So you can find files not downloaded from OneDrive

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One of the changes that has occurred in OneDrive for Windows 10, with respect to the version for Windows 8.1, is the disappearance of the called smart files, also known as placeholders files. These corresponded to lightweight files that appeared in Windows Explorer and were there to show only the metadata (name, type, modification date, etc) of entire files stored in OneDrive that had not been downloaded to the local drive."

This allowed, for example, that if we had 500 GB of files on OneDrive and only 128 GB of files on the hard drive, we could still browse through all the OneDrive folders as if those files were already downloaded, but without using hard drive space.Whenever we wanted to open one of these files, the file was downloaded on-demand and after a few seconds or minutes we could access it (depending on our connection speed ),

In Windows 10, File Explorer shows only OneDrive folders that are synced

In Windows 10 this feature has been removed, as Microsoft reported it caused stability and performance issues in OneDrive sync, and also compatibility problems with other applications, such as Spotify or Photoshop. Now OneDrive asks us to choose which folders we want to be downloaded and synchronized, and those that are not checked, simply will not appear inside File Explorer.

This, of course, has generated complaints from some users who have upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 8.1, and who miss being able to browse and search for files that are out of sync with the PC.

The good thing is that in Windows 10 there is an alternative way to find unsynced files from OneDrive, directly from the desktop. To invoke it, we simply have to open Cortana (or Windows search), by pressing the corresponding icon on the taskbar, or the WIN keys + Q

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Then we write the name of the file that we want to find (in this case, we will look for an Excel document called personal finances), and press the My Stuff button that is immediately above the search box. Doing so should bring up a window like the following:"

In it the results are classified first by type (documents, folders, apps, photos, etc) and then by location: local drive or OneDrive If we are lucky, the file we want will appear immediately in this view, without having to resort to more options or scroll , but if not, we can use filters and access a view with all the results.

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To filter the results according to type we use the Show filter, which allows only results corresponding to the desired file type to be displayed. Once that is done, on the right side of the window we can click on a link that takes us to the complete list of results in OneDrive (>."

Of course, before clicking the link to see all the results we must verify that we are in the OneDrive file section (which is indicated on the right of the window). If we are in the local files section, we must scroll down until we reach the OneDrive section.

o is an ideal solution, but it's more convenient than having to open OneDrive in your browser every time you want to search for something

Not an ideal solution that is up to par with Windows 8.1, because clicking a result of Office or PDF this will open in the browser, instead of being downloaded to open it with a desktop app, and we are still not allowed to browse the folders from the desktop. But it's a more convenient alternative than having to open OneDrive in your browser to search from there.

In Xataka Windows | Changes Microsoft is making to OneDrive for Windows 10