Dropbox is developing a new way for its users to access every file even without sufficient storage on their local PC or device, dubbed Project Infinite.

It works by making all non-synced files available as placeholders on local devices.

“While teams can store terabyte upon terabyte in the cloud, most individuals’ laptops can only store a small fraction of that. Getting secure access to all the team’s data usually means jumping over to a web browser, a clunky user experience at best,” said Genevieve Sheehan, Dropbox Product Manager.

“Project Infinite will enable users to seamlessly and securely access all their Dropbox files from the desktop, regardless of how much space they have available on their hard drives. Everything in the company’s Dropbox that you’re given access to, whether it’s stored locally or in the cloud, will show up in Dropbox on your desktop. If it’s synced locally, you’ll see the familiar green checkmark, while everything else will have a new cloud icon.”

Dropbox has announced the feature only for Windows 7 and newer, and Mac OS X.

The company has also announced a new File Properties API that will allow people to apply custom metadata to files stored in Dropbox for use with third party tools.