 settings that have been uploaded to your Microsoft account, and here's how to do it.

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@Pureinfotech
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Delete synced settings on Windows 10
Delete synced settings on Windows 10

On Windows 10, when you use a Microsoft account, you can sync a number of settings across your devices for a more consistent experience. Some of these settings can include your current theme, passwords, language preferences, and many other settings.

However, before these settings to sync across your devices, they first get uploaded to your Microsoft account (more specifically to your OneDrive account), and each of your PCs will download and apply the settings depending if you have the feature enabled.

If you want to completely disable this feature and you don’t want Microsoft to keep a copy of your settings, or you want to start over with a clean set of preferences, it’s possible to delete the settings uploaded to the Microsoft servers.

In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to quickly delete your Windows 10 settings uploaded to your Microsoft account.

How to delete synced settings on Windows 10

In order to delete your Windows 10 settings uploaded to your OneDrive account, you must first disable the sync feature on all your devices connected with the same Microsoft account, and then you can delete your synced settings. Here’s how.

Disabling settings sync

To disable the ability for Windows 10 to sync your settings to the cloud, do the following:

  1. Open Settings.

  2. Click on Accounts.

  3. Click on Sync your settings.

  4. Turn off the Sync settings toggle switch.

    Windows 10 with sync settings disabled
    Windows 10 with sync settings disabled

After completing the steps, repeat the instructions on all your devices using the same Microsoft account.

Deleting synced Windows 10 settings

To delete your synced Windows 10 settings stored in OneDrive, do the following:

  1. Open this OneDrive page.

  2. Sign in with your Microsoft account as required.

  3. Click the Remove button at the bottom of the page.

  4. Click the Yes button to confirm the deletion.

    Delete synced Windows 10 settings from Microsoft account
    Delete synced Windows 10 settings from Microsoft account

Once you’ve completed the steps, the settings previously uploaded to your OneDrive account will be delete. You can now leave this feature disabled on Windows 10, or you can enable the feature again to sync a fresh copy of your settings.

Although this guide is focused on Windows 10, you can also use the same process to delete your settings if you’re using Windows 8.1.

About the author
Avatar for Mauro Huculak

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].