I understand your concern about what happens to your photos and data when using the new OneDrive Photos experience.
OneDrive Photos is included as part of the OneDrive app, so it may appear after a OneDrive update rather than being installed as a completely separate app. Photos stored only on your PC are not automatically uploaded simply because they appear in the OneDrive Photos gallery. They remain on your device unless you choose to upload them or save them in a folder that syncs with OneDrive.
Regarding processing:
- Photos already stored in OneDrive are accessed through Microsoft’s cloud service.
- Photos stored only on your PC remain local unless you choose to upload them.
- Face grouping, if enabled, runs in the cloud and applies only to photos stored in OneDrive. It does not process photos that exist only on your PC. You can turn this feature off under Settings > More settings > Photos > People.
- On a Copilot+ PC, content-based search can also cover locally stored photos. For more information, please visit Browse and manage your photos with OneDrive Photos on Windows
For more information about service and diagnostic data, you may also review the Microsoft Privacy Statement and the privacy settings available in Windows and OneDrive.
I hope this helps clarify the distinction between locally stored photos and content uploaded to OneDrive. If you have any further questions or would like clarification on any of the points above, please feel free to leave a comment, and I’ll be happy to help. Thank you so much for your understanding.
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