Configure OneDrive for work or school for On-Demand Syncing

Tags onedrive sync

Configuring OneDrive for work or school for Files on Demand Syncing will preserve local hard drive space and improve performance and speed of syncing. OneDrive for work or school will only copy down and sync files that you request and that you are working with. OneDrive for work or school offers up to 1TB of storage for your personal files in the cloud, but your local hard drive likely is much smaller. It is especially important to utilize Files on Demand syncing if the space available on your local computer is less than the amount of storage you are utilizing on OneDrive for work or school.

INFO: OneDrive Files On-Demand is supported on Windows 10 2017 Fall Creators Update and later versions and Mac OS X Mojave (10.14) or later

Instructions

NOTE: Sync should only be used for data that is not restricted per the UMS data classification, or disallowed by the individual's department.  Questions may be directed to the Information Security Office.  

NOTE: One-Drive On-Demand Sync does not work with Windows 7 or Windows 10 versions released prior to the 2017 Fall Creator's edition. It also does not work with macOS versions below 10.14. If you are using one of these older operating systems you should only use the web interface.

NOTE: If you have files or folders that you do not want locally DO NOT Delete them, instead, right-click on them and select Free Up Space, which will remove them from your computer but leave them in the cloud.

NOTE: If you are using your personal computer and it does not already have the OneDrive client installed on it, you can download it for installation from Microsoft's OneDrive client download page.

NOTE: If you are using a supported Operating System version, but do not have the File s On Demand options in the steps below, you probably need to upgrade to the latest version of the OneDrive client, which is available at Microsoft's OneDrive client download page.

macOS

  1. Click on the OneDrive icon in the upper right hand of the desktop.
  2. Click on Help & Settings, then click Preferences from the menu that appears.
  3. In the Preferences window, in the Preferences tab, near the bottom click on the button to Turn On Files on Demand.

Windows

  1. Click the OneDrive icon in the bottom left of the Desktop. Click Help & Settings. Then click Settings from the menu that appears.
  2. On the Settings tab, near the bottom, click the bottom, in the Files On-Demand section, click the checkbox to Save space and download files as you use them.

TIP: To further refine the folders that get synced:

  1. In OneDrive client, Help & Settings, Preferences, on the Account tab, click Choose Folders
  2. Then uncheck any folders you do not want to sync and click OK

Environment

  • macOS, Windows

 

Print Article