The following articles were included in our Exchange Messaging Outlook (EMO) newsletter published on July 31, 2025.
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Today's Highlights »
Turn off OneDrive Backup
When you get a new computer or install certain updates, Microsoft will set up OneDrive and enable “backup” of documents, desktop, pictures, music and videos. If you click through the screens too fast, you’ll miss that they are turned on.
When “backup” is turned on, all files in your local documents, desktop, pictures and other folders are moved into the OneDrive folder on your hard drive and sync back to the server.
If you use PST files in Outlook, the PST file is moved and the next time you use Outlook, it may complain that it can't find the file and ask you to find the file – look for it in Documents > Outlook files (if you used the default path.)
If you don't want to use OneDrive for your documents, you need to make sure everything is synced down (right click on OneDrive folder and choose Keep on my computer). When everything has a solid green checkmark, turn off sync for documents, pictures etc in OneDrive settings. This will add a shortcut in the default folders to the OneDrive folder.
I always delete the shortcut and move the files back to the original folder. If you move the folders, the PST will be moved back to the original location and work again, without changing it in Outlook.
Once you move the files back to the original location, you have two options:
1. Unlink your account from OneDrive in OneDrive settings then disable it from automatic start up in Task Manager > Start up. This will stop OneDrive completely.
2. Keep OneDrive but don't sync documents and other special folders. Only sync the files you specifically save to OneDrive.
Should you use OneDrive to back up? If you don't want to routinely manually make copies (and store them somewhere else), you should consider it.
If you don't have a Microsoft 365 subscription, you only have 5GB OneDrive storage space and most likely, will not be able to backup your files.
Previously, I signed into OneDrive but did not enable back up of my documents. If I wanted files saved in OneDrive, I saved them in OneDrive. I enabled picture backup a few years ago to sync pictures between my desktop and laptop. (I don’t have music or videos and only have shortcuts on the desktop).
Following the fires in California this spring and the stories from people who lost everything, I thought about all the files that were not stored in cloud services that are gone. At that point I decided syncing to OneDrive isn’t such a bad idea and enabled document backup. While many of the files in my documents folder have little value and don't need to be saved, I have a lot of important files (tax records and purchase receipts etc).
Note: In my opinion, calling this "backup" is a misnomer. It’s not a backup, its syncing to the OneDrive server. Backup is moving a copy to another drive or other media. A copy that you won’t actually ever touch unless you need to restore it days or months later.
OneDrive’s backup moves the files to OneDrive. If you need to restore a previous copy of the file, you’ll be able to restore a version. If the file is permanently deleted, you won't have a backup copy to restore, and you will lose all the versions.
Microsoft article on disabling OneDrive: Turn off, disable, or uninstall OneDrive
Disable Peeks on Classic Outlook’s Vertical Bar
Are you annoyed when you move the mouse over the vertical bar on the left and the Calendar or People peek popups up?
You can disable one or both peeks. Right click on the button and select “Show the Peek on Hover” to uncheck it.
If you want to see the peek, right click and select “Show the Peek”. Pin it to the right side of Outlook’s window by selecting Dock the Peek from the menu.
You cannot disable the peek if you have the module buttons on the bottom of the folder list. Sorry!
Message List Spacing
A user wondered why their mailbox had the message list displayed with very little space between the rows while the other computer showed the same mailbox with a lot of space between the rows. Because they have an Exchange mailbox the views should be identical.
This is caused by an option in classic Outlook for “use tighter spacing". In an update last year, Microsoft refreshed the interface in single purchase versions of Office to match Microsoft 365 subscriptions. One of the interface updates added more white space in classic Outlook’s message list, as well as make the buttons in the header area of a new message larger (but not enlarge the text.)
When the Microsoft 365 subscriptions got the refreshed interface in 2019, users complained about the wasted space, so Microsoft added an option to Use Tighter Spacing, in the form of a button on the View ribbon. This removes most of the white space added to Outlook’s message list, and forms. Because it's a local change, not a View settings it needs to be enabled on each computer.
The user has Office 2019 installed on both computers but turned Office updates off on one computer and had the older, pre-refresh interface, while the other computer has all updates installed. Both computers looked identical when they clicked the button on the View ribbon to Use Tighter Spacing.
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