One drive online files take space on Macbook

Cracked it.

Not sure which element of the following fixed the issue, but fixed it is.

1. Created more space on Mac by choosing not to show two Onedrive folders with very high volume content.

2)Turned off files on demand

3. Wait until OneDrive has synced all files to Mac.
4. Turned on files on demand.
5. Wait until OneDrive has synced all files to Mac.
6. Selected Make all folders available.

It appears that this has sorted the issue, at least for the time being.

It is great that this worked for you!

Unfortunately, I am not as lucky.

After following these steps, files that are 'on demand', still take up space on my Macbook. Perhaps there are multiple issues at play that require different solutions?

My situation looks like this:

• my storage capacity is almost full with OneDrive Documents (the green bar in the screenshot);
• even though files on demand is enabled ("Bestanden op aanvraag" in Dutch, as can be seen in the window in the top right);
• when I ask my Mac which files are taking up so much space, it lists OneDrive files (bottom left corner);
• but according to Finder, those files are only in the cloud - see for example the top largest file according to the window on the bottom left, which Finder lists as 'on demand' (as seen by the cloud icon) in the bottom right window.

![](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/942752b1-ed28-4cf4-9fe3-9198e86534b2?platform=QnA

Cracked it.

Not sure which element of the following fixed the issue, but fixed it is.

1. Created more space on Mac by choosing not to show two Onedrive folders with very high volume content.

2)Turned off files on demand

3. Wait until OneDrive has synced all files to Mac.
4. Turned on files on demand.
5. Wait until OneDrive has synced all files to Mac.
6. Selected Make all folders available.

It appears that this has sorted the issue, at least for the time being.

Your method sort of fixed my issue and I'll explain how. Initially, OneDrive appeared to have taken storage that didn't exist (If you add up the total amount of free storage and OneDrive Storage it far exceeded my actual hard drive. See first screenshot), but after doing step one, my storage seemed to be more accurate even though the amount of free storage stayed the same (see second screenshot).

I know this has been going on for some while.

Has Microsoft even acknowledged this issue at all anywhere or advised they are working on a fix? It seems there is zero feedback or communication going on.

This is serious flaw with the application and for some people it has caused a lot of issues. 

This is a paid service and if we are unable to use the service we pay for on our devices without it effectively rendering them un useable (for some people) its not really on.

Does any one have any updates on this that maybe I'm not aware of?

Can this be esclated in any way?

I know this has been going on for some while.

Has Microsoft even acknowledged this issue at all anywhere or advised they are working on a fix? It seems there is zero feedback or communication going on.

This is serious flaw with the application and for some people it has caused a lot of issues. 

This is a paid service and if we are unable to use the service we pay for on our devices without it effectively rendering them un useable (for some people) its not really on.

Does any one have any updates on this that maybe I'm not aware of?

Can this be esclated in any way? 

I have personally been in mail-contact with Microsoft for the last couple of weeks. After the initial support-employee could not help me, the issue was send to the "product team", which was a couple of weeks ago. I have documented this here on this thread (see page 6). Yesterday I got the first instruction from the product team, which I have listed below.

I believe I first got in contact with them trough Contact Office Support. After typing the problem and logging in, I could start a chat with them after which the contact moved to e-mail. Perhaps more people can try to get in contact with Microsoft that way?

Anyway, yesterday they send me an e-mail with an instruction from the product team asking me to:

• Open a Terminal window.

• Type stat -s filename (where 'filename' has to be replaced with the full name of one of my online only files)

• Send them a screenshot of the results

They told me the result should normally be "st_blocks=0", meaning the files takes up no physical space on my harddrive. Unfortunately, the result in my case is “No such file or directory” - and I've send them a screenshot of that.

I am now waiting for a response. But I am curious to see what happens when someone else follows these instructions. My screenshot is below, where you can see: a finder window with the file, below that the terminal and on the right the mail from Microsoft.  

It’s good to hear that you are talking to them and they are looking at it technically.

Your Terminal is situated at your Home folder. You should cd (Change Directory) to the folder with the file first. Or, quicker, drag the file from Finder to your terminal window instead.

You want something more like:

$ stat -s /path/to/4\ Sessie\ 16\ juni/Ch1_Full_2020-06-16T12_06.mp4

​

Here’s what I get…

$ stat -s /Users/me/OneDrive\ -\ Me/master_file.py st_dev=16777223 st_ino=13004531695 st_mode=0100777 st_nlink=1 st_uid=501 st_gid=20 st_rdev=0 st_size=5002 st_atime=1597325836 st_mtime=1584123449 st_ctime=1596488847 st_birthtime=1584123448 st_blksize=4096 st_blocks=0 st_flags=16

​

After I run the command, the file goes from a cloud to a green check as though it triggered the download.