Is it possible I have TWO "onedrive"-s on my computer (FULL)

Question

All this week my C:/ has been LESS THAN 1GIG out of ~459GIG...

For example:

Friday: 547pm C:/-->Properties-->Free Space = 2.98GIG

Fri-606pm Find and Delete and Recycle Bin (and RBin online): 23,612 .cps files of 27,463 .cps files which (it said) REMOVED 6.99GIG.

Fri-619PM C:/-->Properties-->Free Space = 2.23GIG ?!?

TODAY OneDrive!

• MY OneDrive: C:/users/[Moderation note: Personal information removed]/OneDrive OR left nav "A R - Personal"
• MY OneDrive: loves to eat a lot of MEMORY (nom nom nom) ..so dead, for now.
• • Found a new folder "A R L" - which is the "name" of my Microsoft 365 acct. When I clicked on the folder it looks exactly like C:/users/[Moderation note: Personal information removed]/ (and yes it has a (cloud) OneDrive
• A R L -> right-click , does NOT show a "Properties"

Also,

Win Expl -> left side nav -> All the folders directly under C:\Users[Moderation note: Personal information removed]\OneDrive\Desktop with OneDrive icons that mostly the lil blue outlined cloud, but they are ON MY DRIVE. I swear!

In Fact, here is one of the folders, has "availability status: available when online" (under "date created") AND ALSO HAS .. "Free Up Space" at the same time! (note: all the blue outlined clouds under "Status") :

And.... as of 1011pm, Free Space: 439MB .

:( - And I am inclined to blame OneDrive (which has been OFF since 4pm).. but I don't know what to do about it.

Answer 1

Hi, AlisonL

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum.

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Sorry for this unwanted experience that you're facing. What you’re seeing is usually a mix of OneDrive “Files On-Demand” placeholders (they look like folders/files on your PC but are only fully stored online) plus something else on C: actively consuming space in the background, so the free space number can drop even after you delete a lot. Your screenshot showing “Availability status: Available when online” is the key clue that those items are meant to be online-only placeholders, not normal local folders.

Here are some suggestions you can try:

1) First, identify what is actually eating your C: space (this avoids guessing)

Use Windows’ built-in Storage view because it tells you which category is growing (Apps, System, Temporary files, etc.), and you can drill into it.

• Open Settings > System > Storage and look at the largest categories.
• Then open Storage Sense and run it once manually.

This is the most reliable way to catch the “real” culprit when free space drops unexpectedly.

2) Use Storage Sense to clear temp files and convert stale OneDrive content back to online-only

This is the fastest “safe” cleanup when you’re down to a few hundred MB.

• In Settings > System > Storage > Storage Sense:
• Turn it On.
• Under temporary files cleanup, allow it to remove temporary system and app files.
• Under Locally available cloud content, set a short window (for example, 1-14 days) so Windows can offload older OneDrive-cached items back to online-only.
• Click Run Storage Sense now.

This specifically targets both temporary clutter and older OneDrive cached copies without deleting your cloud files.

3) Understand the “Always keep on this device” and “Free up space” menu, it’s normal to see both

Those two options are actions Windows offers, not proof the folder is local. The thing that matters is the Status icon and wording like “Available when online”.

• Blue cloud or “Available when online” means it should not take meaningful disk space (only a tiny placeholder), until you open it.
• “Free up space” is used to push an item back to online-only.
• “Always keep on this device” pins it so it stays downloaded and consumes disk space.

So in your screenshot, the menu isn’t contradicting itself. It’s offering two directions you can move the item.

4) Force OneDrive to re-apply Files On-Demand to reclaim space from cached downloads

If you’ve opened lots of files recently, they can quietly become “locally available” and occupy space until you offload them.

• In File Explorer, right-click the top OneDrive - Personal root and choose Free up space (or do it on the biggest folders first).
• If you want to do it from OneDrive settings, turn on Files On-Demand and use the option to free up disk space.

This is the intended method for getting space back without deleting anything.

5) If OneDrive “online-only” items are still consuming real disk space, treat it like a sync/cache corruption case

There are known cases where “online-only” files don’t behave like sparse placeholders and still consume disk, especially after certain OneDrive builds or migrations. A reliable fix pattern is:

Update OneDrive, then unlink and relink, or fully reset the sync relationship so placeholders are rebuilt correctly.

Another workaround mentioned by experienced users is temporarily marking a large folder as Keep on this device, let it fully sync, then Free up space to force OneDrive to recreate proper placeholders.

If your “online-only” folders show a meaningful Size on disk, that’s the symptom to watch for.

6) About the mysterious “A R L” entry that won’t show Properties

When an item in the left navigation behaves like an account label and doesn’t offer normal Properties, it is often a shell/navigation entry (an Explorer integration point), not a normal folder on disk. In practice, treat C:\Users\rapho\OneDrive as the real path that matters, and use Storage/OneDrive settings to control space, rather than relying on the nav label behavior.

7) Immediate “right now” stabilization (because you’re under 1 GB free)

When C: is under 1 GB, Windows updates, apps, and OneDrive can spiral because they need working space.

Do these in order:

• Run Storage Sense now (step 2).
• Offload OneDrive by using Free up space on the biggest folders (step 4).
• Recheck Settings > System > Storage to confirm which category shrank (step 1).

Hope this helps. Feel free to get back if you need further assistance.

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