Blue cloud or green circle: what does each OneDrive icon mean?
Read the states of a synced file and tell which ones open without internet and which ones take up space.
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On that flight at the start, the file with the blue cloud wouldn't open. Now you'll see the states a file in a synced folder can be in, so you can tell at a glance whether it opens without internet and whether it's taking up space on your disk.
The big idea: your OneDrive folder shows you all your files, even though not all of them are on your disk. Some are basically a placeholder saying the file exists in the cloud; they download the moment you open them. Microsoft calls this Files On-Demand. Google Drive has a similar idea under a different name. Pick your cloud:
| Status | Takes up space on your disk? | Opens without internet? | How it gets that way |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online-only | No | No | That's how files created online or on another device arrive |
| Locally available | Yes | Yes | You opened it and it downloaded |
| Always available | Yes | Yes | You marked it to always stay on your device |
You can change a file's or folder's status with a right-click:
- Always keep on this device downloads it and keeps it on your disk.
- Free up space makes it online-only again: it stops taking up space on your disk, but it stays in the cloud. It doesn't delete anything.
Further down you'll see what each status looks like on Windows and on a Mac.
The Drive for desktop app lets you choose between two modes for your drive. Google's help calls them Stream files and Mirror files:
| Mode | Where the files are | Takes up space on your disk? |
|---|---|---|
| Stream | Mostly in the cloud; you see them in a virtual drive on your computer | A little: whatever you open, which stays available offline |
| Mirror | A full copy in a folder on your computer, plus the cloud | Yes, all of it |
Streaming works like an online-only OneDrive file: you can see it, but it doesn't download until you open it. If you want a file or folder available offline, Google says to right-click it and choose Offline access, then Available offline. The Google Drive page in this module walks through both modes in more detail.
What they look like on your screen
In OneDrive, every file has a small icon that tells you its status. Microsoft describes them a little differently on Windows and on a Mac, so pick your system. On both, the cloud means the file isn't on your disk, and the circle with a check mark means it stays there even without internet. If a word in your menu doesn't exactly match the one here, go by the idea: Microsoft's own help sometimes words the same option differently.
In File Explorer, according to Microsoft's help:
| Icon | Status |
|---|---|
| A blue cloud | Online-only |
| A green check mark | Locally available |
| A green circle with a white check mark | Always available |
Files On-Demand requires Windows 10 version 1709 or later, and Microsoft says it's been on by default since OneDrive build 23.066. It works the same with your personal OneDrive, your work OneDrive and the SharePoint libraries you sync.
In Finder, on macOS 12.1 or later, Microsoft describes the statuses like this:
| Icon | Status |
|---|---|
| A cloud with a down arrow under the document | Online-only |
| The document with a horizontal gray line under it | Locally available |
| A circle with a check mark | Always available |
Files On-Demand requires macOS 10.14 or later and a disk formatted as APFS. Microsoft notes that the Files On-Demand setting is per device: if you use two computers, you turn it on on each one.
Here's the detail that trips people up most: Free up space isn't deleting. "Free up," next to "disk space," sounds like throwing something away. What it actually does is the opposite of Always keep on this device: it leaves the file only in the cloud, ready to download again the next time you open it with internet. Microsoft says it plainly: changing a file to online-only doesn't delete it from OneDrive, and you can still see it on the web and on your phone.
Three surprises that won't catch you off guard anymore
- What other people create arrives in the cloud. Microsoft explains that files created online or on another device show up as online-only, to save space. If Ana uploads a file to a folder you share, it reaches you with the blue cloud. The exception: if you marked that folder Always keep on this device, new files that land in it download on their own.
- What you opened doesn't stay forever. On Windows, if Storage Sense is on, locally available files go back to online-only after the time period you chose. That's why Always keep exists: it's the only status that promises the file stays put.
- Search finds the name, not what's inside. Your computer's search finds online-only files by name, but it can't search inside them, because they aren't on your disk. If you search for a word you know is in a document and it doesn't come up, that may be why.
Try it
Open your OneDrive or Google Drive folder and find a file in each status. Which ones would you be able to open on a plane? If you see an icon you don't recognize, describe it to your Maestro.