how to free space by downloading to photo stick

To free up OneDrive space by moving photos to a photo stick or external drive, use this order:

1. Copy the photos from OneDrive to the photo stick first.
2. Confirm the copied photos open correctly from the photo stick.
3. Make sure the photos that must stay on the PC are stored outside the OneDrive folder.
4. Delete the photos from OneDrive online.
5. Empty the OneDrive Recycle bin online, because deleted files still count against storage until the OneDrive Recycle bin is cleared.
6. Allow up to 24 hours for the storage quota to update.

Important details:

• Deleting files in OneDrive sends them to the OneDrive Recycle Bin, so storage is not freed immediately.
• Emptying the PC Recycle Bin does not empty the OneDrive Recycle bin.
• If photos are still inside the local OneDrive folder on the PC, deleting them from OneDrive can affect the synced copy. Move any photos to a folder outside OneDrive before deleting them online.
• If the problem is PC disk space rather than OneDrive cloud storage, right-click OneDrive files in File Explorer and select Free up space. That removes the local copy and keeps the file in OneDrive.
• On Windows, OneDrive Files On-Demand can also help reduce local disk usage.

If the goal is only to free space on the Windows drive and keep the photos in OneDrive, use Free up space instead of deleting them from OneDrive.

• What is Microsoft cloud storage? | Microsoft Support
• One Drive storage question - Microsoft Q&A
• How do I save space on OneDrive by putting some of the files in there onto an external hard drive? - Microsoft Q&A
• Save disk space with OneDrive Files On-Demand for Windows | Microsoft Support
• My Documents and Downloads are empty, but I don't have much storage left, why? - Microsoft Q&A