OneDrive Admin Checklist: Known Folder Move creates duplicate folders for shared computers

When you enable Known Folder Move on a shared or domain-joined computer, you may see duplicate Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders appear in OneDrive. This happens because OneDrive detects multiple user profiles or redirected folder paths on the same machine and creates separate sync relationships. The result is confusion for users and extra cleanup work for IT admins. This article explains why Known Folder Move creates duplicates on shared computers, provides a step-by-step checklist to prevent the issue, and lists related failure patterns you should watch for.

Why Known Folder Move Creates Duplicate Folders on Shared Computers

Known Folder Move is designed to redirect the Windows known folders Desktop, Documents, and Pictures to OneDrive. On a single-user workstation, OneDrive detects the user profile once and creates one sync relationship. On a shared or domain-joined computer, multiple users log in to the same machine. OneDrive sometimes treats each user session as a separate environment and attempts to sync the same physical folder paths multiple times. This results in duplicate folders such as Documents 1, Documents 2, or Desktop 1, Desktop 2 appearing in the user’s OneDrive web view and local file system.

The root cause is that Windows Folder Redirection Group Policy may already point the known folders to a network location. When Known Folder Move runs, it sees the redirected path as a new target and creates a new sync relationship instead of updating the existing one. Another common cause is that OneDrive is configured to run per-user instead of per-machine. On a shared computer, each user account that signs in triggers a separate OneDrive process. If Known Folder Move is applied via user-level policy rather than machine-level policy, each user’s OneDrive instance attempts to sync the same folders, generating duplicates.

Checklist to Prevent Duplicate Folders When Using Known Folder Move

Use the following checklist before deploying Known Folder Move on shared computers. Each step reduces the risk of duplicate folders appearing in OneDrive.

1. Verify Folder Redirection Group Policy settings
   Open Group Policy Management Console. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer. Check if Folder Redirection is enabled for Desktop, Documents, or Pictures. If redirection is active, disable it or set the target to a unique path per user. Known Folder Move conflicts with existing Folder Redirection policies on shared computers.
2. Enable the “Silently move Windows known folders to OneDrive” policy
   In Group Policy, go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > OneDrive. Enable the setting “Silently move Windows known folders to OneDrive.” This applies Known Folder Move without user prompts and uses a consistent machine-level policy. It prevents users from manually triggering the move multiple times, which can create duplicates.
3. Set OneDrive to install per-machine
   Deploy OneDrive using the per-machine installation. Run the command: OneDriveSetup.exe /allusers. This installs OneDrive for all users on the computer and uses a single sync engine instance. Per-user installations create separate sync processes for each sign-in, increasing the chance of duplicate folder creation.
4. Block users from opting out of Known Folder Move
   In Group Policy, navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > OneDrive. Enable “Block users from moving Windows known folders to OneDrive” and set the value to 0. Then set the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\OneDrive\KFMBlockOptOut to 1. This stops users from disabling Known Folder Move after it is applied, which can cause sync conflicts and duplicate folders.
5. Configure the tenant-level Known Folder Move policy
   Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center. Go to Settings > OneDrive > Sync > Known Folder Move. Enable the policy and select “Redirect Desktop, Documents, and Pictures to OneDrive.” Set the scope to apply to all users or specific security groups. This ensures that Known Folder Move is enforced at the tenant level and reduces the chance of duplicate syncs on shared computers.
6. Test on a single shared computer before broad deployment
   Join a test computer to the domain. Sign in with a test user account. Run Known Folder Move using the Group Policy settings above. Verify that only one set of Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders appears in OneDrive. If duplicates appear, check the Folder Redirection policy and the per-machine installation flag.

If Duplicate Folders Still Appear After Applying the Checklist

Even with the checklist applied, some shared computers may still show duplicate folders. The following sections describe common residual issues and how to resolve them.

OneDrive created folders named Documents 1, Documents 2 after policy application

This usually means that Known Folder Move ran before the Folder Redirection policy was disabled. OneDrive saw the redirected folder path as a new location and created a second sync relationship. To fix this, remove the duplicate folders from OneDrive web. In OneDrive settings, go to Sync and backup > Manage backup. Click Stop backup for the duplicate folder. Then delete the duplicate folder from the local file system. Re-run Known Folder Move by going to OneDrive settings > Sync and backup > Manage backup and selecting the original folder path.

Shared computer has multiple user profiles that all show the same known folders

If multiple user profiles on the same computer are syncing the same physical folder paths, duplicates will appear. This happens when OneDrive is installed per-user and each profile triggers a separate sync. The fix is to uninstall OneDrive per-user and reinstall per-machine. Run OneDriveSetup.exe /allusers from an elevated command prompt. Then apply the Group Policy settings again. Each user profile will use the same OneDrive sync engine, and Known Folder Move will apply only once per folder path.

Users see a prompt to move their known folders even after policy is applied

If the “Silently move Windows known folders to OneDrive” policy is not applied to the computer configuration path, users may see the OneDrive Setup wizard and click the button themselves. This manual action can create a second sync relationship. Verify that the policy is set under Computer Configuration, not User Configuration. Computer Configuration policies apply before user sign-in and prevent the wizard from showing. If the wizard still appears, run gpupdate /force on the shared computer and restart the OneDrive process.

Known Folder Move vs Folder Redirection: Comparison for Shared Computers

Item	Known Folder Move OneDrive	Folder Redirection Group Policy
Description	Redirects Desktop, Documents, Pictures to OneDrive cloud storage	Redirects known folders to a network share or local path via Group Policy
Primary use case	Single-user workstations and managed devices with OneDrive sync	Shared computers and Remote Desktop Services environments
Duplicate folder risk on shared computers	High if per-user install or conflicting Folder Redirection policy exists	Low when configured with unique per-user paths
Offline access	Files are available offline via OneDrive sync	Files are available offline if redirected to a local path or cached
Administrative control	Microsoft 365 admin center and Group Policy	Group Policy only
Best practice for shared computers	Use per-machine install and silent move policy	Use Folder Redirection with unique paths per user

When managing shared computers, evaluate whether Known Folder Move or Folder Redirection better fits your environment. For most shared computers where users need local file access, Folder Redirection with unique per-user paths is more reliable. If you must use Known Folder Move, the checklist above is required to avoid duplicate folders.

You can now deploy Known Folder Move on shared computers without creating duplicate folders by applying the Group Policy settings and per-machine installation steps in this guide. Next, verify that the “Silently move Windows known folders to OneDrive” policy is enabled under Computer Configuration and that the tenant-level policy in the Microsoft 365 admin center matches your intended scope. As an advanced tip, use the OneDrive Sync Admin Reports in the Microsoft 365 admin center to monitor which users and computers have duplicate folders and remediate them automatically with PowerShell scripts that remove stale sync relationships.