Microsoft Introduces OneDrive Offline Mode

Microsoft has introduced new capabilities of OneDrive for web, including an offline mode designed to offer access and improved performance whether users are connected to the internet or not.

"Continuing with our ambition to give you simple and fast access to your files, we're now launching offline mode, which brings both significant speed improvements and offline capabilities when using OneDrive in your favorite browser," wrote Microsoft, in a blog post announcing the new feature.

Offline mode in OneDrive enables users to access and interact with various OneDrive views such as "Home," "My Files," "Shared," without an internet connection. Users can view folders, file names, and metadata; rename, sort, move, or copy files, and open locally stored files in other applications. Changes made offline will synchronize with OneDrive once an online connection is reestablished.

With offline mode, Microsoft also introduces new file states and icons in OneDrive to reflect offline availability and status changes.

Further, once reconnected, users will have the ability to customize additional options for their offline version including designating files or folders for offline access and manage local storage space by switching files to online-only status.

Microsoft said that thanks to the use of local cache, browsing files in offline mode can be up to three times as fast as using the connected app or through a web browser.

"For example, if you’re working offline and want to open a PDF, you can just left-click on the file to open it directly in your favorite PDF editor instead of a browser-based PDF previewer," wrote Microsoft. "You can then make your edits, and next time you’re connected, your changes will be synced back to OneDrive."

To start using offline mode (which is slowly being rolled out), users should ensure they are running the latest version of the OneDrive sync app on Windows or Mac. The feature is activated by logging into OneDrive for web through Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome, which triggers a one-time setup.

For more information, visit the Microsoft blog.

About the Author

Chris Paoli (@ChrisPaoli5) is the associate editor for Converge360.

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