In Windows 8.1, a very useful feature called OneDrive placeholders was available, but it was removed in Windows 10. For those unfamiliar with placeholders, they allowed you to view your OneDrive files and folders in File Explorer without downloading them to your computer. This was particularly helpful for users with metered internet connections.
While Windows 10 does offer a good Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app for OneDrive, it lacks the same functionality as placeholders. In the new app, you must either select individual folders to synchronize or synchronize all of them at once. This feature was expected to return with Redstone 1, also known as the Anniversary Update, but Microsoft postponed it for various reasons.
However, prominent hacker @tfwboredeom has just shared on Twitter that the code of it has started to show up in Redstone 2 builds:
However, prominent hacker @tfwboredeom has just shared on Twitter that the code of it has started to show up in Redstone 2 builds:
(OneDrive) placeholders are inching their way into RS2, even more code present than what exists in RS1.— Core (@tfwboredom) August 9, 2016
Back in December 2015, the head of Sharepoint and Onedrive said in an Interview that placeholders never integrated with the Windows file system, meaning some apps, APIs and command line tools didn’t work as they should.” (You can read full article on Winbeta here.) But as this was widely criticised, Microsoft decided to bring placeholders back.
