How to disable Files On-Demand in OneDrive MacOS? It's enforced since the last update ...

Are you MS going to pay for the time I spent searching for a solution and for finally downloading all the files you have deleted from my device in the first place? At least the Insync license should be on MS.

I have to agree with everyone here! This is terribly presumptuous of Microsoft to reach into my computer and delete thousands of files, so I can no longer have to search for them with Mac Finder. One of the most invasive overreaches I have seen a tech company make.

As others hear have said, I too am going to look for another solution.

For the time being, I have also moved my files out of OneDrive, and into Google Drive as I have already used it before.

With the current Google Drive client that was released last year you need to be aware that it only does file streaming (= files on demand) OR mirroring (fully downloading all files). There is no selective sync i.e. you cannot select just a few folders to sync. (Old Google Drive app had the selective sync option similar to OneDrive's.)

There's a thread on Google Cloud Community regarding Spotlight and not fully synced files (= when using file streaming). I'm mirroring all the files, so all are available locally, and Spotlight is indexing them just fine, including all the contents.

It mounts itself as more or less network storage which works fine (files go into the local bin when deleted, Quick View works, Spotlight works, etc.) but there's no word from Google yet on whether that system will also be impacted by macOS 12.3 changes. I guess it technically shouldn't be but I don't know.

The client is an M1 native app and though some posts also refer to it using large amounts of memory or CPU, I've not had any issues with it in the past two weeks. It seems to be less processor-intensive than OneDrive.

I completely moved over to Google Drive two weeks ago after I realised that OneDrive was broken (and seems will stay broken!) - it took ages and loads of bandwidth as I have 400 GB that used to be synced to OneDrive - but now that it's done, I'm really happy with how it's working. I've had no issues with syncing and all of my files are being safely backed up AS WELL AS existing on my local hard drive (the reason I paid extra for a 1 TB hard drive rather than 512GB, Microsoft!!) ... I need to have local access when I'm travelling and there is unreliable network connectivity.
I shopped around, considered Dropbox and other cloud storage options, but Google Drive was the cheapest I found for a known and (hopefully) reliable company so I went with their 2 TB plan, which I'll share with my family members.

Google Drive for macOS is an Apple Silicon optimised app. There is an iOS/iPadOS app as well that supports multiple Google accounts and integrates nicely into the Files app. Other than not having a dark mode, it's a pretty good app.

I've stopped using it now, completely rethought my backup procedures. I can't trust a workflow where a company can effectively access my hard drive and remove files. I still can't get my head around them doing this.

If you don't mind KingJames1970, who did you end up going with for syncing files? I'm waiting to see if MS changes their stance, and also thrashing on which sync service to consider if MS doesn't address this.

I'm leaning toward Google One or iCloud. I suspect Google One might be a better choice, since our household is a mix of Windows + Mac.

Interested to hear opinions or experiences.

I left Google Drive because I had plenty of synchronization issues / conflicts, as they for whatever reason allow having two files with the same name in the same folder. This is nonsense to me and lead to duplicated files and the conflicts that arise. Plus they have no native applications for macOS / iOS.