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

This is utterly frustrating. OneDrive is supposed to be a productivity app. The update took away all of the productivity and rendered OneDrive useless. My files were gone from one day to the other, without any warning. Now I've been trying to get them back to my Mac for more than five hours, only to find out that:

• I had to klick on hundreds of files as they wouldn't download after I had chosen the option "always keep on this device" for the folders that contained those files
• I can now open the files from finder again, only to find out that when I do so the autosave function of all the MS Office apps isn't working anymore
• I have to open a document from within the corresponding MS Office app to have autosave work, which is an annoying workaround. Or I can open it from finder to turn autosave on, which only works after it forces me to save the document online. Problem is, the document is already there and I have to replace it with the one I have open. As this wouldn't be enough, it frequently happens that saving goes wrong an the document disappears from OneDrive entirely.
• whenever I drag and drop a file to finder I have to click on "always keep on this device" as it won't be saved there automatically

I need my files saved locally so I can back them up with Time Machine. I want my data safe. In the cloud and on my Mac. OneDrive was working, but you've simply ruined it for now. I'm forced to work with OneDrive as my organisation uses it. Will there be an update to bring back functionality?

"Jack from Microsoft" - the architect for the OneDrive sync client - posted blog post "Update 2/1/2022" yesterday. He explains how OneDrive for macOS client works in connection to macOS File Provider platform.

That will not help some people issues but it explains a lot. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-onedrive-blog/inside-the-new-files-on-demand-experience-on-macos/ba-p/3058922/page/2

Yesterday's lengthy update from Microsoft's OneDrive architect Jack Nichols in the link above is really a must read.

I have been a heavy OneDrive user for years, using it for syncing lots of files, including hundreds of thousands of pictures, between multiple devices. The macOS OneDrive client is key in my cloud file storage workflow, so I was also in fury when I initially discovered the update and found that all my files seemed to be gone, forcing me to use theFiles On-demand feature that I had always kept disabled due to considerable performance issues with the previous OneDrive version.

Even with that feature disabled, the OneDrive experience on macOS has always been mixed, due to the issues that Jack is mentioning: performance issues, inconsistent icons... it was clearly not the experience that you expect from Microsoft.

After having read Jack's explanation, and being in the software development industry, I welcome the new approach that Microsoft is taking, and the time they invest in the macOS OneDrive client. Relying on a native macOS feature (the macOS File Provider platform) is clearly the way to go.

There are, however, issues remaining. In my case, even after having checked Always keep on the device on a folder and waited for hours, the files are still not immediately displayed in its sub-folders, until I open those folders and wait for the 2 seconds delay to have them appear. They also do not appear in Spotlight searches until I do so.

They should have warned us all ahead of this update. There is nothing worse than booting your Mac in the morning and discover that all your files are gone, or at least seem to be, but let's all reconsider the question with that status update and describe the remaining bugs to Microsoft.

Microsoft, who allowed you to delete all OneDrives from my computer? How can you do such a thing? Number 1 thing you expect from a cloud service is RELIABILITY. You destroyed all trust build with a single move. If this is not reinstated within the next couple of days - it's time for a new cloud service. I am angry and still can't believe how you could do this.