Will my OneDrive data automatically be restored when resetting Windows 10 via the Media creation tool

Question

I used the Windows Insider Program to update to Windows 11 on my Surface GO. After a few months I decided that I want to go back to Windows 10 until Windows 11 has a proper release, however because it's been more than a few days, I can't just revert the update. Instead I have to use the Media Creation Tool.
When using the currently newest version (MediaCreationTool21H1) I saw that when choosing what to keep I could only select

Nothing - Everything will be deleted, including files, apps and settings

because I am downgrading to Windows 10.
So my question now is, whether my data which I have backed up with OneDrive will automatically be restored or if it will be even saved at all.

Answer 1

Hi there,

I suppose you cannot use the media creation tool to revert back to Win 10 stable version. You must use the Clean install the PC with the 21H1 version of Win 10.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/software-download/windows10startfres

While Clean install select Custom install, so that the data will not be erased and also regarding the One drive, Yes it will be backed up and you can restore them into your Local PC later .

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/backup-and-restore-in-windows-352091d2-bb9d-3ea3-ed18-52ef2b88cbef

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/turn-on-onedrive-backup-4e44ceab-bcdf-4d17-9ae0-6f00f6080adb

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Answer 2

In case you have your data backup on OneDrive, firstly make sure you visit OneDrive website and verify your data are there.
They won't be restore automatically, however after you perform a clean install, you may open OneDrive app and sign-on with your Microsoft Account to sync them.
Note that if you perform a clean install, your data will be placed into a folder called Windows.old in the same drive as Windows installed and you may restore your files from there too.