Save disk space with OneDrive Files On-Demand for Windows (2024)

OneDrive Files On-Demand helps you access all the files in your cloud storage in OneDrive without having to download them and usestorage space on your computer.

Note:Starting with OneDrive build 23.066 Files On-Demand is enabled by default for all users.

With Files On-Demand, you’ll see all your filesas online-only files in File Explorer, but they won't take up space. When you’re connected to the Internet, you’ll be able to use the files like every other file on your device.

You can also select files and folders to bealways available, even if you're offline. OneDrive will download them, and they'll take up space on your PC.

With OneDrive Files On-Demand, you can:

Save space on your device by making files online only
Set files and folders to be always available locally on your device
See important information about files, such as whether they are shared
See thumbnails of over 300 different file types even if you don’t have the required application installed to open it

Your files will have these statuses in File Explorer:

A blue cloud icon next to a OneDrive file or folder indicates that the file is only available online.Online-only files don’t take up space on your computer. You see a cloud icon for each online-only file in File Explorer, but the file doesn’t download to your device until you open it. You can’t open online-only files when your device isn’t connected to the Internet.

When you open an online-only file, it downloads to your device and becomes a locally available file. You can open a locally available file anytime, even without Internet access. If you need more space, you can change the file back to online only. Just right-click the file and select “Free up space.”

With Storage Sense turned on,these files will become online-only files after the time period you've selected.

Only files that you mark as "Always keep on this device" have the green circle with the white check mark. These always available files download to your device and take up space, but they’re always there for you even when you’re offline.

If Files On-Demand is not enabled, make sure you’re signed in to OneDrive on your device.

Open OneDrive settings (select the OneDrive cloud iconin your notification area, and then select the OneDrive Help and Settings icon thenSettings.)

Go to the Sync and back up tab, expand the Advanced settings,and toggle on Files On-Demand

Right-click a file or folder.
Select Always keep on this device or Free up space.

Notes:

New files or folders created online or on another device appear as online-only to save maximum space. However, if you mark a folder as "Always keep on this device," new files in that folder download to your device as always available files.
If a folder is online-only, you can still mark individual files within that folder as always available.
Desktop search can search for online-only files by name, but it cannot search the contents within online-only files because they aren't stored on the device.

Frequently asked questions

Files On-Demand requires version Windows 10 1709 or later,or Windows Server 2019

OneDrive build 23.066 or later has Files On-Demand enabled by default.

Files On-Demand might not be compatible with some third-party antivirus solutions.

Files On-Demand is not yet supported when WIP is enabled.

Files On-Demand works with all your personal and work files from OneDrive, SharePoint in Microsoft 365, and SharePoint Server 2019 team sites.

Yes, you can move online-only files within your OneDrive folder for that OneDrive account. When you move files outside that OneDrive folder, the files download to the new folder and are removed from your OneDrive.

With your files and folders in the OneDrive cloud backup, if you accidentally delete something, you can restore them from your OneDrive recycle bin.

When you delete an online-only file from your device, you delete it from your OneDrive on all devices and online. You can restore deleted files and folders from your OneDrive recycle bin on the web for up to 30 days for items stored in OneDrive personal (when you're signed in with a Microsoft account), or for up to 93 days for items stored in OneDrive for work or school or SharePoint in Microsoft 365 (when you're signed in with a work or school account). If you delete a locally available file, it also appears in your device recycle bin.

If you want to hide a folder on your device, see Choose a folder to hide on your device.

No, changing a file to online-only doesn't delete it from your OneDrive. The file no longer takes up space on your device, and you will still be able to see the file from OneDrive mobile apps or on the website.

First, make sure you don't have Windows Information Protection (WIP), previously known as enterprise data protection (EDP) configured on your computer. Files On-Demand is not yet supported when WIP is enabled.

If you aren't seeing the Files On-Demand options, the latest version of OneDrive hasn't rolled out to you yet. Here's how to get the latest version of OneDrive.

Make sure you're running Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (version 16299.15 or later).
Download and install the latest version of OneDrive that's rolling out with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.
Restart your computer.
After your computer restarts, select the Start button, search for “OneDrive”, and then select the OneDrive desktop app.
When OneDrive Setup starts, enter your personal account, or your work or school account, and then select Sign in.
Follow the instructions to Turn on Files On-Demand.

We are updating the OneDrive sync app advanced settings for Files On-Demand for users who have the feature enabled.

The behavior change occurs for users who have Files On-Demand enabled. There is no change at this time for users that have the feature disabled from OneDrive settings or by admin policy.

After this change, users who have Files On-Demand enabled will see two buttons:

Free up disk space: This is the default and recommended behavior. New files from the cloud are online-only by default, not taking up disk space. Files are downloaded to the device if a user opens them or chooses the option to “Always keep on this device” from the context menu in File Explorer. Files created on the device are available offline by default.
Download all files: This setting is equivalent to choosing the option to “Always keep on this device” from the context menu in File Explorer for the entire OneDrive folder. Selecting this option causes all files from the cloud to be downloaded, taking up disk space on the device. The behavior of this setting is equivalent to the legacy option of turning off Files On-Demand mode, with some improvements like updated icons.

Learn more

Choose which OneDrive folders to show on your PC.
To learn more about notifications when Windows automatically downloads online-only files for your apps, see Automatic file download notifications in Windows 10.
OneDrive disk space and file size don't match
OneDrive storage plan and billing questions

Need more help?

Contact Support
For help with your Microsoft account andsubscriptions, visit.

For technical support, go to Contact Microsoft Support, enter your problem and select Get Help. If you still need help, selectContact Supportto be routed to the best support option.

Admins
Admins should view Help for OneDrive Admins, the OneDrive Tech Community or contactMicrosoft 365 for business support.

Tip:IT Admin should read OneDrive Files On-Demand for Enterprise.

Save disk space with OneDrive Files On-Demand for Windows (2024)

FAQs

How to save hard drive space with OneDrive? ›

Save space with OneDrive

Save space on your device by making files online only.
Set files and folders to be always available locally on your device.
See important information about files, such as whether they are shared.

More items...

Read On ›

How do I turn off OneDrive files on-demand? ›

To disable Files On-Demand in OneDrive, follow these steps:

Click on the OneDrive icon in the taskbar corner.
Select the Help & Settings (gear) icon, then click on Settings.
In the Settings window, go to the "Sync and backup" section.
Under the "Files On-Demand" sub-section, click on the "Download all files" button.

Discover More Details ›

What is the limit for OneDrive files on-demand? ›

When using the OneDrive website, you can only copy up to 2500 files at one time. For optimum performance, we recommend syncing no more than a total of 300,000 files across your cloud storage. Performance issues can occur if you have more than 300,000 items, even if you are not syncing all items.

How do I free up space on OneDrive without deleting files? ›

In the OneDrive app, go to Settings > Account. There, click the Choose folders button. Then, uncheck the folders that you want to remove from your computer and click OK. Using Selective Sync is just one of the tips that will help you get the most out of OneDrive.

See Details ›

Why does OneDrive take up space on my hard drive? ›

The files on the cloud normally are synced to the hard disk so they use space. One can, however, reduce this by two ways. One can select that only certain folders are synced and others do not show at all on your PC. You can also set so that the files show but they are downloaded to PC only when needed.

Find Out More ›

What are OneDrive files on-demand? ›

With OneDrive Files On-Demand, you can get to all your files in OneDrive or SharePoint Online, without having to download them and use storage space on your device.

Tell Me More ›

How do I set OneDrive to files on demand? ›

Set OneDrive to On-Demand in Windows

Click on the OneDrive cloud icon in the Windows taskbar notification area at the bottom right corner. ...
Click on the settings gear at the top of the popup window. ...
In the new window, click on Advanced settings to see more settings.
Check the box for Files On-Demand.

Jul 6, 2023

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How do I stop OneDrive from taking up hard drive space? ›

Click the OneDrive taskbar/menu bar icon and open OneDrive > Settings > Account > Choose folders to make sure you don't sync any unwanted files to your computer. Empty the OneDrive Recycle bin. Re-install OneDrive and turn off the sync. Delete unnecessary files from the OneDrive Web and empty the Recycle Bin.

Explore More ›

How to save files to PC instead of OneDrive Windows 11? ›

Right-click the OneDrive icon in the Notification area and click Settings. In the Manage folder backup dialog, deselect "Desktop". Optionally, deselect other shell folders (e.g., Videos, Music, Documents, or Pictures) if you want. Click "Save changes".

How to get OneDrive 1TB free? ›

All you need to do is to subscribe to Microsoft's Office 365, and you will be allotted an entire terabyte of free OneDrive space. That is exactly 1024 GB which instantly adds up to your OneDrive. This can be checked where you have your addition store option in settings as shown in the illustration below.

Show Me More ›

How do I save files locally from OneDrive? ›

When using the OneDrive app, you can download a local copy of a file to your device. In the OneDrive app, open the folder that has the files you want to download. Make sure the folder contents appear in List view, not as thumbnails. next to the file you want to save and then tap Save.

Read The Full Story ›

How do I remove OneDrive but keep files on my computer? ›

You won't lose files or data by uninstalling OneDrive from your computer. You can always access your files by signing in to OneDrive.com. Select the Start button, type Programs in the search box, and then select Add or remove programs in the list of results.

See Details ›

How do I turn off files on demand in OneDrive? ›

To turn off OneDrive Files On-Demand:

Click the OneDrive tray icon to summon the tray window. ...
In the Sync and Backup section, scroll down and expand Advanced settings.
Under Files on Demand, click Download all files:
Finally, click Continue to confirm that you want OneDrive to download all your files:

Jun 28, 2023

Get More Info Here ›

What happens to my files if I turn off OneDrive? ›

1 answer. Unlinking OneDrive from your computer , this action will not lose your data, your local folders are just disconnected from the cloud.

How do I use OneDrive instead of computer storage? ›

How to Disable Windows 10 from using OneDrive as the default save location

Right-click on the 'Start' button in the bottom left corner of your screen and click on 'System. '
Click on 'Storage. '
Click on 'Change where new content is saved. '
Change all the categories you want to move from OneDrive to your C: drive.

Dec 13, 2023

How do I save everything on my computer to OneDrive? ›

If OneDrive is already running on your computer:

Click on the “OneDrive” icon in your system tray.
Select “Help & Settings”
Select “Settings”
Select the “Backup” tab, and then select “Manage Backup”.
Choose the local folders you would like to backup and sync to your OneDrive folder. Then select, “Start Backup”.

View Details ›

How do I save files from OneDrive to an external hard drive? ›

Open the OneDrive app. Sign in with your Microsoft account. During the setup, choose the location where you want to sync your OneDrive files. You can select a folder on your external hard drive if it's connected, or you can sync to a local folder and move the files later.