NinjaTrader on PC with Microsoft One Drive

[Ndakotan1313]

How well does Ninja Trader work on a PC with One Drive backup enabled? MS does not allow specific folders in the documents folder to be excluded from the backup sync. Do we need to exclude the entire documents folder?

[NinjaTrader_Clayton]

Hello Ndakotan1313,

Thank you for your message.

Sometimes One Drive doesn't affect anything and sometimes it causes a whole variety of unwanted behaviors within NinjaTrader.

The steps we have are to fully stop One Drive from backing up the Documents folder since NinjaTrader stores most of its unique files within the Documents > NinjaTrader 8 folder.

To stop One Drive from backing up the Documents folder and move it to your local PC, please follow the steps below:

• Completely close NinjaTrader
• Hover your mouse over the OneDrive icon (the cloud) in the App Tray
• Right click and select Settings
• Locate the 'Backup' tab
• Under the 'Documents' Folder, select 'Stop backup'

After stopping the backup, you will need to copy the NinjaTrader 8 folder from the original OneDrive Documents location onto the local PC.

• Go to your Documents folder
• Locate the 'Where are my files' icon
• Right click and select 'Open in new window'
• Locate the NinjaTrader 8 folder from within the OneDrive location
• Copy and paste the entire NinjaTrader 8 folder into the documents folder on your local hard drive

It is easiest to have one window open with the OneDrive documents location and one window open with the local PC documents location to achieve this.


Once you have moved all of the NinjaTrader 8 files over, you will need to do a 'soft reinstall of NinjaTrader Desktop.

• In the search field on your Windows taskbar, type Control Panel and select this app
• Select Programs > Programs and Features
• Locate NinjaTrader in the list, right click, and select uninstall

Once these steps are completed, download and install NinjaTrader Desktop by logging in to your user dashboard with the following link:

• https://account.ninjatrader.com
  • After you log in, please click the Download button in the bottom left corner and click the Download button on the Desktop Application Download page.

From here, you are ready to sign back in and use the NinjaTrader platform.


Please don't hesitate to let us know if we may provide any further assistance.

[Julio Vieira]

Hello Ndakotan1313,

Thank you for your message.

Sometimes One Drive doesn't affect anything and sometimes it causes a whole variety of unwanted behaviors within NinjaTrader.

The steps we have are to fully stop One Drive from backing up the Documents folder since NinjaTrader stores most of its unique files within the Documents > NinjaTrader 8 folder.

To stop One Drive from backing up the Documents folder and move it to your local PC, please follow the steps below:

• Completely close NinjaTrader
• Hover your mouse over the OneDrive icon (the cloud) in the App Tray
• Right click and select Settings
• Locate the 'Backup' tab
• Under the 'Documents' Folder, select 'Stop backup'

After stopping the backup, you will need to copy the NinjaTrader 8 folder from the original OneDrive Documents location onto the local PC.

• Go to your Documents folder
• Locate the 'Where are my files' icon
• Right click and select 'Open in new window'
• Locate the NinjaTrader 8 folder from within the OneDrive location
• Copy and paste the entire NinjaTrader 8 folder into the documents folder on your local hard drive

It is easiest to have one window open with the OneDrive documents location and one window open with the local PC documents location to achieve this.


Once you have moved all of the NinjaTrader 8 files over, you will need to do a 'soft reinstall of NinjaTrader Desktop.

• In the search field on your Windows taskbar, type Control Panel and select this app
• Select Programs > Programs and Features
• Locate NinjaTrader in the list, right click, and select uninstall

Once these steps are completed, download and install NinjaTrader Desktop by logging in to your user dashboard with the following link:

• https://account.ninjatrader.com
  • After you log in, please click the Download button in the bottom left corner and click the Download button on the Desktop Application Download page.

From here, you are ready to sign back in and use the NinjaTrader platform.


Please don't hesitate to let us know if we may provide any further assistance.

I'm scared here! Put files with intensive read-write above a OneDrive folder is a basic complete error! I have 1 TB space in my O365 One Drive but the problem is about the high risk to corrupt files because Ninja and OneDrive read-write the same files in parallel all time!

The solution should be very simple! Provide a option to choose the installation folder during the installation Wizard!

I need to keep both in my machine ONEDRIVE and NINJA. Stop One Drive backup or Sync isn´t solution for me!

Could you help us??

[NinjaTrader_Clayton]

Hello Julio Vieira,

Thank you for the message.

Please do not post the same message on multiple forum posts moving forward or it could be considered "Spamming" and lead to punitive measures on your forum username.


There is unfortunately no way to change NinjaTrader looking in the Documents folder for its unique files at this time.

As a workaround, you could still "Stop Backup" of the Documents folder.

Then, use the "Pictures" folder or a custom Folder like "Documents - One Drive" and then use that for all of your file synchronization instead.

• You could make a sub-folder within the "Pictures" folder since it gets backed up by One Drive as well and treat that as your One Drive - Documents folder moving forward.

Some users are able to have One Drive on their PC without issues, but we have also seen it create a variety of unwanted behaviors. The only way we have documented to stop One Drive from being a factor is by following the previously provided steps.

You are always welcome to reach out to One Drive's support team directly > Provide them with our steps > Then see if they have a suggestion on an alternate way to achieve the same end result.

• Click here for a guide that goes over stopping One Drive from backing up the Documents Folder

Please let us know if we may provide any further assistance.