It seems Microsoft realized asking why you want to close down OneDrive wasn't a great idea
- A Microsoft software update forced some users to answer a survey before they closed OneDrive.
- Some users complained, with one calling the company "desperate and clingy."
Change can be difficult. But it can also be infuriating. Especially when that change feels disruptive and pointless.
That's certainly how some users of Microsoft's OneDrive were left feeling this month.
When they tried to close the cloud storage system in Windows 11, a popup saying "Quit OneDrive?" appeared, demanding a response about why the application was being shut.
The seven options were: I don't want OneDrive running all the time; I don't know what OneDrive is; I don't use OneDrive; I'm trying to fix a problem with OneDrive; I'm trying to speed up my computer; I get too many notifications; or Other.
Unfortunately, they forgot to include "leave me alone, I'm not telling you" on their list. We'll file it under "other."
On Friday, Microsoft said it had ditched the quiz and reverted to the original prompt. It told The Verge in a statement: "Between Nov. 1 and 8, a small subset of consumer OneDrive users were presented with a dialog box when closing the OneDrive sync client, asking for feedback on the reason they chose to close the application. This type of user feedback helps inform our ongoing efforts to enhance the quality of our products."
Perhaps Microsoft hoped the poll would reveal why some users don't like a system that offers only an all-or-nothing approach to storing files.
They could have just checked the Microsoft community boards: one called "how do I properly express that I hate OneDrive" has more than 22,000 views.
Part of the problem has been Microsoft's insistence on pushing the clunky and unpopular OneDrive cloud storage system on users. New devices automatically sync all files and there are a variety of prompts suggesting users opt in, even when you just want to change your desktop image, per The Verge.
"This seems to be the next facet of Microsoft seeming to think that, because you're using the operating system they designed, your computer is actually theirs, they're just letting you borrow it," wrote one Reddit user about the OneDrive poll.
X users were also not umimpressed with the change, with one pointing out that using Microsoft was "quickly becoming an abusive relationship."
Another said the poll made Microsoft look "desperate and clingy."
For anyone who wanted to avoid being interrogated by Microsoft, the X user had a tip: "Killing the process via task manager doesn't trigger the poll."
It's not the first time Microsoft has introduced annoying updates at the cost of user experience. A poll also appeared last month asking users to explain their decision to download Chrome or change their default user browser instead of using the Microsoft Edge browser, The Verge reported.
We're not even going to mention Clippy…