before I enable “FileProvider”, in the hope of being able to use it like dropbox, where I can activate virtual files for all my files, but can choose, which ones of the files and folders should remain fully local, so that I would not have to download them beforehand.
From what I read that might not be possible?
So I can only chose to NOT sync it locally (and then it would not be shown at all in finder) to save the space locally or to have it automatically (virtually) synced, but have no control over what I want to carry with me and what not?
Sorry, but this doesn’t really make sense without further context. I mean, of course, files have to be downloaded first to be available locally or for offline use. That’s true for Dropbox, too. They don’t send a courier over when you click on a file, especially if you’re offline, since they wouldn’t even know about it then.
Or maybe just give it a try and then ask more specific questions?
Well, I don’t use either macOS or Dropbox, but in principle, the way Virtual Files / File Provider works with Dropbox shouldn’t be any different from how it works with Nextcloud. Basically, File Provider shows you everything that’s on Nextcloud, but the files aren’t actually stored on your local hard drive. When you double-click a file, it gets downloaded and opened.
We’d probably need a little more context here, too.
But let’s put it this way: you have control over what you will carry with you by using the “Keep Downloaded” option I linked above.
As for choosing what not to keep, the File Provider probably has some kind of internal logic for managing local storage, based on the available local storage space or a quota that you may or may not be able to configure (I don’t know enough about macOS to say). So, unless you explicitly remove files and folders from local storage after using them, you might still be carrying them with you.
As for the “invisible” part, I’d say that when you remove files from local storage, they no longer take up any space on your drive, but they’re still visible in Finder.
This indeed is the part I did not find in the forums and discussions I read through.
So I tried it, and found the switches for this. So far so good.
But why do I need to have my files on the system disk? I had them on an external SSD, because the internal disk is too full. And now it seems that I can’t choose where the nextcloud files should be.
Is that correct?
So I have to choose to either have selective sync on the internal drive or not have selective sync and have the files on my external disk.
As far as I know, selective sync, i.e., excluding specific folders on the server from syncing altogether, isn’t possible with File Provider. That shouldn’t really be a problem, though, since everything is “selective” by default with Virtual Files.
Whether you can put the File Provider’s storage on an external HDD or even split it across multiple drives, I don’t know. But that would presumably have to be a macOS feature. Was that possible with Dropbox and File Provider?
Anyway, at the end of the day, if you want to have a majority of your files available locally, regular sync is probably the better solution. And one thing I’m fairly sure about is that you can’t mix and match the two approaches within the same account, at least as far as I know. It’s either File Provider or regular sync, each with its own pros and cons.
But maybe someone who actually uses macOS can provide some more details…
Because the Apple File Provider framework added support for File Provider domains to be located at external volumes only with macOS 15 Sequoia and we had to put out some much more urgent fires first. I am happy to tell that we aim to deliver that support with the next major desktop client release 36.0.0, though! We are already working on pull requests from the community on this. Several people would love to have it.
By the way: If you have not explicitly marked items to be kept available offline in Finder, then macOS itself has its heuristics to decide which local content copy is “evicted”. That is a special technical term to distinguish from actual item deletion because it remains visible, available, on the server and will be downloaded again as soon as required.
Finally: Modern Dropbox uses the File Provider framework, too. Though, the feature support and extend still differs in the detail.
I am happy to tell that we aim to deliver that support with the next major desktop client release 36.0.0, though! We are already working on pull requests from the community on this. Several people would love to have it.