How To Get Early Access To New OneDrive Features

Microsoft’s OneDrive is a great cloud-storage service for Windows 10 users, but there’s a way to make it even better. In the same way that joining the Windows Insider program lets you preview new Windows 10 features, opting into the OneDrive preview program can grant you early access to new OneDrive features — like faster file-synchronisation performance.

Normally, enrolling in the Windows Insider program also enrolls you into the OneDrive Insider program, but you don’t have to use potentially buggy versions of Windows 10 to beta-test OneDrive features. Here’s a quick guide to how you can join the OneDrive preview program without signing up to be a Windows Insider.

1. Click the OneDrive cloud icon on the Windows Taskbar. (You may have to click the “Show Hidden Icons” option to find it.)

2. Click More > Settings

3. Open the About tab

4. Enable “Get OneDrive Insider preview updates before release,” and then click OK

5. Restart your PC, and OneDrive will check for automatic updates and install the preview build once available

If you run into any issues using OneDrive beta versions, you can easily roll back to a stable version of the app with minimal effort by opting out of the OneDrive preview program:

1. As we did in the above method, click the OneDrive icon from the icon tray, then go to More > Settings > About

2. Uncheck “Get OneDrive Insider preview updates before release”

3. Click “OK”

Now that you’ve opted out of the preview program, you can either wait for OneDrive to automatically revert to a stable build on its own (restarting your computer may do the trick), or you can force it by manually uninstalling and reinstalling OneDrive.

1. Open the Window Start Menu, then click the gear-shaped Settings icon.

2. In the settings menu, go to Apps > Apps & features.

3. Scroll down to Microsoft OneDrive, and then click “Uninstall.”

4. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the uninstallation process.

5. Next, to reinstall the stable version of OneDrive, go to the Microsoft support site and click “Download OneDrive for Windows.”

6. Wait for the download to complete, then open the file and follow the steps to complete the installation.

[Windows Central]