Microsoft Updates OneDrive on Windows 10 with Improved Battery Saving Features

Microsoft has been overhauling its OneDrive service across platforms and form factors since last year. It started with a new UI for the web version of the file storage service, and later extended to a new design for mobile. Microsoft also announced the Windows 10 OneDrive client will get a major improvement. That update for OneDrive on Windows 10 is now available. While there are no new major features involved, the look and feel of the whole client has been improved. For example, OneDrive now works more harmoniously with Windows 10's battery saver mode. Thanks to this improvement, OneDrive will automatically stop syncing when a device has battery saver mode enabled. That's obviously a fantastic addition for saving battery. Microsoft knows that not every user is micro-managing battery, so files can be synced by choice even in battery saving mode if the user requires. As soon as the device leaves battery saver mode, OneDrive will automatically start syncing files again. OneDrive users will also see an improvement in the Activity Center, which sits in the taskbar and pops up when selected. This feature has been given a new design with enhancements to “improve ease of use and understanding” of the user interface.

No Fluent Design

We are a bit surprised that Microsoft has not yet incorporated Fluent Design into the Activity Center. The confusion is doubled when we remember the announcement for the new design showed Fluent elements. We are sure Fluent Design will spread to OneDrive on Windows 10 eventually. Microsoft says the new OneDrive update is rolling out to all users now. This is happening in stages, so depending your situation you may have to wait a few days or weeks. If you want to manually pull in the update, you can do so by downloading it from Microsoft's site.