OneDrive replaces newer versions of files with old versions

I don't have the Files On-Demand ON/OFF switch either. I don't believe your OneDrive is the latest version.

I think freeing up space on all but one device is a good approach. Even better is to have files freed up everywhere, then you will only have one version.

An outdated file sitting in OneDrive waiting to sync serves no purpose. To work on the file, updates must be downloaded from the cloud, so the entire file might as well be an On-Demand cloud file. Backup files are labeled as such and are in a different folder to avoid sync conflicts.

I don't have the Files On-Demand ON/OFF switch either. I don't believe your OneDrive is the latest version.

I think freeing up space on all but one device is a good approach. Even better is to have files freed up everywhere, then you will only have one version.

An outdated file sitting in OneDrive waiting to sync serves no purpose. To work on the file, updates must be downloaded from the cloud, so the entire file might as well be an On-Demand cloud file. Backup files are labeled as such and are in a different folder to avoid sync conflicts.

You appear to be putting forward a workaround which involves downloading the file every time from the cloud IF it's available.

However, the syncing process is not always working correctly as has been repeatedly pointed out in this thread. It should not be replacing new versions of files with old versions and restoring deleted files when a device that has not been used for a while is booted up with cloud access.

Please look at the screenshots shown above of the Files On Demand dialog box which seems to cause these problems when it does not have the same setting across all devices.

Hi Craig

I'm having the same issue here, I have read most of the thread + a few other sources and by now I know every single work around.

But this is the first time I write in these forums and I wanted to see if you had any insight / advice.

It's clear OneDrive has a massive bug, this is not a minor detail, this is at the core of what OneDrive is supposed to do. For me (and plenty of people in this thread) there is no point in using OneDrive at all, if it cannot work with multiple devices. Yet I see this issue has been happening for more than a year and I don't see any suggestion that it will ever be fixed. Any idea on why MS is giving us the cold treatment here? Are we reporting it in the wrong place? Is there any way to get an actual answer from them?

I get you don't work for them, but you do seem to have more experience with these things.

I really want to avoid the pain of migrating to a new cloud and loose all my history, but this is a dealbreaker for me.

The whole point of having OneDrive was to be able to access files as local, with or without connection and have OneDrive figure out the synchronization. Sure there are always hard problems like conflicts when I update both sides while offline, that's fair. But there is nothing complicated here; a very old file stored in a computer should not be overwriting all the changes that have been done to that same file since that computer was offline, specially not without a warning.

Microsoft is aware of the issue, and I'm unable to expedite the fix.

All I have are workarounds. Freeing up all your files using the Files On-Demand "Free up space" feature is a good workaround, in my opinion. Why have outdated files sitting on your computer when the online OneDrive has the most recent versions?

If you work on an old file version, then that becomes the latest version. Just opening an old version may pose a problem. Don't open a file until it has been fully synced and hopefully updated to the newest version from the cloud.