Disabling Offline Files (Windows 10)

Occasionally, a user may discover that they are not seeing all the files/folders that should be in their G:\ or U:\.  Navigating to \\earth.ffl.net\Groups or \\earth.ffl.net\Users instead may show everything they are supposed to see.  If that is the case, that would be an indication that Offline Files is currently enabled.

You can check this in Start --> Sync Center --> Manage Offline Files.

If it is in fact enabled, do the following to disable it, then reboot the computer for the changes to take effect.

You can disable offline files in Windows 10 from the Registry:

1. Open a Run dialog, using the shortcut Win + R.
2. Type regedit and press Enter to launch the Registry Editor. Click on Yes if you see a User Account Control prompt.
3. Navigate to the following location by pasting the path in the address bar of the Registry editor:
   Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CSC
4. In the right pane, look for the Start value. Double click on it to modify its value.
5. (If Start does not exist, in the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) from the right-click context menu, then name this value as Start.)
6. In the Value data box, change the value to 4.  (4 to Disable.  1 to Enable.)