Last year, at the SharePoint Conference 2019, we learned that Microsoft is working on a differential sync functionality, allowing users to efficiently manage their OneDrive storage. This week, Omar Shahine, Director of Program Management for OneDrive and SharePoint, took to Twitter to announce that the differential sync feature is now live for all file types and users (via Thurrott).
https://twitter.com/OmarShahine/status/1254801063011471361?s=20
In case you are wondering, differential syncing brings the ability to sync only the parts of large files with changes, rather than uploading the entire file all over again. Considering the fact syncing larger files and libraries could increase your bandwidth usage, this change would result in faster synchronization and less data consumption for your files already stored on OneDrive. It is noteworthy that the new differential sync feature significantly reduces upload time.
As a recall, the feature was previously restricted to some users and file types within OneDrive. However, the capability is now enabled by default for all OneDrive business and personal accounts with support for all file types (including JPEG, MP4, MOV, and PDF). In fact, the Microsoft 365 Roadmap indicates that Microsoft has already completed the rollout process for business users this week.
Some UserVoice comments confirmed the availability by saying that the upload bar now moves quicker than before, which shows OneDrive is only syncing changes to their files.
