Problems with OneDrive on an External SSD. Why is it still filling up my internal storage?

Phil5556 wrote:

Hello I hope someone can help me get this sorted.

I'm in the process of moving from Windows desktop to a Mac mini M1, it was all going well but I've run in to a problem with OneDrive.

What I want to do is have a complete local copy of my OneDrive (approx 350GB) so have plugged in a 1TB SSD via USB C.

I've installed OneDrive and set the location to the external drive. I've read about the hidden .ODContainer folder, which started to populate with my files. I tried copying everything straight to that folder, but it didn't work so I deleted that and started again. This time I set OneDrive off downloading in its entirety, which appeared to be going well until the internal drive filled up.

I thought what should happen is the .ODContainer folder is where all my files should be stored and the internal drive won't fill up. Have I misunderstood how this works? The .ODContainer folder did also grow, so effectively I've ended up with 2 local copies of my files. And a full internal drive.

Cheers for any help

Good question for OneDrive Support—if in doubt search the developers website or contact their: Support/Help/FAQ/Known issues/compatibility/updates…

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I have a very similar issues when using an external drive. I selected always on my computer and all my files go in a hidden folder titled .ODContainer-OneDrive on my mac mini. If I navigate to onedrive in finder all files are shown as on demand and not local.

Is there a solution for this?