OneDrive Setup: “A newer version of OneDrive is installed” Error

When you try to install OneDrive using the OneDrive Setup file (onedrivesetup.exe) downloaded from Microsoft, the following error may occur:

Microsoft OneDrive Setup

A newer version of OneDrive is installed

You need to uninstall it first before installing this version.

This error may occur even though you uninstalled OneDrive via Apps and Features in the Settings app or Programs and Features in the classic Control Panel.

Cause

The above error occurs if the previous uninstallation of OneDrive has leftover some settings in the Windows registry. If the OneDriveSetup.exe file’s version is older than the version of OneDrive available previously on the computer, an error occurs.

For instance, if your downloaded OneDriveSetup.exe ‘s version is 22.065.0412.0004 but the version already installed (and later removed) from the system was 22.141.0703.0002, the error “A newer version of OneDrive is installed” occurs.

Note that the standalone installer OneDriveSetup.exe available from the official Microsoft site may not always be the latest build.

Solution

To fix the error “A newer version of OneDrive is installed” during OneDrive setup, follow one of these methods:

Method 1: Reset the Last Installed OneDrive Version Number

Resetting the last installed OneDrive version number registry value fixes the OneDrive setup error in most cases.

1. Start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
2. Go to the following branch:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OneDrive

3. Export the branch to a registry (.reg) file.
4. In the right pane, double-click the value named “Version“
5. Clear the existing data, and type “1” as the version number.
   
6. Exit the Registry Editor.
7. Run OneDriveSetup.exe now.

Important: If you have a per-machine installation, you may need to change the version value data in this key as well:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OneDrive

reg export HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OneDrive  %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\OneDrive.reg

reg add HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OneDrive /v "Version" /d "1" /t REG_SZ /f

Method 2: Reset OneDrive Settings in the Registry

Note: If you use this method, you need to reconfigure OneDrive completely.

1. Start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
2. Go to the following branch:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OneDrive

3. Export the branch to a registry (.reg) file.
4. Right-click on the “OneDrive” branch and choose Rename.
5. Rename it to “OneDrive.old”
6. Exit the Registry Editor.
7. Run OneDriveSetup.exe now.

reg export HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OneDrive  %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\OneDrive.reg

reg copy HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OneDrive HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OneDrive.Old /s /f

reg delete HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OneDrive /f

Method 3: Copy the latest OneDrive Setup folder from another PC

Another method is to copy the latest OneDrive setup folder from another Windows computer. The setup files are located in one of the following directories:

%localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive
or
C:\Program Files\Microsoft OneDrive
or
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft OneDrive

After copying the OneDrive setup folder from another computer, locate the latest version numbered subfolder and run the OneDriveSetup.exe file in that folder.

This should fix the error “A newer version of OneDrive is installed” during the OneDrive setup.