Forum Discussion
Files On-Demand for macOS QA
Hello there!
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I've pinned most of my files. If I understand you correctly, they are now in the sync root and in the cache path as well, but only taking up space once as they are clones. So far so good. But now I noticed that Time Machine backs up the files in both locations as distinct files, i.e. not as clones, using up twice as much space as before. I could exclude one location from backing up but I'm not sure which one. If I had to do a complete reinstall of MacOS and using my Time Machine backup to bring back my files (instead of downloading 300gb from OneDrive), would it be better to have them in the sync root or in the cache path?
Jack_Nichols
Microsoft
MicrosoftHi svenzin,
I think it depends a bit on what you are trying to achieve.
Unless you are space constrained, I'd continue to back up both, assuming your goal is to bring your Mac back to a "last known good" state. Having both would make that the most seamless. It seems a little weird that Time Machine makes two copies though - you might want to consider filing feedback on Apple using Feedback Assistant.
If you are space constrained, and want to prioritize avoiding downloading content from OneDrive, then I would probably back up the cache path. This only makes sense if you have pinned all of your content; otherwise, you aren't backing up anything meaningful. All that said, note that the existence of the cache path and how it is used is an implementation detail that can change at any time. If you choose to back it up, know that a future OneDrive update might render a backup of this content useless. That's probably not as much of an issue if you are doing regular backups, but it's just something to keep in mind.
Jack
I think it depends a bit on what you are trying to achieve.
Unless you are space constrained, I'd continue to back up both, assuming your goal is to bring your Mac back to a "last known good" state. Having both would make that the most seamless. It seems a little weird that Time Machine makes two copies though - you might want to consider filing feedback on Apple using Feedback Assistant.
If you are space constrained, and want to prioritize avoiding downloading content from OneDrive, then I would probably back up the cache path. This only makes sense if you have pinned all of your content; otherwise, you aren't backing up anything meaningful. All that said, note that the existence of the cache path and how it is used is an implementation detail that can change at any time. If you choose to back it up, know that a future OneDrive update might render a backup of this content useless. That's probably not as much of an issue if you are doing regular backups, but it's just something to keep in mind.
Jack