How to Identify Local-Only Files on Windows

Use File Explorer attributes and command line tools to isolate files stored exclusively on your local drive versus those synced to cloud storage.

1. 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.
2. 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. 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 { $_.Attributes -notmatch 'ReparsePoint' } to list items that are physically stored on your drive.
4. Filter by file attribute bitmasks. To identify specifically pinned files, use the command Get-ChildItem -Recurse | Where-Object { ($_.Attributes -band [System.IO.FileAttributes]::Offline) -eq 0 }. This filters out files marked as offline-only, leaving only those present locally.
5. 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.