OneDrive/Explorer has lost it's "Keep on Device" and "Free Up Space" commands and Status icons are blank

Hello @David Potts

Given everything you've already tried, I would not reinstall Windows or keep cycling through older OneDrive versions.

The fact that these symptoms appeared together is significant:

• OneDrive's Status icons disappeared from File Explorer.
• Always keep on this device disappeared.
• Free up space disappeared.
• OneDrive itself can still be installed and sync.

Those Explorer features are provided through OneDrive Files On-Demand and Windows' Cloud Files integration. Microsoft documents that Files On-Demand supplies the cloud/green status states and the Always keep on this device / Free up space commands.

So I would first determine whether Files On-Demand itself is functioning, rather than reinstalling OneDrive again.

Open:

OneDrive cloud icon → Settings → Sync and backup → Advanced settings

Under Files On-Demand, you should see the storage options such as Free up disk space and Download all files. Microsoft notes that Files On-Demand is enabled by default with current OneDrive builds.

If those options are missing or Files On-Demand isn't functioning, I would next check Windows' Cloud Files Filter Driver (cldflt).

From an elevated Command Prompt:

sc query cldflt

Also check its configuration:

sc qc cldflt

Microsoft documents that Files On-Demand depends on the Windows Cloud Files Filter Driver and that its start configuration should be AUTO_START.

You can also query it directly:

reg query HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CldFlt /v Start

The documented value for Files On-Demand is:

Start REG_DWORD 0x2

I wouldn't modify that registry value yet. First check what your system currently reports.

Another useful diagnostic is to inspect the actual Files On-Demand attributes independently of Explorer.

For a file or folder inside OneDrive:

attrib "C:\Users<username>\OneDrive<file-or-folder>"

Microsoft documents the Files On-Demand states using the Pinned and Unpinned attributes. You can even test whether Windows can change the state without Explorer:

attrib +p "C:\Users<username>\OneDrive<test-file>"

+p marks the item as pinned/always available.

And:

attrib +u "C:\Users<username>\OneDrive<test-file>"

marks downloaded content as unpinned/online-only and frees the local content when Files On-Demand is operating correctly.

This test is useful because if attrib +p/+u works but Explorer still shows blank Status values and no OneDrive context-menu commands, that points much more specifically toward the Explorer/OneDrive shell integration rather than the underlying sync engine.

I would also try one supported reset

If you haven't already done a OneDrive reset, that's different from uninstalling/reinstalling it.

Press Win+R and run:

%localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDrive.exe /reset

If Windows can't find it, Microsoft also documents:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft OneDrive\OneDrive.exe /reset

or:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft OneDrive\OneDrive.exe /reset

Then start OneDrive again from Start.

Microsoft states that resetting OneDrive doesn't delete your files, although it disconnects and rebuilds the synchronization relationships.

Since you've already reinstalled OneDrive multiple times, however, the cldflt and attribute tests are more interesting in your case than another reinstall.

There has also been at least one recent Microsoft Q&A report with essentially the same combination of symptoms: missing OneDrive status icons plus missing “Free up space” and “Always keep on this device” commands so I wouldn't assume that your OneDrive data itself is damaged.

Before making any more changes, could you post the output of:

sc query cldflt

sc qc cldflt

reg query HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CldFlt /v Start

and:

attrib "C:\Users<username>\OneDrive<one-test-file>"

Also let us know:

• Windows version/build:
• OneDrive version:
• Personal or Business OneDrive:
• Does OneDrive itself report "Up to date"?:
• Are Files On-Demand settings visible?:

If cldflt is healthy, Files On-Demand attributes work, and OneDrive reports Up to date, but Explorer still has neither status icons nor the OneDrive context-menu commands, I'd consider this an Explorer/OneDrive shell integration issue rather than a synchronization problem.

At that point, further uninstall/reinstall cycles are unlikely to tell us much, and a Microsoft moderator/support engineer may need to review the Windows/OneDrive build combination.

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