As hybrid and remote work continue, many organizations are giving employees flexibility to choose not only where they work but also the devices they use to get work done. We have been working closely with Apple to ensure we’re providing a great user experience in OneDrive on Apple products, whether people are using OneDrive to keep their work files synced and protected or to store and share their personal files and photos in the cloud.
Today, we’re excited to share some of the updates and improvements we’re in the process of making to OneDrive running on Apple products to help people be more productive no matter where they are.
You asked and we listened!
We are thrilled to announce that later this year, we will be updating OneDrive for Mac to run natively on M1-powered Macs. This means that OneDrive will take full advantage of the performance improvements on M1, making you even more productive on the latest iMac, MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini.
Note: OneDrive is currently available using Rosetta 2 on M1 -powered Macs.
We have been actively working to address your request to enable Known Folder Move (KFM) support for macOS, and we’re thrilled to announce that soon you’ll be able to roll out KFM for your macOS users and redirect their Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders to OneDrive.
This means that people using OneDrive on the latest version of macOS can continue using folders they’re familiar with to do their daily work and be assured that their data is backed up and secure.
KFM will also enable your macOS users to access their most important files across different devices and applications with no disruption to productivity, because their content is automatically synced to OneDrive. In addition, your users will be able to securely share their data within and outside their organization, increasing collaboration.
And if you decide to perform a device refresh, you don’t need to worry about losing user data. For new machines, you can configure KFM from the start, so all new files are uploaded to the cloud. This is great for your organization as it increases user engagement with OneDrive, and you can easily protect files with enterprise-level security and compliance that comes built in. IT admins will be able to use preferences to encourage Mac users to perform KFM to keep their files backed up and protected, or they can use a silent property to automatically move content in the Desktop, Documents, and Picture folders to OneDrive.
This update will be available to all Mac users, enabling you to also keep your personal files and family photos in your important folders (Desktop, Documents, and Pictures) synced, protected, and available on other devices, and there’s no extra cost for macOS folder backup (up to 5 GB of files without a subscription). So even if your device gets lost or damaged, you won’t lose your important documents and favorite pictures when they are synced to OneDrive.
For organizations, KFM should be available for private preview later this year. To sign up, please enroll here.
Note:
Later this year we will be revamping the OneDrive sync experience on the latest version of macOS based on Apple’s new File Provider platform to improve the Finder experience for OneDrive. With this update, the OneDrive folder will be visible under Locations in the Finder sidebar, providing easy and quick access to all your OneDrive files.
We will also be updating the Files On-Demand experience. OneDrive Files On-Demand, which is enabled by default, helps you view and access all your files, individual or shared, without having to download them and use device storage.
This update will provide refreshed file status iconography in OneDrive:
This redesign is aimed at rendering a seamless OneDrive experience that feels native on the latest version of macOS. Deeply integrated with Finder, this refresh anchors on simplicity to improve ease of use while providing all the same benefits and functionality you have with your current version of Files On-Demand in OneDrive for macOS.
Regardless of which macOS version you are running, OneDrive Files On-Demand helps you:
Read more about Files On-Demand for macOS here.
Last month, we announced OneDrive Sync Admin Reports for Windows in the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center.
We are thrilled to announce that soon we will be bringing the same functionality to macOS as well.
These reports will give IT admins more visibility into macOS users in their organization running OneDrive Sync and any errors they might be experiencing. With an at-a-glance view of OneDrive Sync across their organization, IT admins can quickly and proactively resolve issues to help people stay productive while improving OneDrive adoption and user experience.
Performance and reliability improvements
We’ve been working diligently to improve performance and reliability for OneDrive running on macOS. Last month, the team rolled out updates that reduced the amount of CPU usage by 40 percent, helping save battery power and speed up performance for multi-tasking. We’re excited to roll out additional improvements over the next few months that further optimize performance and reliability to improve the user experience.
Last month, we enabled functionality in OneDrive for macOS that allows IT admins to prevent the OneDrive sync app from uploading certain files to OneDrive or SharePoint. IT admins who are managing macOS devices in their organizations can enable this setting using the prescribed plist file entry to prevent users from uploading specific file types such as .exe or .mp3 when they sync their OneDrive files.
When this setting is enabled, the sync app doesn't upload new files that match the specified keywords, and the files remain in the local OneDrive folder.
In Finder, the files will appear with an "Excluded from sync" icon in the Status column, and users will see a notification in the OneDrive activity center explaining why the files aren't syncing.
We are glad to announce that later this month iOS and iPadOS users will be able to edit Office documents that they have marked for offline use in the OneDrive mobile app. When they are offline, they only have to tap Edit or Open in Word or PowerPoint to start editing. When they’re online again, they can pick up right where they left off.
Offline editing will be available with the Office mobile app as well as the standalone Word and PowerPoint apps on iOS and iPadOS.
Learn more and stay engaged..
We continue to evolve OneDrive as a place to access, share, and collaborate on all your files in Office 365, keeping them protected and readily accessible on all your devices, anywhere.
To learn more about OneDrive:
Thank you again for your support of OneDrive. We look forward to your continued feedback and hope to connect with you at another upcoming Microsoft or community-led event.
Thanks for your time reading all about OneDrive,
OneDrive Team | Microsoft
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