Microsoft plans to retire OneDrive's fetch files feature

Microsoft is planning to retire fetch file feature that allows OneDrive users to access all the files on a PC from another computer by going to the OneDrive website. The feature also works over network locations but requires the host PC to be online when the files are requested.

However, late last month, Microsoft updated the fetch files support page to confirm the retirement. The feature will stop working on July 31, after which users will no longer be able to use the fetch files feature.

After July 31, 2020, you will no longer be able to fetch files from your PC. However, you can sync files and folders to OneDrive and then access those files from your web browser or your phone. To automatically sync the Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders on your PC, you can turn on OneDrive PC folder backup.

– Microsoft

Microsoft has not revealed the reason for the removal but one guess could be the lack of popularity. Microsoft didn’t enable the feature by default and it needed to be enabled manually. Also, the feature required both the PCs to be connected to a non-metered connection for the feature to work.