A method for at least one of moving or renaming a locally-stored file during synchronization between a client computing device having a local storage and a remote service having a remote storage, the method comprising: receiving, at a productivity application configured to edit the contents of the locally-stored file stored in the local storage, a request for at least one of moving or renaming the locally-stored file, wherein the request indicates a directory location and an updated filename, wherein the locally-stored file is opened for editing in the productivity application, and wherein the productivity application locks the locally-stored file while a user is editing the locally-stored file to prevent a synchronization application from applying any changes to the locally-stored file; determining that the directory location is a valid or an invalid directory location for the local storage; in response to determining that the directory location is invalid, causing the productivity application to unlock the locally-stored file to enable the synchronization application to modify the locally-stored file, communicating metadata and the contents of the locally-stored file to the remote service, wherein the metadata indicates the directory location and the updated file name, the metadata causing the remote service to store the contents in a remotely-stored file stored on the remote storage using the directory location and the updated file name, causing the productivity application to transition to a server mode enabling communication and storage of edits to the content directly to the service-stored remote file stored on the remote storage, and instructing the synchronization application to remove the locally-stored file from the local storage and update a database record indicating the directory location and the updated file name; and in response to determining that the directory location is valid, at least one of moving or renaming the locally-stored file to the directory location on the local storage using the updated file name, communicating the metadata and the contents of the locally-stored file to the remote service, wherein the metadata indicates the directory location and the updated file name, the metadata causing the remote service to store the contents in the remotely-stored file stored on the remote storage using the updated file name and the directory location, wherein the contents are concurrently stored in the remotely-stored file and the locally-stored file, and wherein the productivity application stores edits made to the content directly to the locally-stored file on the local storage, and causing the synchronization application to update the database record indicating the directory location and the updated filename. receiving, at a productivity application configured to edit the contents of the locally-stored file stored in the local storage, a request for at least one of moving or renaming the locally-stored file, wherein the request indicates a directory location and an updated filename, wherein the locally-stored file is opened for editing in the productivity application, and wherein the productivity application locks the locally-stored file while a user is editing the locally-stored file to prevent a synchronization application from applying any changes to the locally-stored file; determining that the directory location is a valid or an invalid directory location for the local storage; in response to determining that the directory location is invalid, causing the productivity application to unlock the locally-stored file to enable the synchronization application to modify the locally-stored file, communicating metadata and the contents of the locally-stored file to the remote service, wherein the metadata indicates the directory location and the updated file name, the metadata causing the remote service to store the contents in a remotely-stored file stored on the remote storage using the directory location and the updated file name, causing the productivity application to transition to a server mode enabling communication and storage of edits to the content directly to the service-stored remote file stored on the remote storage, and instructing the synchronization application to remove the locally-stored file from the local storage and update a database record indicating the directory location and the updated file name; and in response to determining that the directory location is valid, at least one of moving or renaming the locally-stored file to the directory location on the local storage using the updated file name, communicating the metadata and the contents of the locally-stored file to the remote service, wherein the metadata indicates the directory location and the updated file name, the metadata causing the remote service to store the contents in the remotely-stored file stored on the remote storage using the updated file name and the directory location, wherein the contents are concurrently stored in the remotely-stored file and the locally-stored file, and wherein the productivity application stores edits made to the content directly to the locally-stored file on the local storage, and causing the synchronization application to update the database record indicating the directory location and the updated filename.