Microsoft confirms OneDrive Photos app was rolled out to millions of Windows 11 PCs by mistake, fix incoming

Facepalm: Microsoft has confirmed that it jumped the gun by rolling out a new OneDrive Photos app to millions of Windows 11 PCs earlier than intended. The app was automatically installed on client and enterprise computers without user permission, prompting complaints from users who don't use OneDrive to store their photos.

In an X post, Microsoft's EVP of Apps and Agents, Jeff Teper, noted that OneDrive Photos is an incubation project that was meant to be tested with select users but was mistakenly pushed to more devices than intended. He confirmed that the issue will be resolved in a future update, suggesting that the app will be removed from devices that were not originally supposed to be included in the test.

Teper added that Microsoft will "always" offer users the option to use local storage instead of OneDrive for storing their photos and videos.

– Jeff Teper (@jeffteper) August 7, 2026

Despite Teper's assurance, some users are livid that the unwanted app cannot even be uninstalled without removing the main OneDrive app. Some social media users have also questioned the rationale behind creating a web-based app instead of a native Windows application, arguing that it makes the software unnecessarily resource-intensive.

A report from Windows Central appears to confirm that the OneDrive Photos app is extremely memory-intensive and not very responsive, souring the experience even for OneDrive users.

It is worth noting that OneDrive Photos is designed exclusively for consumer PCs and is meant to be installed through the OneDrive background sync client without user intervention. However, it was also rolled out to enterprise devices, upsetting IT admins.

Windows Latest adds that the new app has system-wide access to all media files, even when users are not signed into a Microsoft account. It also reportedly asks for permission to scan faces in photos, although Microsoft says that the data will not be shared with third parties. Users can configure the settings to prevent the app from scanning specific files and folders.

Despite the controversy surrounding the OneDrive Photos app, Microsoft is working on the Windows 11 26H2 update, which is scheduled for release this October. It will ship as an enablement package on the same "Germanium" platform that underpins 24H2 and 25H2, with most of the new features aimed at power users and IT admins rather than mainstream consumers.