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How to Keep OneDrive Pictures and Videos Available on Your Device
Question details
The user wants to make their OneDrive Pictures and Videos folders locally available on their device instead of keeping them as online-only files.
- Product
- OneDrive
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Trying to ensure that specific cloud-synced folders are downloaded and permanently accessible without an internet connection.
- Observed behavior
- The folders display a blue cloud icon, indicating they are online-only and not taking up local storage space, despite synchronization being active.
Check your local hard drive to ensure you have enough available storage space to accommodate the full size of your OneDrive Pictures and Videos folders before downloading them.
Use the 'Always keep on this device' Option
Manually force OneDrive to download the folders and permanently store them on your local hard drive.
A blue cloud icon next to your OneDrive files or folders means they are online-only. This does not mean synchronization is broken; it simply means the files are stored in the cloud to save space on your computer. You can change this behavior via the context menu.
Launch File Explorer and navigate to your OneDrive directory from the left navigation pane.
Find the Pictures and Videos folders that currently have a blue cloud icon next to them.
Right-click the folder and select 'Always keep on this device' from the context menu. The folder will begin downloading locally.
Disable Storage Sense Cloud Hydration
Prevent your operating system from automatically converting your downloaded files back into online-only files.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does the blue cloud icon mean in OneDrive?
The blue cloud icon indicates that a file or folder is online-only. It means the file is safely stored in OneDrive but does not take up physical storage space on your local device.
Why do my local files keep changing back to online-only?
This is typically caused by Storage Sense, a background feature that automatically frees up disk space by removing local copies of files you haven't opened recently.
Does selecting 'Always keep on this device' stop files from syncing?
No. When you select 'Always keep on this device', the files are permanently downloaded to your local drive and will continue to sync seamlessly with your OneDrive cloud storage whenever you make changes.
