Forum Discussion
Files on demand - difference in 'locally available' and 'always available' files
locally available files are ones you've already opened whilst online, or created while online, or created recently on another device while you were online; they stream down to your PC so you have them if you need them, but they're not guaranteed to be there. If you haven't opened the files in a while and the space is needed to stream down other recent files to make them available locally, they'll revert to being online only (AFAIK that's based on heuristics and will vary by free space, not a strict counter). if you want to guarantee that the files are always available offline, right-click and mark them as 'always available offline'. You can mix and match both kinds inside a folder.
I have the exact same questions, Chris, after reading the available information mentioned at https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Learn-about-OneDrive-Files-On-Demand-0e6860d3-d9f3-4971-b321-7092438fb38e and thinking more about it.
As you said, based on the provided information, unless the "Locally available files" automatically delete themselves (the local copies) and switch back to "Online-only files", then I don't see the need or reason for the redundant "Always available files". If the "Locally available files" don't automatically revert to "Online-only files", then why couldn't we simply have two (2) statuses, "Online-only files" and "Locally (Always) available files"?
locally available files are ones you've already opened whilst online, or created while online, or created recently on another device while you were online; they stream down to your PC so you have them if you need them, but they're not guaranteed to be there. If you haven't opened the files in a while and the space is needed to stream down other recent files to make them available locally, they'll revert to being online only (AFAIK that's based on heuristics and will vary by free space, not a strict counter). if you want to guarantee that the files are always available offline, right-click and mark them as 'always available offline'. You can mix and match both kinds inside a folder.
Thanks, Mary, for the information. It seems a bit vague as to how locally available files work, when they revert to online only, etc., but that is not a criticism of your explanation.
If they do in fact work like you are saying and whether they (locally available files) would still be available (locally/offline) after a period of time, based on the system freeing up the space for other more recent files, then I can understand why Microsoft would see the need for 3 statuses: online only, offline (always available), and locally available which is somewhat transient and changing over time.- This is how it works; I've been using it since April ;)
- You have been using Files On Demand since April?
