OneDrive Files On-Demand for Windows 10

OneDrive Files On-Demand helps you access all you files in OneDrive without having to download all of them and use storage space on your Windows device. This article is about Windows, but you can use Files On-Demand on Mac, too.

Instructions

• When you turn on Files On-Demand, you'll see all your files in File Explorer and get new information about each file. New files created online or on another device appears as online-only files, which don't take up space on your device. When you're connected to the Internet, you'll be able to use the files like every other file on your device.

• Your files will have these statuses in File Explorer:

  • Online-only Files - 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 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.

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  • Locally Available Files - 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.

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

  • Always Available Files - Only files that you mark as "Always keep on this device" have a 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.

Sharing Files using OneDrive

• In Windows, open File Explorer or Windows Explorer.

• Open a folder that you sync with OneDrive.

• Right-click a file you wish to share. From the popup menu, select the Share command with the blue icon.

• At the Send Link window, click on the field for Anyone With the Link Can Edit.

• At the Link settings window, uncheck the box to Allow Editing if you want to limit the shared file to read-only. Set and expiration data if you want the file share to expire at a certain time. Set a password if you want to secure the shared file.
  
  

  • Note: If you do set a password, you'll need to share it with your recipient separately.

• At the Send Link screen, type the name or email address of the recipient and press Enter. You can add multiple recipients by typing their email address on each line. To email the shared link to your recipients, click Send.

• If you'd rather compose your own email or other means of communications, click the button to Copy Link. After the link is created, click the Copy button. You can then paste the link elsewhere. For more options, click the button for More Apps. At the Share window, you can now select a specific app to share the file.

• You can change and manage access to the shared file. To do this, right-click on the file and select Share. In the Send Link window, click on the ellipsis icon in the upper right corner and select Manage Access.

• Your next options depend on how you shared the file. If you shared it via email, click on the name of any recipient. From the menu, you can change the permissions to allow that person to edit the file or only view it. You can also turn off file sharing completely for that person. If you created a shareable link or selected a specific app or service for sharing it, Click the X next to the link to disable it.