How to Free Up Space With OneDrive: Easy Steps for Windows

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Learn what the OneDrive "Free up space" option does

Written by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: March 29, 2026 Fact Checked

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"Free Up Space" Meaning

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Using Free Up Space

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FAQ

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Have you ever right-clicked on a file on your Windows PC and noticed an option that says "Free up space?" If so, you might have wondered what exactly "freeing up space" does. In this article, we go over the OneDrive "Free up space" option, including what it does and how to use to free up some extra disk space on your computer.

Freeing Up Space with OneDrive

When you right-click a file and select Free up space, the file will be removed from your computer but remain in OneDrive. If you're connected to the internet, you can re-download this file to your computer at any time. Using "free up space" can help save disk space if you have a lot of files or a small hard drive.

Section 1 of 3:

What does "Free Up Space" Do?

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The "Free up space" option changes locally available files to online-only files. When you use OneDrive to sync and store the files on your computer, there are three file types you'll see: online-only files, locally available files, and always available files. You'll only see the "free up space" option when you right-click on locally available files (online files that were downloaded to your computer). If you select it, the files will become online-only, freeing up space on your device.
- Online-only files have a blue cloud on their icon, while locally available files have a white circle with a green checkmark. Always available files have a green circle with a white checkmark.

Section 2 of 3:

How to Use "Free Up Space" in OneDrive

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Right-click on a file or folder. Make sure you're right-clicking on a file or folder that is a locally available file. The file or folder icon will have a white circle with a green checkmark if it's a locally available file.
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Click Free up space. The file will be removed from your local files on your computer, but it will stay on OneDrive. The icon should change to show a blue cloud instead of the white circle with a checkmark.^{[1]
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Section 3 of 3:

FAQ

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How do I turn on Files On-Demand? Files On-Demand should be enabled automatically if you're signed in to OneDrive on your device. If you're signed in to OneDrive and Files On-Demand isn't enabled, follow these steps:
- Click the OneDrive icon in your notification area.
- Click the settings icon, which looks like a gear.
- Click Settings.
- Select Sync and back up.
- Expand Advanced settings.
- Toggle on Files On-Demand.
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What's the difference between online-only, locally available, and always available files? Online-only files are not stored on your computer, but you can open them as long as you have an internet connection. Once you do, the file becomes a locally available file. You can open locally available files whether you're online or offline. If you choose to always keep a file on your device, it becomes an always available file.
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Do locally available files stay on my computer forever? If you don't have Storage Sense on, locally available files will stay on your computer unless you manually choose to "free up space." However, if you have Storage Sense enabled, locally available files will only be downloaded to your computer for a set amount of time. After this time passes, they will automatically become online-only files again.^{[2]
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- To keep Storage Sense from automatically freeing up space, you can mark a file to always stay on your computer by right-clicking it and clicking Always keep on this device.
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Will OneDrive help me free up space on my computer? Yes, OneDrive can help you free up disk space by storing your files online. These files can be accessed on the internet, or you can choose to download them to your PC. Files that are saved to OneDrive won't take up any disk space, so it's a good space-saving option if you have a lot of files or not much space on your hard drive.