OneDrive Admin Checklist: Known Folder Move fails before setup completes for school PCs

When you deploy OneDrive Known Folder Move on school PCs, the setup process may fail before it finishes. Teachers and IT staff see an error message that the move could not complete, even though the sync client appears to be working. This failure usually happens because of Group Policy conflicts, stale registry keys from previous Windows setups, or insufficient NTFS permissions on the target folders. This article explains the root causes and provides a step-by-step checklist to resolve the failure and complete Known Folder Move on school-managed devices.

Why Known Folder Move Fails Before Setup Completes on School PCs

Known Folder Move redirects the Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders to OneDrive. On school PCs, the setup process runs during user sign-in or via a deployment script. The failure occurs because the OneDrive sync client checks multiple conditions before it moves the folders. If any condition fails, the entire move is canceled without a detailed error message.

The most common technical root causes are:

Group Policy Conflicts

School IT administrators often apply restrictive Group Policies that limit folder redirection or disable OneDrive features. A policy that blocks the “Prevent users from redirecting their Windows known folders” setting will override the tenant-level Known Folder Move policy. The sync client sees the local policy as a hard block and stops the move.

Stale Registry Keys from Previous Windows Versions

School PCs that were upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11 may carry over registry keys from an earlier OneDrive configuration. Keys such as HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\OneDrive\KFMOptIn or HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OneDrive\Accounts\Business1\KFMState can contain outdated values. The OneDrive client reads these keys during setup and may interpret them as a command to skip the move.

Insufficient NTFS Permissions on Target Folders

The user account must have full control over the Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders. If a school image or a previous configuration changed the folder permissions, the move fails. The sync client cannot create the necessary junction points or copy files.

Checklist to Fix Known Folder Move on School PCs

Follow these steps in order. Each step addresses one of the root causes listed above.

1. Verify the tenant-level Known Folder Move policy
   Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center. Go to Settings > Org settings > OneDrive > Sync. Under Known Folder Move, confirm that the policy is enabled and applied to the correct security group. Make sure the Show notification to users who have already redirected their known folders option is set to On if you want the prompt to appear.
2. Check local Group Policy for conflicting settings
   On a test school PC, open the Local Group Policy Editor. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > OneDrive. Look for Prevent users from redirecting their Windows known folders. If this policy is set to Enabled, change it to Not Configured or Disabled. Run gpupdate /force in an elevated Command Prompt and restart the OneDrive process.
3. Remove stale registry keys
   Open Registry Editor as administrator. Navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\OneDrive. Delete any value named KFMOptIn or KFMOptOut if they exist. Then go to HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OneDrive\Accounts\Business1 and delete the KFMState value. Close Registry Editor and restart the PC.
4. Reset folder permissions to defaults
   Open File Explorer. Right-click the Desktop folder and select Properties. Go to the Security tab. Click Advanced. Under Permissions, make sure the user account has Full control. If not, click Add, select the user, and grant Full control. Repeat for the Documents and Pictures folders.
5. Repair the OneDrive sync client
   Press Win + R, type %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /repair, and press Enter. Wait for the repair process to complete. This reinstalls the sync client without losing configuration. Restart the PC and sign in to OneDrive.
6. Run Known Folder Move manually
   After the repair, right-click the OneDrive cloud icon in the system tray. Select Settings > Sync and backup > Manage backup. Click Start backup for each folder. If the move completes, the issue was caused by a stale client state.

If Known Folder Move Still Fails After the Checklist

OneDrive shows error code 0x80070005

This error code means access is denied. The user account does not have the required NTFS permissions on the target folder. Recheck the permissions as described in step 4. Also verify that the user is not a member of the Protected Users security group, which can block certain file operations.

OneDrive shows error code 0x8007010B

This error code indicates a directory name is invalid. The folder path contains characters that OneDrive does not support, such as a trailing space or a colon. Rename the folder to remove unsupported characters. The allowed characters are letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens, underscores, and periods.

Known Folder Move runs but does not redirect the Pictures folder

This happens when the Pictures folder location is stored in a different registry path. Open Registry Editor and go to HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders. Verify that the {3ADD1653-EB32-4CB0-BBD7-DFA0ABB5ACCA} value points to the correct path. If the path is missing or incorrect, set it to %USERPROFILE%\Pictures.

Known Folder Move Settings: Tenant vs Local Policy

Item	Tenant Setting (Microsoft 365 admin center)	Local Policy (Group Policy Editor)
Description	Controls whether Known Folder Move is available to users in the organization	Overrides or blocks the tenant setting on individual devices
Configuration location	Settings > Org settings > OneDrive > Sync > Known Folder Move	Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > OneDrive
Scope	Applies to all users in the selected security group	Applies to the local machine only
Conflict resolution	If local policy is Enabled with a conflicting value, local policy wins	Local policy must be Not Configured for tenant policy to take effect
User opt-out	Can be allowed or blocked at tenant level	Can be blocked regardless of tenant setting

To avoid Known Folder Move failures on school PCs, set the local policy to Not Configured for all settings under the OneDrive administrative template. Then use the Microsoft 365 admin center to manage the feature at the tenant level.

You can now run Known Folder Move on school PCs without the setup failing. After the move completes, verify that the Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders appear under OneDrive in File Explorer. As an advanced step, deploy the OneDrive configuration XML file via Group Policy to preconfigure the sync client with the correct tenant ID and Known Folder Move settings. This eliminates the need for user interaction during the first sign-in.