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Back in XP-pro I used to map a couple of my work network drives and make some of the folders available offline.
They would still show up after I disconnected from the network.
They still showed as mapped to the same location in the drives list in Windows Explorer, but with only the folders that were made available offline.
Working offline was seamless because it always looked like the folders I wanted were right there...I just click on the folder I wanted to use, work on the files that I needed to use, and save everything when I was done.
Then, when I connected to the work network again, the system would tell me that it found files that needed to be synched, and I would run the synch and everything would update.
It was so nice!
(NOTE: I have had a ton of trouble making the shared network files available offline, but that's being looked at in another thread in the tech center...)
Now in Windows 8.1 pro, I can map a network drive when I'm connected, make the same shared folders "always available offline", but when I disconnect from the network they drop out of the list in File Explorer. They're supposed to be "ALWAYS available offline"...right?
So I know I can find them by hunting through the "offline files" if I happen to be looking for one particular file, but I can't work with them like normal because I have no way to save a file to the offline file location - it isn't a legitimate location when saving a Word or Excel document... I have to find a way to keep them in the list all the time.
So what do I have to do to make them persistent? How do I keep them in the list of files so they show up when I'm not connected to the network? The new interfaces have dropped so much of the old functionality that was part of managing your computer...kinda sucks sometimes. Anyone able to make those offline files show up in their list in File Explorer?
I do not connect to the network as a domain computer, only via a wifi network connection accessing shared folders.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Answer accepted by question author
What I did find is that by clicking the check box for "Reconnect at sign-in" when mapping the drive, that drive letter appears when offline, with the offline files available. This solves the problem, and the folders are available for offline use from other programs.
Hi,
Online-only files, also called smart files, are a special kind of OneDrive file in Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1. You can browse them on your PC, but the file contents are really in OneDrive, so they don’t take up much of your disk space. Online-only files look like normal files on your PC, they have all the typical file info (like date modified, file type, and size), and you can search them. When you open online-only files from File Explorer and most apps, the file contents are downloaded automatically.
If you’re not connected to the Internet, you can browse thumbnails of online-only files, but you can’t open or edit the full file. If you want to be able to open and edit a file offline, you need to make the file available offline while you’re still connected to the Internet. This downloads the file contents to your PC, and keeps the file linked with OneDrive online storage so that any changes you make from any device automatically appear everywhere when you reconnect to the Internet.
Perform the steps mentioned below and see if it helps.
a: Press Windows key + X
b: Then click Control Panel
c: Then click Sync center
d: Now click Manage offline files present at the left pane
e: Now click Enable offline files
f: Click Apply and then ok
g : Now Restart the computer
If you need any further assistance with Windows Operating System, please post your query on Microsoft Community Forums and we’ll be glad to assist you with it.
Okay, I'll post it over there also...
Hi,
The issue you have posted would be better suited in the TechNet Forums. I would recommend posting your query in the link below.
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/category/w8itpro
Thank you Jessen, but I am referring to "work network drives", shared drives mapped from my company network, not OneDrive files. I appreciate your thorough response, but this does not address my issue.
