Use SkyDrive to sync settings between computers

Solution:

One of the benefits of signing in to your PC with a Microsoft account is that you can sync information between any computers that you use and that are also running Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1. When you sign in with a Microsoft account, your PC connects online to a Microsoft server or to the cloud. This means that your personal settings and preferences will be stored in SkyDrive and will be synced to any computer you sign in to. For example:

Your Start screen layout, selected colors, themes, language preferences, browser history and favorites, and Windows store app settings sync between different computers.

You don't need to sign in to SkyDrive, Facebook, Flickr, or other services to get and share your photos, documents, and other files on all your computers.

Select the settings you want to sync

If you want to make certain personal settings more private, you can turn off syncing for specific settings, or turn off sync altogether.

If you're having trouble syncing your settings, you can try running the Account troubleshooter. It is an automated tool that can be used to find and automatically fix some synchronization problems.

Although the Microsoft Account Troubleshooter is valid in all languages, it is available only in the English version.

To select the settings to synchronize

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap change PC settings.

(If you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC Settings.) )

2. Tap or click SkyDrive, and then tap or click Sync Settings.

3. Under different settings categories, turn off settings that are no longer synced.

To stop synchronizing all settings

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap change PC settings.

(If you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC Settings.) )

2. Tap or click SkyDrive, and then tap or click Sync Settings.

3. Under the "Use SkyDrive Sync Settings" heading, turn off "Sync settings on this PC".

When you turn off synchronization between computers running Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1, some system and app settings are still stored in the cloud. If you want to remove these system and app settings, you must remove them separately. To learn how to do this, go to remove personal settings from the cloud and sign in to your account.