It causes confusion, however, since all the files are listed in the computer's OneDrive folder, appearing as if they're locally saved and could be accessed even without internet access. This is great if you have a laptop or tablet with small storage capacity, because not all of your OneDrive files have to take up local hard drive space.
To access these 'smart files,' you have to double-click the placeholder to start a download of the larger file to your computer. When Microsoft integrated OneDrive into Windows 8, the company introduced 'placeholders,' small files on your computer that point to the original files, which are stored in the cloud.
How to Make OneDrive Files or Folders Available Offline in Windows 8.1
