How to Identify Local-Only Files on Windows

Step by step

1. 1 min

   Enable the File Status column in File Explorer

   Open File Explorer and navigate to your OneDrive folder. Right-click the header row of the file list and select More from the context menu. Check the box for Status and click OK to reveal the synchronization state of your files.

   Note: The Status column displays a green checkmark for local-only files.
2. 30 sec

   Group files by synchronization status

   Right-click any empty space in the file header. Select Group by and then choose Status. This action will visually isolate files labeled as Available on this device from those marked as Available when online.

3. 1 min

   Use PowerShell to locate non-cloud files

   Press Win + X and select Terminal (Admin). Run the command Get-ChildItem -Path 'C:\Users\YourUsername\OneDrive' -Recurse | Where-Object { $_.Attributes -notmatch 'ReparsePoint' } to list items that are physically stored on your drive.

   Note: ReparsePoint identifies items managed by cloud sync engines.
4. 1 min

   Filter by file attribute bitmasks

   To identify specifically pinned files, use the command Get-ChildItem -Recurse | Where-Object { ($_.Attributes -band [System.IO.FileAttributes]::Offline) -eq 0 }. This filters out files marked as offline-only, leaving only those present locally.

5. 30 sec

   Check individual file properties

   Right-click any file and select Properties. Look at the Attributes field in the General tab. If the file is local-only, it will not display the 'Offline' attribute typically assigned to cloud-only placeholders.

   Note: Select the file before pressing the shortcut.