How do I remove the OneDrive folder from my File Explorer folder tree in Windows 10?

EDIT: New technique.

Since 2 upgrades ago, you can now simply uninstall Microsoft OneDrive if you don't plan to use it.

To do so, open Settings->Apps and from the list, search for "Microsoft OneDrive", then click uninstall.

Because this is an app not a program, it is not listed as program in the Control Panel.

EDIT: Small addition to this update: Given that you actually uninstall the app, it seems that the app is not being reinstalled after an upgrade, whereas with the techniques below, it will come back as the app itself is being reinstalled. So if you uninstall OneDrive, it will be gone until you reinstall it through the Windows Store.

--------[ Old answer below]-------------------------

OneDrive also was part of windows 8, except that there, it was hidden. That gave much more trouble for when you actually wanted to use it vs not wanting to use it.

But it seems that disabling (not entirely getting rid of) is not that hard.

To stop OneDrive from starting at boot

Remove its startup entry from the registry, which is located here:

HKEY_LocalMachine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

If you delete the OneDrive entry there, and either use task manager to kill the process, right click the icon and choose exit or reboot, OneDrive will not be loaded anymore.

Now you can remove the OneDrive folder located at C:\Users\%USERNAME%\OneDrive

To remove OneDrive from the Explorer sidebar

With a bit of searching and digging, I found this key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderDescriptions\{A52BBA46-E9E1-435f-B3D9-28DAA648C0F6}] which lead me to the relevant CLSID, which is: {018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}

So the registry key you want to remove is this one:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}

If you go to this key, it should say OneDrive and should have the following subfolders: DefaultIcon, InProcServer32, Instance and ShellFolder, where Instance has another subfolder named InitPropertyBag.

Open notepad and copy/paste next code:

@echo off
cls

set x86="%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\OneDriveSetup.exe"
set x64="%SYSTEMROOT%\SysWOW64\OneDriveSetup.exe"

echo Closing OneDrive process.
echo.
taskkill /f /im OneDrive.exe > NUL 2>&1
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 5 > NUL 2>&1

echo Uninstalling OneDrive.
echo.
if exist %x64% (
%x64% /uninstall
) else (
%x86% /uninstall
)
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 5 > NUL 2>&1

echo Removing OneDrive leftovers.
echo.
rd "%USERPROFILE%\OneDrive" /Q /S > NUL 2>&1
rd "C:\OneDriveTemp" /Q /S > NUL 2>&1
rd "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\OneDrive" /Q /S > NUL 2>&1
rd "%PROGRAMDATA%\Microsoft OneDrive" /Q /S > NUL 2>&1 

echo Removeing OneDrive from the Explorer Side Panel.
echo.
REG DELETE "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}" /f > NUL 2>&1
REG DELETE "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}" /f > NUL 2>&1

pause

Save it like removeOneNote.bat and run it as administrator (by right click on file).

I found answer here, and it works for me.

Noticed that this had popped up again (in a broken state) after the recent Fall Creators Update. Tried the existing tips from several places, but they still weren't working. Eventually went on the hunt for the relevant CLSID (this ugly beast: {018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}) and found it here:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}

Delete that key and it's gone. I knew it was the right place because Dropbox (which I do want) appeared in the same location as a separate key.

Just in case anyone else gets this annoying thing showing up again.