Microsoft responds to Windows 10 OneDrive 'selective sync' controversy

The Windows 10 Technical Preview had a significant update earlier this week with many new changes. One of them is causing a bit of a stir as it involves OneDrive and the new 'selective sync' feature.

According to Microsoft's blog post on the Windows 10 changes, the OneDrive team was responding to user feedback about how OneDrive used so-called placeholders for data that was available on OneDrive but not synced locally. In short, they said such a design caused confusion as people had to "learn" the difference between a placeholder file and the real file that was synchronized on their local PC.

Windows 10 build 9879 "solves" this problem by introducing "selective sync", which only shows the files that are synced to your PC via OneDrive, no more, no less.

In theory, this move makes sense but it did not take long to see people complaining about the change. In fact, on the Windows UserVoice page, an 'Add an advanced option to restore showing ALL OneDrive files in Explorer, synced or not' proposal has become the #3 requested feature change. That suggestion was made within the last two days and garnered 2,435 votes from users.

Today, the OneDrive team has formally responded to the suggestion. Here is the meat of the reply:

"The changes we made are significant. We didn't just "turn off" placeholders – we're making fundamental improvements to how Sync works, focusing on reliability in all scenarios, bringing together OneDrive and OneDrive for Business in one sync engine, and making sure we have a model that can scale to unlimited storage. In Windows 10, that means we'll use selective sync instead of placeholders. But we're adding additional capabilities, so the experience you get in Windows 10 build 9879 is just the beginning. For instance, you'll be able to search all of your files on OneDrive – even those that aren't sync'ed to your PC – and access those files directly from the search results. And we'll solve for the scenario of having a large photo collection in the cloud but limited disk space on your PC."

Indeed, giving users unlimited OneDrive access does cause a potential problem as computers have finite local storage. The ability to search for OneDrive files, which can then be accessed directly could go a long way to fixing the fix.

Finally, the OneDrive team notes "Longer term, we'll continue to improve the experience of OneDrive in Windows File Explorer, including bringing back key features of placeholders." So there is certainly more to come.

What do you think of the changes to OneDrive in Windows 10? Will those future refinements by the OneDrive team makeup for the lack of file placeholders?

Source: Windows UserVoice; via @GabeAul

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.

198 Comments

I really relied on the place holders. It worked very well on my Surface, and eliminated the need to keep my files locally on the device.
I was so pissed after seeing the new changes. The new system is disastrous for power users. Microsoft has never done anything to anger me until now!! This is ridiculous that they even thought this was better.
And this is why they're doing a public preview, so that issues like this are dealt with. How can you be angry at a change in an early preview?
Because they said this is the new direction. And if we don't voice our opinions, they will assume we are fine with these stupid ideas. If they fix this, i would never be angry that they tried it in a preview. But i will not just sit back and let them ruin one of Microsoft's best products. OneDrive went from being my favorite thing in the world to being just another stupid product. If I wanted dumbed down software, I’d be using apple stuff.
Exactly. Having placeholders is a great way to browse the files on OneDrive without having to download them locally or open the OneDrive app to see the files. It helped save a lot of steps and bandwidth for me. I consider removing the placeholders a step back.
I'm in complete agreement. This is a VERY big mistake. Unlimited storage is MUCH less useful when it appears in this manner. Clearly it should simply be an option. I understand the technical difference... technically it is much easier and more efficient to pull off the sync if you know exactly which folders must be synced and disallow the flexibility of placing a file anywhere. But this is why we have powerful devices... to provide us with the convenience.
This isn't a problem for my main PC but on my tablet this makes it unusable almost.
Again Microsoft dumbs down its product because of confused (stupid) people.
That sad thing is the "stupid" people are that they are technical people that were just overthinking things and wanting them to work in old fashioned ways.
It looks like they are headed in the right direction. The existing sync engine is not very good at all for syncing large file collections. I have over 150k files on an external drive, and with the current engine, a full resync is required if the drive drops or powers off... the resync takes nearly a full day. It sounds like everyone is jumping the gun a bit. This is a OS technical preview, not the final version, so don't get your panties in a knot until the final product delivers.
They asked for feedback, they got feedback. What's the problem?
You are right that the sync'ing doesn't work very well. Dropbox is much more active in syncing and then notifying across the devices. Regarding this issue, Microsoft should stay strong on "always-on-always-connected" ideology, which syncd, non-syncd files/folders depict. There is no "learning curve" to understand that in cloud drive (like any network drive), the files are initially not located on local harddrive but residing on another machine. OneDrive folder has this extra feature; that you can sync files/folder on your harddrive locally. Now by that analogy, Windows team never thought about hiding the files/folders from network-drive, because they are just placeholders and not actually present on local drive. It is almost like saying, some naieve people don't get the concept of files, folders, library and junctions, so we should drop all of them and show them what they want to see. Now, if Microsoft only make effort on the productive features rather than this non-sense hide and seek game, OneDrive will render itself more useful than DropBox. For instance, sync file/folder attributes with cloud (such as archive and hidden attributes), that is small feature but bring positive value to the product. I posted this thread two years ago, by aggregating my ideas, other folks feedback on Windows blogs and varied sources into a single thread: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/forum/sdfiles-sdsharing/sharing-and-unsharing-feature-in-skydrive-desktop/9c22caca-75b1-4c01-bb00-9cb6947b7315, but that couldn't excite them much! :(
Yep. I rely entirely on placeholders. They need this feature or I will stay on Windows 8. I can't give that feature up.
Right. Explain it to me. You have a list of files. Without placeholders, you can see local files. If you are disconnected, then you can't get access to the fiels anyway, so why the need to see them. When you _are_ connected, you can either browse directly the OneDrive, or Search and access the file directly from the search results. Seems very clean. Why are the angry techies get their panties in a bunch, Can someone explain a grown up scenario why this doesn't work (i.e. not emotional nonsense on its a change, and you are human and don't like change.) In what way doesn;'t it "work". Genuine question.
Example: You run a design business. You have 20 client folders, full of sub-folders, full of various files that are catalogued for you to easily find them. This all totals 750GB. When you are out visiting a client you find you need an image or file you hadn't pre-empted needing, and hadn't downloaded it on your tablet before you left. Are you going to remember that files name to run a search? Not a chance! How long would a tablet take to scan 750GB of data? With placeholders you could visually navigate to the one you needed. With 3G, 4G, phone tethering, free WIFI spots and clients own broadband, who doesn't have access to the internet 95% of the time? When you're out and about you may not need to see a placeholder for images of your holiday in Barbados 2 years ago, but for business users this has killed the outstanding benefit of OneDrive. Add to that, it's now December 2015 and we STILL can't view or access our online only files, STILL can't use an app to view them, and have to go back to logging in on a web browser all the time - it is little short of cretinous of Microsoft to have done this. DropBox is offering a better, more functional online storage solution on Microsoft Windows than Microsoft itself is!
What about us dinosaurs that do not want any of our files stored in the "f*n Cloud"? I am stuck with very slow ISP and syncing uses a lot of my bandwidth for big files. Besides, it's a privacy issue. They are my g-d files and should have complete control of them at all times, not forced to have copies all over the place. I swear, when the time comes where 10 is forced upon me, I will switch to Linux!! Microf*n$oft thinks they know what's best for everybody, the a$$wipes!
Wut
I enjoyed the place holders. Now everything has to sync and I'm not a fan.
MS doesn't seem to understand that users don't always remember the file names. So sometimes we BROWSE for those files, not search for it. Removing the placeholders mean that we have to browse our files through the OneDrive app or OneDrive.com again. Like prehistoric times.
This.
While I can appreciate the comment, it doesn't quite follow for me. By your logic I would gather that we should stop using search engines to find what we need. Instead, we should return to remembering a directory of available websites and then proceed to peruse their website until we find the specific page we want. We don't have an placeholder index of all available websites, pages, and content on our computers. We just open up Bing, Yahoo, Google, etc, and type stuff in. I believe this is what they are trying to achieve with their search capabilities and OneDrive. They want and always connected desktop computing experience to be the same as the way people interact with the web. You put stuff somewhere (anywhere), and search will find it for you. If, by chance, you remember precisely where it is, then fantastic. Navigate there on your own and open the file. This isn't the first time they have reached for a unified and standardized experience. Just look at Windows Phone, Windows, and XBOX. Windows 8 UI across device types. Whether they are correct, of course, is the important thing... I am an argent Windows user, but I'm much more forgiving and adaptable than many others. I won't form an opinion on this until the OS is released in all its glory and working as finally intended.
Same here. It seems as though this is inline with many of there other attempts to unintegrate things and make many aspects of their services more like their less integrated competition. Windows explorer worked for everything, but now we'll need to open the OneDrive app to do some of the things we once could do on file explorer?
It's a tech preview. This is the first step.
Yes, the first wrong step :(
I'm completely and totally opposed to this change.
What's placeholder?
It's a representation of a file that's on OneDrive but not on your PC. Now they're gone so you can't see files there aren't synced with your computer.
Just sync you device to one drive and it will show you what you got. Not ever one has unlimited data or highest speed data so streaming stuff from one drive is less preferable then keeping files locally. Plus movies and music always play better locally then they do steamed
the thing is in the past we had a choice - you could keep local, or sync to the cloud and remove local copies with a stub. Makes use on a tablet not very useful.
http://i.imgur.com/UHQtBQb.png
That was representative :)
So you think that if someone uploads 5gb of mp3 files from one drvice, its better they have to sync them from a 2nd device, instead of just using the online copy? How about if an mp3 collection is stored on a computer, but i want to use it on a tablet also. Copying them into the onedrive directory effectively creates 2 copies on the computer. How is that an effective use of hard-drive space? I myself spent last night uploading my mp3 collection from my tablet, on the basis that the tablet was charging anyway. This mp3 collection is an exact copy of my existing collection on computer minus about 10 mp3s. So after that finished uploading, I go to my computer and copy those few mp3s to the onedrive directory. Lo and behold, onedrive is now downloading the cloud stored mp3s to my computer, even though they are already on it. I thought onedrive was supposed to make my files available on all my devices, but it actually seems merely to copy them instead, effectively just becomming a temporary storage area. Not exactly the best way to use cloud storage, which should among other things, save hard drive space, not use up extra space.
The fact that they are very aware of user feedbacks and the one drive team also well aware of what the change they made is causing is good sign..
I worried they didn't say they would bring placeholders back or make it an option. They said they would bring back the features of placeholders.
Yea that was weird when I first launched OneDrive after the upgrade. Still I think placeholders were working fine and I'd like to see them implemented again..
Not satisfied by the response at all, but I guess at least they're aware of it and working on it.
I'm not liking the tone of their statement "bring back key features of placeholders" just give us the option to use them! I don't know the name of some random ass jpeg I saved to my mobile uploads folder, and I may not want the entire folder on my hard drive, but I want to be able to see it and *then* select it to download.
This exactly.
SEEING ALL the files is very important, because you might not remember appropriate keywords to search for a file you need to find.
I'm sure it's a super easy fix /s
I have to agree, this is one of those features that can decide if I ever upgrade to Windows 10 I use my computer for speed not mass storage, I could see if it is at least able to be moved to an external drive but that still doesn't fix the issue of my surface needing to see the files as well.
Yes!! Search isn't always a viable option for finding stuff. Sometimes I need to browse to find something. Hope they add an option to "Show or hide placeholders".
I think it's a good move. This is exactly how Dropbox works as well.
It's a bad move. It's how Skydrive worked THREE FUCKING YEARS AGO. It's a massive step backwards.
Also how OneDrive works on the Mac and I find it unusable.
Yeah, WTF Microsoft, some time ago you were bragging about offline\online files being an innovative differentiator and now you're regressing? This it's stupid. I hope they get it right for release.
Then why don't I just use DropBox? OneDrive now offers no advantage at all.
The *old* (8.1) way of accessing a huge file repository with only online shims is the proper way to access it. Enabling "search" for those same files is *not* the same. The real reasoning behind this is probably centered around the fact that they're integrating ODB and OD sync engines. ODB is based on Sharepoint - which probably wouldn't work with the placeholder tech. In other words - this is pure business - the old model was working fine.
ODB/sharepoint is stinking piece of dog shit. Looks like Microsoft's motto is "addition by subtraction". Stupid morons, I'm so fucking angry right now!
Being able to see all your files, even those represented by placeholders seems a much better solution than having to remember the file name to search for.
The changes are TERRIBLE. They've effectively rewound Onedrive to 2011. Fuck that.
I liked selective sync on win 7 client so I welcome this change.
Terrible decision...
I use placeholders a lot and it is a unique feature of OneDrive vs other cloud storage. Nice that they hear us and hope they work on a way to have some sort of solution in the final release of Windows 10.
This is terrible. Just terrible. I totally regret going all in on OneDrive over the last few weeks. 200+GB of photos, 100GB music. all documents, all work stuff, etc... They botched it.
This is only on win10. Are you using that as your main OS?
No I'm not using it as my main OS, but intend to. But lets assume I (as well as others) hate this change so much that we didn't ugprade... this change is eventually going to come down to the OneDrive client on Windows 8. They need to hear the feedback.
What did they botch? Did OneDrive lose all your files?
Yeah. I just upgraded the tech preview last night and saw it was trying to download 40GB of data!!! WTF? I dont want my entire cloud downloaded!!! I want to see everything available, but it doesnt NEED to be available locally. Hope they change it back or give us the option to reverse it back.
+930
They are way out of touch on this. Plain and simple. Searching is not an answer.
If people don't like these changes, you can always choose not to use Windows 10. Do people understand what Preview means anymore? it means there are going to be changes and like they said IT"S THE BEGINNING. that means they will work on it. it's dumb to complain about something that is obvious not meant to be RTM. so if people don't like the changes Win10 will have, well they can choose to remove it and wait until final version, because I am sure Onedrive will be updated to be better than what we already have in Win8.
Agreed. They want feedback so its good you are giving it to them, but don't make it out like OneDrive is completely ruined forever.
Well that's why the feedback app exists, to improve onedrive so RTM will be a nice release, instead of complaining and asking it to be like Win8 which wasn't anything perfect or special. Windows 10 OneDrive should be really amazing, from being able to share from your computer (instead of going to web, which I didn't mind but it'e time for that) to be able to see shared folders, share folders with your friends and family and collaborate and be like... homegroup but with onedrive, something like that would be good. Instead of having what we do in Win8, becuase the only advantage between placeholders and selective sync, it's that you can see thumbnails, once you open a photo or file, it will be downloaded, so in the end it was same to work with them. and while placeholders was interesting idea, and you could see the file structure, it wasn't the ultimate usefulness unless it was a photo in my opinion. also it was hard to know which files were offline and online unless you were in detail view. but basically my point is, we are in a preview, there will be changes and if people can't stand that, and it breaks what they do, it;s easier to stay with Win8 or 7 and wait for RTM, where changes won't happen like this.
Already with Win8 you don't have to go on the web to share file with your friends, and don't need Selective Sync to achieve this
Where can you see the files people have shared with you if not online. I spent a while the other day trying to find them. Not even the OneDrive app was showing them. The web version is the only one where I could access them. It's strange, because the phone version of OneDrive works great with shared files and folders.
And obviously some people don't understand feedback, these are users testing something and making their voices heard so that the next OS won't be like the original Win8 was for the Win 7 users but it also won't lose all the great features that windows 8.1 users fell in love with and use on a daily basis.
It is a Preview of what is to come... It is dumb not to complain. This is when and where stuff get fixed. It would be stupid to think that everything is just going to magically be perfect when the final version comes out when every step of the preview back peddling.
I know what Preview means. The Preview was released by Microsoft to allow users to give their feedback, so Microsoft can take into account. So if we don't give our feedback, how Microsoft can know what the users like and what not? The UserVoice site was made exactly for this! What we are doing is exactly this, we say to Microsoft that we prefer the previous behaviour, so Microsoft could fix this for the RTM or in the future releases. If we don't do this Microsoft could think that the Selective Sync is the way, but now Microsoft know that a big part of the users prefer the Smart Files
My concern is they didn't say they would put it back or make it an option based on this feedback. They said they got feedback that placeholders were confusing from non-technical users so they took the ability away from power users.
Were I them, I would put more emphasis on the availability indicator. Right now it says Offline/Online in the bottom pane, which is easy to miss. Make it more out there, more in your face.
Just don't. Please.
I hate to say this, but I'm starting to see how the Windows 7 holdouts feel. Windows 10 seems to be backtracking much of what made Windows 8 better. Unless things change, I might just have to stay on 8.1 fire awhile. :(
The problem is, once this is finalized, these updates will come to Windows 8.1
Then let's hope, it doesn't come to this...
I am surprised this was such a big deal. I had a different problem. The Windows app reported that OneDrive was disabled by my organization. I almost caused a scene with IT when I read that (I'm technical preview for enterprise AND our IT team is in the processing of migrating our company over to Google Office stuff /sigh-grumble-sigh). Then I realized this must have been part of the update I let get applied the day before. When I checked my files were there and synchronization was fine. Checking a few forums and blogs made me realize the app seems to be deprecated or less important on Windows 10 (enterprise/desktop) mode than it was. It's a good thing! But I wasn't expecting it and the UI didn't reflect or comment on those changes in the various places OneDrive settings are configured. As far as this article and the issue at hand... placeholders are great but I can still see new users being confused with or without them. You'd have to have the placeholders be transparent with a cloud on to return them in conjunction with selective sync. Personally, I love that they are exploring and accepting feedback. While I knew about selective sync, I didn't know the full extent of the changes and so was a little lost for a moment. Change log for big features like this might be in order (assuming I didn't miss that, either).
The Windows Store Apps aren't deprecated or less important in Windows 10, indeed are so improtant that Microsoft puts the Windows Store apps even in the start menu and break the barrier of the "full-screen only" and they can run also in resized windows, so are more usable for some users
I'm very disapointed, Smart File are very usefull!
Placeholders are awesome. Fully integrated OneDrive. Otherwise it is just like dropbox or whatever.
They should have kept the placeholders and added selective sync. Can't believe people had a hard time knowing which files were online or offline. A simple giant green V like the one there is now, would have been sufficient to label a file as offline available.
But great kudos for the quick respons by the team!
Wow. This change means a lot to different people. I could go either way really.
They're not apologizing, so I doubt that we'll see the return of placeholders, ever. Kind of like when they disabled wireless ActiveSync and "promised" it would come back in some form later.
Did I miss read the article, they said long term they will bring back placeholders. Win10 is still in preview.
"Bring key features of placeholders". It means "there will be no placeholders ever".
I'm not sure how greying out unsynced files would be confusing? The beauty of OneDrive is that I can click on a file that isn't synced and sync it instantly! Now I have to go through a bunch of menus and other BS, at that point I should just use another service all together. How does this change give OneDrive any difference over any other service? It's a HUGE step backwards. Seriously, this is the main reason I use OneDrive; because I don't have to tread through a bunch of BS to sync files between my machines. They will have totally botched and ruined OneDrive if they don't actually listen to the users..who use OneDrive more than anyone. I have gigs of data on OneDrive, I use it every single day. People aren't complaining about this because we hate change, we're complaining because it doesn't make any sense at all. I usually defend Microsoft to the death, but this move is just stupid all around. Sure add an option to sync files like this, but just grey out files that aren't synced in the file explorer. That's not confusing at all. Listen.
I like the change, the placeholders was ok but I had to keep checking for which one was synced, I say just grey them out but still let it be seen, problem solved or put a tiny icon the one drive only files.
Why the need to check? As soon as you try to do anything with the file it will sync. If you need to function offline, set the whole thing to offline.
You can manage files without syncing them. Preview, rename, move to other folder, delete.
I don't get the anger here. This is preview software and we don't know how it will look in the end yet. Working with several software programs, I have had huge issues with the placeholder files not working which was frustrating. I can see how they would want to rework it.
It's bothersome because they are bragging about this being a feature and so far have not shown a lot of support for the idea of what the community is telling them. I like some of the features he talked about adding, but why strip out what is arguably the best feature and then brag about it as a feature because that was "confusing." So with the way they are angling this, so far it's "we hear you but too bad, this is how we are going forward." That mentality has not worked well for Microsoft in the past, and it won't well here either.
Oh hell naw.
This is stupid. The original design was brilliant and simple. People were just over thinking things too much.
Regardless this adding and removing features on OneDrive the bottom line is that the best iteration was the original one: MESH.
I still think they should go back. Smart Files were really, well, smart. Unique to OneDrive, and I absolutely adore it. It made so much sense, really clever. At least make it available in the system settings for "power users."
Isn't it a huge security hole if I can browse to another user's onedrive folder through explorer? I thought this was odd the first time I logged in to Windows 8.1 as a different admin account and could see my own onedrive files in the c:\users directory.
If only Windows had mechanisms to encrypt user data!
great news! The recent change is welcome especially with more features to come. the placeholders were a long-term mess (although i appreciate that some liked them better)
Man, I feel bad for Microsoft.... Imagine working your ass off all the time and all people ever do is complain about what you do. I'd probably kill myself lol
It's probably a managerial decision, not a decision of people who are actually working their asses off doing sprints.
I think it only seems like people complain all the time. The thing is no matter what you produce (software, hardware, etc...) there'll be always lovers and haters. The problem is, only the haters take the time to complain. People who love the product often just use it and are happy. They don't feel the need to tell everyone about it. That's probably why the comments are always so negative^^
Not a satisfactory answer. They need to strongly and up front pledge to bring back the ability to browse non-synced filters from the file explorer. I don't care if the architecture is improved if the user experience is totally downgraded! That one feature is the thing I most use to promote Windows 8.1!
Not much of a point for accessing OneDrive using File Explorer if I can't see all the files. If there is no longer a Metro OneDrive app does that mean I would have to use a browser to see all the files I have stored? Currently I use File Explorer on my primary desktop PC to manage my OneDirve because it works well. I am syncing my entire OneDrive to the HDD on my primary desktop PC and only download files as needed on my Surface Pro and Lumia 2520.
Sucks how they have to cater to the ignorant and easily confused...seriously.. they should have different defaults for normal consumers and the advanced/power users. Make things optional - and let the user decide how they want things to work.
Why does this entire thing give me deja vu? Oh yeah, it's the same tone that the Xbox Music team had when they killed off the native app!
"One step forward, two steps backward" What about managing non synced files? Will this work from "search"?
It looks like windows and windows phone users of OneDrive will continue to suffer from the crossplatformness of this service. "Placeholders are not possible on ios and android, so lets simply kill them on windows" This is completely in line with the latest WP Onedrive app being android port. ps: And one can imagine what future office updates will bring. Killing Visual Basic for "security" reasons? Why not.
I didn't realize that they did this. I don't like it at all. Seems like Windows 10 is ruining/backtracking on every improvement we got with Windows 8.
The placeholder scheme was nice but I think it came with performance hit if you happen to have ton of files. All devices need to keep track of all of them even if you don't sync most of them on a given device. I have over 15000 files on OneDrive and my portable Windows devices seem to take a while to update/refresh the listing every time I log in. I wish it updates modified files faster under the new scheme. At the same time, I hope they still give us a way to quickly view the listing of files that are not synched.
At startup a brief 'What Changed' is run, and this is handled by NTFS and journalling, so even with 500,000 files, it is maybe a couple of seconds. The user profile roaming features of Windows 8 (host settings sync) to keep the wallpaper and colors and tiles the same takes more time. To compare this, the Google Update that runs for Chrome on login, even if there is not an update, takes nearly 20-30 seconds and almost consumes a full 99% of one CPU core during that time.
Microsoft is being run by morons. Just because SOME people didn't understand place holders instead of telling those IDIOTS what they were they took out a feature MOST of us loved. Hopefully they'll bring it back but if they don't then I'm sticking to Windows 8.1 already removed the preview because of this mess.
Modern one drive app was one of the easiest way to access and manage all my files. Plus it was front and center on all pcs. Now no one knows if one drove even exist just buy looking at the start screen. Who wants to use the browser all the time? Just give me back the modern app. Stop taking a step backward
Before people go nuts it looks like the OneDrive team isn't cutting out placeholders to just simplify the experience, but that a fundemental change in the service required a redesign. Having unlimited storage, and also the way current app was made, is forcing a rethink which if needed needs to be done now in Preview as opposed to launch. Honestly most of you seem to have come here to bitch about something only available in a beta; its not out yet.
They wanted feedback, they are getting feedback. Why are you complaining about it?
I'm not; I am pointing out how a lot of people seemed to have not read the response posted here or om the User voice page.
Meh.
has anyone noticed that the actual windows app for OneDrive has disappeared from the Store as well as from my machine?
In summary of most of the comments "OMG I HAVE TO OPEN THE APP!" :P Seems like it makes more sense for most non-power users so show what is offline and what is not. Maybe they could have done it a different way, but from a user support perspective this makes perfect sense.
Actually your summary is wrong cause the app is gone as well. Clicking on it now opens the one drive folder in explorer. Basically if i want to browse my 23GB pictures folder i now have to open onedrive.com in a web browser.
And for the SUPER POWER users that sync their desktop/documents and other folders via OneDrive to replicate how roaming profiles work in an advanced enterprised environment, what do you say? If you think this is about an App, you do NOT understand the more advanced usability senarios. PERIOD.
Couldn't they just put a little icon on top of the main icon to signify that a file is local or on the cloud in a way similar to the syncing icon?
I understand the conundrum, but the OneDrive team has earned my trust. I am willing to take on faith that the full solution in Windows 10 will be an upgrade to the current experience even if it's somewhat different. Posted via the Windows Phone Central App for Android
I strongly dislike these 'improvements'
Never used this feature as I stopped using OneDrive since they don't support folder collaboration, which Dropbox has had since the beginning...it's really sad that a company like MS can't deliver on this after so many years.
On OneDrive it is called folder sharing and has been around for several years. It even intelligently handles multi-user editing of Office files at the same time and properly keeps them synced no matter what version or type of Office client software being used, something GDocs/GDrive and DropBox don't do.
Folder sharing just shares the contents of that folder, but does not allow collaboration, e.g. when I share folder 1 with user X, and user X adds content to that folder or updates an existing file on his OneDrive client, that is not synced back to my local OneDrive folder. Unless I'm missing something, but this is a big complaint as you can read here: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/forum/sdfiles-sdsharing/oned...
I hated the placeholders. I'm glad they fixed that. If I wanted to see all my files I'd just log into SkyDrive.
And now I can see all my file without log into OneDrive semply through Explorer, without going from Explorer to IE and back continually and without loose space on my HD! And i was hoping that MS could be add the supporto for multiple account so I can sync and navigate all my account with Explorer :(
So despite all the negative reaction, Microsoft are refusing to do anything about our problems. So much for listening to consumer feedback. They are simply ignoring us. Windows 10 is a mess.
I have ran all Windows updates and clocked on ' download preview' button under 'preview builds' section in settings but I'm not getting it. The dots just keep going round in circles saying its downloading, but I've waited hours. Amy suggestions?
All I know is that the Windows 8.1 option "Make all my OneDrive files online only on this PC" does not work. The space is not freed up as it is supposed to be... I hope they've at least fixed that in Windows 10.
This guy nailed it: "Wow, this is clear signal that the Windows Phone team has taken over. We get now in Windows as well the WP tradition of: "get something that works, 'update' it by taking away all functionality (hello xbox music app), and then spend time restoring it (looking at you 'longer term' explorer funtionality)". Brilliant!"
We need the place holders. Just put some type of notification on the file that says local or cloud. Grey the file, use a sync icon, something but definitely shoe me the files. Why rely on search?
You guys shouldn't use Microsoft OneDrive anyway. It's the cloud service with the most creepy policy (completely violates privacy). They scan through all your personal data that's on the cloud (even if it's not shared!), and can suspend your account if they find any picture with nudity, partial nudity, or even vulgar words. Yes that includes a Picasso painting of a partially nude woman that you happened to like and saved on your cloud. I stopped using the cloud when they introduced this policy and won't go back to it until they change it (not that I have nude pics, just that I find it creepy, incredibly culture-centric, and a violation of privacy). See this article about it: http://abovethelaw.com/2014/06/what-do-cloud-storages-eerie-nudity-policies-mean-for-client-confidentiality/?show=comments#comments
The suspend account that violating the policies, the policies are public and explicitly accepted when you subscribe the account. The problem are not the nudity, but are the nudity that violatating the law in somehow (pedo image, unautorized image, etc...). For pedo image Microsoft use an automatic software that isn't able to recognize people in photo but can compare image with a database of pedo image to find similar photo. That software is developed by Microsoft and is used by many police department in the World, by other provider (like Yahoo, Facebook and others) and is licensed for free. The databases of the pedo images are provided by association like the NCMEC. I know only one public case of a suspension of an account becouse of nudity image that are not correlated to pedo or involved some legal action, an Microsoft publicly admit that was an error.
Nudity was not allowed SEVERAL years ago... Now the only thing forbidden are illegal images. So unless you are a pervert saving pictures of children, there is nothing to worry about. PERIOD. (If you want to talk about invasive Cloud storage, head over to GDrive, Google legal grants themselve full access to all your content to read or view and even partially use. (GDrive policies make 1984 seem like a cute movie when data threft by a corporation and mind control was innocent.)
Big step backward. I'd expect something like this to come from Google, not MS.
How will this effect OneDrive app on mobiles WP, iOS, Android? Nothing is stored on phone, so it would render OneDrive useless for mobile devices.
Smart File aren't used on Windows Phone
Actually it is used on WP, it is just not seen by the user, as it is caching the OS does of OneDrive content automatically. So if you open OneNote from OneDrive (as it does on WP), the OS is caching the content. The same is true of most files you open from OneDrive, the OS caches them, making them always available based on usage patterns.
BRING. BACK. FILE. FETCH. MUCROSIFT. YOU. IDIOTS.
How many times do we have to say this?
In the current Tech Preview build, go to OneDrive settings and check "Let me use OneDrive to fetch any of my files on this PC"
why cant I find this magical setting? :( i'm on the latest build
oh nevermind. im not on the latest build, I couldn't see if as I was set to "slow". upgrading now :)
Not much of a fan of removing the placeholders. But I'm interested to ser where they go with the future changes before release. I'm sure they have a bigger plan for it, at least I hope so!
bullsh--. they still haven't provided a reason for why smart files can't be optional. if some people are confused, then smart files should just be an option under settings. if it doesn't work with Adobe Lightroom, or whatever else, then those users should just sync the entire folder they need for the application. this is just more of Windows 8+ backing down on innovations that made it unique and playing to the lowest common denominator.
did MS ever explain why they abandoned remote fetch? http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/02/20/connecting-your-apps_2c00_... Fetching files through SkyDrive.com "With SkyDrive in Windows 8, you won’t just have cloud files synced to your PC. You can also turn your entire PC into your own private cloud, and use its terabytes of local storage to easily access, browse, and stream your files from anywhere by simply fetching them from SkyDrive.com."
wait. it looks like File Fetching was re-enabled in this build. Go to OneDrive settings and check "Let me use OneDrive to fetch any of my files on this PC"
Man... You have to feel for the OneDrive team. First (and the article clearly states this near the front of it) they respond to user feedback that a feature was causing confusion so they do what they are meant to (listen to the feedback) and what happens? They get slammed for doing exactly the thing everyone was complaining about - listening to the users. At least they have continued this by saying that they have listened to the new feedback and will work towards an option that will try and meet in the middle by making it optional.
You do not respond to user feedback by blindly following what appears to be a trend. That people say they find this confusing does not mean that in general people find it confusing. You go and find out what the GENERAL tendency or feeling is by asking SPECIFIC questions through the mechanism you have set for exactly that. You then decide how to procede. Micrsoft has always had the tendency to think up something only to backpedal if they think/feel there's to much resistance even if the vast majority of people may be just fine..
Actually you raise a good point/idea re feedback - they should start asking more rather than just listening via uservoice. They already have a partial mechanism in the TP (those random prompts asking how hard something was) - perhaps if they extended that to a question of the week or something via the feedback hub then they could ask and get direct feedback from all the testers and the results would be more indicative of what the masses want?
I was really enjoying OneDrive the way it was. I got excited about the unlimited storage. Then they go and ruin the experience. I'll deal with it in the preview but I do not like it.
This is a joke.
Geez are they losing their minds. We need to see / browse ALL our files, all the time, certainly without having them on all our computers. Maybe a directory or an Index database?
I suspect this has more to do with not being able to use placeholders in iOS and Android than anything else. I'm not joining the "once-again-Microsoft-hates-it's-own-user's" bandwagon, but if you are going to make your products equal on all platforms this is the type of thing that happens.
Dumb move. Terrible response.
Damn, we are going back to,windows 95 :(
Smart files (online / offline option) is the best feature ever for cloud storage!
Microsoft must keep this feature!
I can keep windows 8.1 and not update to windows 10 just for that!
Why are people upset. Microsoft will come up with a better way. Do people forget this is ab alpha of an OS. So acting like it is production ready is silly.
Why is everyone so upset.. They said they will fix it..
Garbage.
they have to scrap this mentality of blindly following a bunch of people's demands, screwing up the rest of the people who liked it before, don't they ever think about "options"? that fundamental thing you do when making changes in software, you let people decide whether to "benefit" from it or not
Absolutely fantastic news! The stupid placeholders pretty much rendered OneDrive useless. I was almost to the point of going back to Dropbox. While I appreciate some people (a lot, apparently) like them, and wouldn't be opposed to it s an option, if it's got to be one way or the other, I'll take without.
Microsoft still doesn't understand that people want OPTIONS? If customers are divided between 2 ways of doing something, make it optional. It's that simple!
The current OneDrive team should had been part of the massive layoff at Microsoft !!!
I have to say some of the responses here are rediculous and borderline shameful. MS released this early version of Win 10 in order to get contructive feedback from users as they built the OS. So anyone that is staying calm and providing feedback, your doing great. For those losing their mind, demanding people be fired or otherwise attacking MS, drop it. Your not helping MS at all. Plus your giving MS reasons to not do such an early preview of updates. How about we calm down and work through the feedback like adults. So to this particular issue, the OneDrive team seems very willing to accomodate based on new feedback. They apparently already had plans to bring back the features that placeholders offered as they built out the new sync engine, so we will see if those features are good enough. I would strongly suggest you reserve anger until we see what tey have in mind. Until then, keep providing usefull feedback.
Dear All, The main reason behind this change is because now they are offering unlimited Onedrive storage for subscribers, who I'd assume are mostly power users. I have over 2TB of data in Onedrive, around 60GB is offline synced to my Surface 256GB. The others? I can use placeholders to see what is where easily. With this move they are essentially killing the use of unlimited storage, but still advertise it like that. Purely cost saving.
^^^^ This
Unlimited was and is silly. No such thing. I would rather have 10 gig I can see and use than "unlimited" that I cannot use or see. Microsoft suckered me into this; got me to set up my family and friends with OneDrive so they can use all their files on all their devices, and then pulled the rug out from under all of us. I assume they will "update" Windows 8.1 to the new "improved" OneDrive, so even staying with that will be useless. Someone will ahve to invent a new way, which I will pay to use. I don't trust Microsoft any more to handle my files.
Microsoft have made this rod for their own back. Disingenuously saying in their Blogging Windows post that Build 9879 introduced "cool new features" when in fact they removed the "cool new feature" of smart files was a PR disaster waiting to happen - and it duly has. At least they have now been stung into being more open about their plans for smart files/placeholders, and the ability to do proper Searches within OneDrive itself - something that I (and others) have been asking for over the past three years or more. See http://gcoupe.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/build-9879-of-windows-10-has-removed-smart-files/
Love the one line comments such as 'Garbage', 'Idiots' - really constructive and helpful. Ever wonder why you are not working for one of the worlds largest IT companies. If this alpha option had been released to the public, you may have a point. One reason for including things like this in alpha products is to gain public feeling. Lines and stupid comments like the above do no help at all - explain why you don't like the idea. Or is that too much like hard work?
I use palceholders a lot. I often browse folders looking for the file I need. This change is not going to be good for me. Why can't they just show the files with local copies with black font and those that are not local with a slightly lighter font (or some other indicator)?
Yes, the whole point of modern Windows was to make it work well on tablets and other devices. If Windows 10 requires that you have all your docs physically on the PC to use them, it defeats the purpose of OneDrive completely. It was supposed to be the one drive that you would need for all your devices; now it is just a place where you can retrieve files if you lose them and synch versions between devices. It is a completely different thing altogether. It is almost like a larger version of briefcase.
I was happy using WIN10 up untill this, I'm now back at WIN8.1 as this is surely the most rediculous change I have seen come from MSFT in a while. It's the usual 'as some people seem confused and not too smart in figuring this out let's just dumb it down and throw away what we have in the process' Simple solution; when setting up explain what it means when files are available offline and that this is the default mode. Then ask whether a user wants to select which folders to have available online.. Problem solved.. Sjees.. talk about overthinking stuff..
I loved the placeholders. Really made OneDrive useful. Without them, I don't know if I'll use it for my day to day files. It's just too much friction to manage without placeholders. It might just be the place I back up my pics, vids, and music. Placeholders would have been easier for the masses to learn if they had provided a better visual indication that the files were not present on the device. Carbonite did a great job with their backup indicator using an extension.
How about changing the way you can name files on One Drive and the ability to share with others within your business and company network. I'd like to be able to use files folders, subfolders and name these files using actual English, dashes, commas, etc. It would be great to be able to share these files consistently with OneDrive and have it actually SYNC. It doesn't work that way OneDrive... We tried But we had to go back to use DropBOX again...
Now we have the official reason users will not upgrade to Windows 10. #OneDriveFail Talk about Microsoft blowing it, this is the biggest dump they have made in years.
Why did people hate Windows 8? They didn't like FEATURES BEING TAKEN AWAY. PERIOD. Guess what Windows 10 does, TAKES AWAY EVEN MORE FEATURES. #EpicFail (Microsoft employee reading this, Google me and my comments. I usually GET what MS changes and why, this is something I DO NOT support and technically it is a massive regression.) So what happens to all the users that are using OneDrive to host their pictures/documents/desktop folders? When they upgrade to Windows 10, everything just breaks for them and they have to now dedicate space on a 32GB tablet, and do it by hand for what they want. So much for cloud storage... Does MS not realize that this SPECIFIC feature is why so many users have turned to OneDrive from DropBox and Google? Doesn't MS see that Google is actively developing their own version of GDrive for the Windows Desktop that has the same seamless integration as Windows 8.1. So when Windows 10 hits, users will go back to DropBox or move over to the horrible GDrive as it will offer what Microsoft BROKE/REMOVED. HOLY FREAKING COW!!!!!! If the placeholders are TOO hard, at least implement the features like Offline Files and cache things for users. Even freaking WP7 does this, so I imagine that MS has the code to figure out how to do this with Win10. Shakes head in disgust at MS for the first time since the WinME insanity.
To bad, I was looking forward to using Cortana on my surface, but this fiasco will keep me with Windows 8.1 until they come to their senses or google drive gives me a better alternative.
Oh, meh! Why take something that was working so nice and cripple it this way, Microsoft? I don't get the reasoning behind this. Posted from The Dark Side.
This thread has gotten long but the OneDrive team did add to the toipc, which is now #1, that there is a long term solution in the works for placeholders for things like photo folders.
Since 80% of my work is done on a 128GB Surface this is deal breaker. I want and need to se my 200GB+ files on my Surface since I use them all offline in a folder like in Windows 8.1. I don't want to use search to look for my photos since 99.9% of them have generic picxxxxx.jpg name.
'OneDrive tream responds to'... doesn't anyone prrroof read here ?
Given that the OneDrive app will run windowed in W10 desktops or laptops, how would tho be different that opening a window for file explorer? I really don't see a problem.
I hate "the cloud" and want nothing to do with it. How is this not a privacy issue, if I want all my files stored locally? Guess I'll be forced to switch to Linux eventually, as that system is less intrusive on your personal life. F* you, Micro$oft!!!
Do you really, really believe what they tell you? That they changed it to selective sync just to "solve" how people are "confused" about how a file is online or offline? You would think an amature windows user would copy those files into the onedrive folders and have them uploaded, then know to come back and set them to "available online only", and then be confused about hey is it online or offline? You think MS wouldn't know how crippled their onedrive web interface is? And that Win8.1 onedrive is too dame good and convenient that people started uploading all of their hardrives after MS promised "unlimited storage"? (I know I did.) You think MS wouldn't have noticed this and started to SABOTAGE THEIR OWN SERVICE and make it more and more and more uneasy for people to upload and manage things on ondrive? I tell you what Microsoft, I am a satisfied Mac user, and the only reason I'm still running your Windows 8.1 on my Parallels and paid for office subscription is that onedrive you have in it. And if you can't keep your promise and keep sabotaging your own service, you'll lose one user for sure and that is me.
can somebody help me?? it will copy all my pictures from my pc and documents i dont want it to do so... it fucks up all my folders i deleted the one drive of my documents and it was the real one i dont event want it to open when i open pictures.. but it autoopens and stars sync pictures and documents i dont want it to... in win 8.1 at least it would listen to you not make me lose everything...
What on earth is the point of having "unlimited storage" when you have to sync the folder to your pc and effectively download the folders taking up space on your hard drive rather than seeing them online - Microsoft say "due to feedback they have changed this " - if people cant understand the difference between a icon with a curly arrow (synced) and a red cross, then thats there problem - I have large photo storage and a 500 Gb SSD pc, now if i want to rename all the photos on camera roll, i have to download them, rename them, then re-upload them as you cant bulk rename on the web portal, before you could select the photos in the onedrive folder file, and rename them. This is a major step backwards, and if i would have known, would not of upgraded to W10 - this is progress apparently !!!!!!! You might as well buy a PC with the largest hard drive possible or a WD My book network drive and store them there, as its a lot easier rather than going through this
I agree, it does sound fishy that a huge corporation like this would kill a feature. They could afford to have seamlessly moved to windows 10 while retaining all funtionality. I will happily stick to windows 8.1 for the time being. I refuse to be forced into either carrying a portable hard drive, or upgrading my PC to something with a bigger internal drive. I pity all of the happless users who had no clue that moving to windows 10 would impact their productivity. Isn't Microsoft all about improved productivity? I guess that my tablet will somehow have to be rolled back to 8.1, what a waste of my time. I spoke with customer care who informed me that they are receiving a lot of complaints. Their solution was that I delete files from my system and sync everything, but I can't do that with my tablet. I had been thinking of getting a Surface, but I wont do that.
After installing WX I found out that all my OneDrive files were missing. I was so devastated that I could not speak for a few moments until checking online and discovering that none of the files were missing, it is just that WX does not show them. So I went to check some forums to find out how to make them visible again and found that you can not see online files any more. If you want to have files available, you have to download them to local storage.
So what? Like WHAAAAAAT? I was a major patronizer of OneDrive and promoted it among those I know for the broad integration. And all is taken away now.
Yes. Online and offline files both showing might have been confusing for some, but that is like banning motorcycles for the greater number of accidents compared to cars. Or prohibiting riding a public bus line for someone falling out of the coach. Why can't I decide if I want to see online files also???
So what can be done to get a so vastly integrated solution again?
Wasn't the current CEO of MS responsible for all cloud-based services before? How does he take this action in parallel with his legacy?
It has got to be some kind of a joke. I hope it is. Killing the best feature of W8. Nonsense.
This is even more insane than bringing back the start menu. Whilst with the start menu you could relate to voice of customer, was this move a reflection to any VOC? I hardly believe.
Also Surface tablets were advertised so that nobody will have to worry about lack of space any more, for the owners are getting 1TB of OneDrive space. But if you will have to sync everything to the tablet that promise will evaporate. Who does have a 1TB Surface tablet?
Yeah, this is a HUGE problem MS! I made the mistake of upgrading my Surface Pro when I left work last night. Today I log in and start poking around in Win10, looks cool...ok...Why is it so slow though??? I thought it was the new Edge browser (might still be slow?), but NO, I finally figured it out, its because OneDrive tried to download the entire folder of my personal Photos archive that I pay $10 a month for in OneDrive. It pulled down as much as it could of the 409GB folder until my machine has 0 bytes left! I did some research and learn that they have changed offline files, but instead of adding an indicator or greying out files that are "Offline Only" to appease morons, they decide to fill my drive up with files that I had SPECIFICALLY tagged as OFFLINE ONLY!!!??? But the worst part is that when I open the OneDrive settings to choose folders to NOT sync in order to be able to use my machine today, the option to choose "OK" is grayed out, so I can't unselect any folders! And their solution is for me to search for photo names if I need to see them later (DSC_756575.jpg)? I LOVED that I could see all my offline files and my 400+GB photo collection didn't really take up much space to be able to sort through the offline file thumbnails, it was an awesome tradeoff of access for file space, now I have NEITHER! I'm now 3 hours into my work day and trying to figure out how to revert back to Win8...Nice. Hey microsoft, since I spend $1200 a month having my company on Office365, could you maybe fix this #2 most requested issue...Please...Pretty please? MS knew this was an issue with users 8 months before public release, CRAZY!!!
The changes to OneDrive sync settings in Windows10 are so not welcome. I have detailed some of my thoughts on my blog. Follow the link to http://techforthetechie.blogspot.co.uk/
I really miss the place holders. But worse: I can no longer use the files only stored on OneDrive when I want to attach a file in a web application, like when I want to add a picture in an ad, when selling my phone. I used to be able to "upload" a photo or a file from OneDrive as if the file was located on my computers drive.
This is a major setback ! Note that the article was written in november 2014 and Microsoft promissed some solution. It is now August 2015, Windows 10 has beed issued and no solution is availiable. At present Dropbox is the best sollution, they have a separate app and allows you browse and download files that are only stored on the web.
Taking away the placeholders for synchronized OneDrive files is the reason why I can not move to Windows 10. As I can see in the many user forums, many other users have the same problem, and they stay at Windows 8.1. Microsoft did one good new addition to OneDrive in Windows 10, this is to be able to define 'shared with me' files to be synchronized to the desktop! This is really a big progress, bringing OneDrive nearer to competitors cloud solutions. But as long as MS does not bring back the placeholders for 'offline only' files, I can not decide for Windows 10. Additionally to offer a decent cloud solution, MS must also have a solution: - for 'very big' files, especially media files, when only tag information is changed, it is not necessary to synchronize the whole file! - when synchronizing 'shared with me' files, MSmust provide a transparent folder structure in desktop's file explorer; e.g. main directories for every persson, who owns the files. otherwie there is a big mess in synchronized onedrive structure, especially when the different users have same directory names. - when bringing back the placeholders for offine only files, it is necessary to have different icons for files, showing the status; maybe green for' offline available', grey for 'only online available' and rotating grey for 'sync in progress'. Maybe then also the user- idiots who caused MS to remove the placeholders will also be able to handle the placeholder idea.
Bringing this back up. Placeholders make Onedrive a great part of Windows. If there is confusion about what they are then use a different icon for the files that are not locally installed. Like many others, I am still on 8.1 with the computers that I really use. I have a 10 laptop that I use for the web but I can't save or source the files that I have on Onedrive: it is a toy computer.
Again, Tried to add myself to my wife's 10 SP2 and the One Drive app could not download a list of folders on One Drive. It did give me the option of trying to jam all of my cloud storage on the SP2....and again I didn't take it. So I'm on her machine but I have to use the online version of One Drive to access folders. I have no synced files on this machine. This is clearly a means to limit utility of the One Drive storage. No problems, Drop box continues to offer me easily accesed files with place holders. I'm still on 8.1 on my SP3 and will keep this machine until I can get a newer machine with place holders or the ability to install 8.1. I've followed the online instructions to add the One Drive to my file explorer as a network drive but this results in terrible performance. The real answer to this problem is to return the place holders to the file explorer and signify that they are available online only or offline via an icon change.
PAUSE. nothing else.PAUSE button.the one that was present in windows 8, you know, the one you press when your laptop starts downloading 340 Gb of data, and you NEED to download something else.PAUSE button.please.thank you.
My surface pro3 was a very valuable tool for me because I work on mixture of very large and small files due to the nature of my business. I downoad and upload frequently with changes to files.I enjoyed using it up until I upgraded to windows 10. The place holders were removed. This completely eliminated the flexibility I enjoyed working on files wherever I go. Now my Surface became just an ordinary notebook with very small storage. I still don't understand why MS has made this change. This is not an improvement, It's a step back. I would like to see this feature back again. I would hate to start looking into other choices, weather changing the operating system, my surface or going on with another storage provider. Mac Book Pro 13" with 1Terrabyte drive looks like a better option. Its slightly heavier but price is comparable.
MS is making OneDrive basically worthless. It was already slow to sync (even on a 100 mbps connection syncing 500 MB of data would take almost a full day and 5 GB would take sevdral days-Dropbox does it in hours), would display files that could not be deleted until sync was complete, and would occasionally display dups. None they are making it even harder to do selective syncing. I am old school and rely more on folders than keys words BUT I need to be able to do both. When I am going to be offline, I need to be able to easily select dozens (or more) files than I need stored locally. I do not want to have to search by name. While this is not terrible in ensuring that you ahve you need, when it comes time to remove the files, its a royal pain. I used to use OneDrive as my primary sync (I subscribe to Office Home and have about 500 GB of data synced), I am moving away because of all the problems with the service. Moves like this will drive me away for sure, and if I don't use OneDrive, the subscription to MS Office is no longer a bargain, and I will either buy Office or more likely move to another product.
My problem with one drive is that with a Tablet with 32Gb I can't have a local copy of a 1TB drive ibviously, SO I end up turining it odd. As a result I then have to bring up a web browser ad=nd download the file I want, make changes, then upload a new copy. What I usally do is use my latop for fileson my one drive.

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