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Use local files but have them uploaded to One Drive

Anonymous
2022-02-07T09:30:05+00:00

Hi,

I'm new to One Drive and it's driving me a bit crazy! I've created security copies of my Documents and my goal is to always use my local files (as sometimes I work offline), but I want these files to be automatically uploaded to One Drive. Every now and then, they are saved only in One Drive and not my computer, and I have to login in to One Drive and download the most recent version so I can keep working. Why is this happening and how do I stop it from happening again? Sometimes files have a blue icon with two arrows next to the file name. Sometimes I open the files in Word/Excel and they have AutoSave off, which I'm assuming it needs to be on to create a copy in One Drive, but the last time I turned it on, it didn't save the changes in my computer... Do I always need to have the app open for changes to be updated in both locations (aka, the wee symbol in the task bar)? I'm using my usual pathway to access my files, should I be using instead the route that has "One Drive" in it (ie C:\Users\Sara\OneDrive\Documents)? If I use the second option, will it work if I loose internet connection?

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Windows

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  1. Craig Long 18,140 Reputation points
    2022-02-07T11:58:33+00:00

    Quoting the video in this article:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/save-disk-space-with-onedrive-files-on-demand-for-windows

    To make sure a file is always available, even when you're offline, right click it and choose "Always keep on this device".

    If you want your Documents folder backed up you will need to turn on the OneDrive PC Folder Backup for the Documents folder.

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/back-up-your-documents-pictures-and-desktop-folders-with-onedrive

    That would place your Documents folder in the path of C:\Users\Sara\OneDrive\Documents. You don't have to open your OneDrive folder to get to your Documents. Just open the Documents folder as you have always done so in This PC.

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