Known Folder Move (KFM) is the quiet workhorse of a cloud-first small business. It redirects the three folders where people actually save things, Desktop, Documents, and Pictures, into OneDrive, so their work follows them to any device and survives a reimage. Deployed through Intune, it's a few policies. The failures almost always trace back to a limit nobody checked or a file nobody could sync.
Prerequisites
- OneDrive sync client deployed and signed in. KFM needs the client running as the user.
- Your tenant ID, which the silent config policies require.
- Files on Demand on, so redirected folders don't fill the local disk.
Step 1: The policies that matter
In Intune, use a Settings catalog profile (OneDrive category) assigned to users. The core settings:
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Silently move Windows known folders to OneDrive | Enabled, with tenant ID | Redirects without prompting the user |
| Silently sign in users with their Windows credentials | Enabled | No sign-in prompt on Entra-joined devices |
| Use OneDrive Files On-Demand | Enabled | Keeps the local disk from filling |
| Prevent users from redirecting known folders back to the PC | Enabled | Stops someone undoing it by accident |
Step 2: Pilot before the fleet
Target a handful of real users, not a test account with an empty desktop. You want to see KFM move actual data: a 40 GB Documents folder behaves differently from a clean profile. Watch for the issues in the next section during the pilot.
Limits that strand files
- Storage. If a user's folders exceed their OneDrive quota (1 TB on most Business plans), the move stops. Check the biggest profiles first.
- File count and path length. Very large counts slow the first sync; paths over 400 characters won't sync. Deep nested folders from an old file server are the usual culprit.
- Blocked file types and open files. OneNote notebooks, PST files, and anything locked open can block or get skipped. PSTs especially should never live in a synced folder.
- "Already redirected" conflicts. If a known folder was previously pointed somewhere else (an old GPO folder redirection to a file server is common), KFM may refuse until you clear the existing redirection.
Step 3: Verify the move
- On a target device, the OneDrive icon should show the three folders under Backup as managed.
Desktop,Documents, andPicturesnow resolve under the OneDrive path, not the local profile.- In the OneDrive admin center, check Device configuration reports and sync health to catch stragglers.
- Spot-check a reimage: wipe a pilot device, re-enroll, sign in, and confirm the files come back.
Frequently asked questions
What does OneDrive Known Folder Move do?
Known Folder Move (KFM) redirects the Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders into OneDrive, so a user's files follow them to any device and survive a reimage. It's deployed through Intune with a OneDrive settings profile.
Why won't Known Folder Move finish for some users?
The usual causes are the folders exceeding the user's OneDrive quota, file paths over 400 characters, blocked or open files such as PSTs, or a previous folder redirection (often an old GPO) that KFM refuses to override until you clear it.
Can I decommission the file server once KFM is deployed?
Only after every profile shows fully synced — a green check, not a cloud-only placeholder. Pulling the file server while files are still cloud-only placeholders pointing at nothing is how data disappears.