Use Offline Files to Keep Network Folders Available

Offline Files is a Windows feature that some editions disable. The service and the optional component both have to be present.

Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName OfflineFiles -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object FeatureName,State
Get-Service CscService | Select-Object Name,Status,StartType
Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CscService\Parameters' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object * -ExcludeProperty PS*

The service must run before any folder can be cached. Enabling it needs a restart on most builds.

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName OfflineFiles -All -NoRestart
Set-Service CscService -StartupType Automatic
Start-Service CscService
Get-Service CscService | Select-Object Status,StartType

**Always available offline** starts the initial sync. The folder must be reachable at that moment, because the cache is built from the live share.

net use S: \\server\projects
Get-ChildItem S:\ | Select-Object -First 10 Name
# right-click the folder > Always available offline
Get-ChildItem S:\ -Recurse | Measure-Object -Property Length -Sum | Select-Object Count,Sum

**Sync Center** shows pending changes and conflicts. A folder with items pending will not be current after a reconnect until it syncs.

mobsync.exe
Get-ChildItem "$env:systemroot\CSC" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object Name,Mode
Get-WinEvent -LogName Application -MaxEvents 50 | Where-Object ProviderName -match 'Offline|Csc' | Select-Object TimeCreated,Id,Message -First 3

Disconnect the network and open the folder. A cached file opens; an uncached one shows a placeholder error. That difference is the proof.

Get-NetAdapter | Where-Object Status -eq 'Up' | Disable-NetAdapter -Confirm:$false
Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
Get-ChildItem S:\ | Select-Object -First 5 Name,Length
Get-NetAdapter | Where-Object Name -eq 'Wi-Fi' | Enable-NetAdapter

Two machines editing the same cached file create a conflict copy. Reading the Sync Center result and keeping one version is the only clean fix.

Get-ChildItem S:\ -Filter '*conflict*' -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object FullName,LastWriteTime
mobsync.exe /logon
Get-Service CscService | Select-Object Status