Files On-Demand lets a user browse everything in their OneDrive and any added
libraries while only downloading what they open. Three states:
| State | Icon | On disk |
|---|---|---|
| Online-only | Cloud outline | No — downloads when opened |
| Locally available | Green tick outline | Yes, but can be reclaimed automatically |
| Always keep on this device | Solid green tick | Yes, pinned; never reclaimed |
The failure this causes
Always keep on this device applied to a large shared library forces every file
down. A team's document library is easily tens or hundreds of gigabytes; a
lightweight laptop has 128 or 256 GB. The disk fills, and OneDrive stops:
Error 0x80070070 — There is not enough space on the disk.When sync stops, pending uploads stop too. Recent local edits have not reached
the cloud. That is the part with a deadline attached, and it is the part to protect
before you touch anything.
Do this first
Before freeing any space, look at the upload queue. Nothing in it has been lost —
it is held, not discarded — but it exists in exactly one place, on a laptop that has
just run out of disk. Note the pending files by name, especially anything the user is
anxious about, and confirm them by name afterwards.
Cloud quota is not disk space
The two get conflated constantly. Check both:
- OneDrive storage — 1 TB per user by default. Usually barely touched.
- Local free space — the actual constraint.
A user at 6% of cloud quota with 1.2 GB free locally has a disk problem, not a
storage problem. Buying more cloud storage adds nothing to the SSD.
Fixing it
- Record what is pending upload.
- Set the pinned library back to Free up space (online-only). The files stay
fully browsable and download on demand.
- Sync resumes as soon as there is room; the queue drains.
- Confirm the specific files the user cares about now show as uploaded.
- Explain Files On-Demand, so the next trip does not repeat it.
Genuine offline needs
Someone working on a train does need local copies — but of the folder they are
working in, not of a 96 GB library. Pin narrowly, and unpin afterwards. If a whole
large library genuinely must be offline, the device needs the disk to match, which
is a hardware conversation and not a sync fault.
Other things that stop sync
- Path longer than 400 characters.
- Invalid characters in a file or folder name.
- A file locked open by another application.
- Items over the per-file size limit.
Each reports a distinct error. Read it rather than resetting the client — a reset
clears the error display and the pending queue with it.
Related
- OneDrive and SharePoint recycle bins
- SharePoint permission inheritance