onedrive syncing

Question

I had recently changed my administrator email on my account. During that process the paths to some of my folder locations got messed up. I have straightened out those path issues. But now my picture and video folder are not syncing with OneDrive.. I right click on OneDrive>Settings>Sync and Backup>manage backup and it shows that those folders are syncing...

But when I open the file explorer, it shows that those 2 folders are not syncing

So how do I correct this and get those 2 folders to sync properly?

Answer 1

During the process I explained above, those folders went from having the little check mark beside them, which indicates they are syncing with OneDrive(like the rest of those folders pictured), to having the cloud icon beside them.

Cloud files are always in sync with OneDrive. When you open a cloud file it downloads to your device and becomes a locally available file. Then you can make changes to the file. So with regards to syncing, it doesn't matter what type of icon the file has in your local OneDrive folder.

Previously they were not "cloud only"! So something happened that made them "cloud only".

This could be due to Storage Sense freeing up space automatically. So check those settings.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/manage-drive-space-with-storage-sense-654f6ada-7bfc-45e5-966b-e24aded96ad5

Quoting the article:

Manage locally available cloud content

To choose the conditions for when inactive files are made online only, under****

***Content will become online-only if not opened for more than:***choose your preferred amount of time.

Note that starting in Windows 11, version 22H2, the default for OneDrive cloud files is to make files online-only if not opened for more than 30 days."

If I do what you are prescribing it will change the icon to a solid green circle with a white check mark inside, which means that it won't sync with OneDrive?

No, that is not the case. When OneDrive is running, all files in the local OneDrive folder always sync to OneDrive regardless of the type of icon they have.

Check this out: https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/what-do-the-onedrive-icons-mean-11143026-8000-44f8-aaa9-67c985aa49b3

Answer 2

Craig,

During the process I explained above, those folders went from having the little check mark beside them, which indicates they are syncing with OneDrive(like the rest of those folders pictured), to having the cloud icon beside them. Previously they were not "cloud only"!

So something happened that made them "cloud only". If I do what you are prescribing it will change the icon to a solid green circle with a white check mark inside, which means that it won't sync with OneDrive?

Answer 3

Hi Lee,

Welcome to the Microsoft community.

From what I see the Pictures and Videos folders are syncing to OneDrive. Those folders are cloud-only and therefore have the blue cloud icon. Cloud-only files do not take up space on your computer. If you have enough local storage space, right-click those folders and select "Always keep on this device".

I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Best regards,

Craig