OneDrive - 3 tools in 1

When I started out on my Microsoft 365 journey there were two aspects in particular which took me a while to get my head around:

1. Office 365 Groups (now Microsoft 365 Groups)
2. OneDrive / SharePoint

In this short article I'd like to share how I now think about OneDrive as it is actually 3 different tools under one name.

ONE: Private storage in the cloud

If you have any online account from Microsoft then some online document storage is included. Whether it's a Microsoft 365 account provided by your company / school or a personal email address such as Hotmail, OneDrive storage is included for you to securely store documents in the cloud which are primarily for your use only. That said, there's very simple functionality built-in which allows you to share specific documents or folders with others if you so wish.

If it's storage linked to a work account, the situation becomes a little more tricky as every business will have its own way of working. If your business is using Teams, or even just SharePoint Team Sites, effectively, then arguably all documents you create for work should be stored there rather than OneDrive. The benefits of focussing on Teams / SharePoint rather than OneDrive are huge, including:

• continuity as personnel change
• easier (and more visible) security controls
• centralised backup and restore, and
• simpler collaboration (with all team documents in one place).

... but I suspect the SharePoint vs. OneDrive discussion could be an article in its own right.

So, with OneDrive you have cloud document storage and have full control over exactly what documents are shared with whom.

TWO: App to navigate and manage your documents

Having documents stored in the cloud is great as it means you can access them from any device using a web browser. You just need your email address, password, and (if you're sensible) the multi-factor authentication method you've setup.

Navigating around a browser to find what you need is not always the easiest though so Microsoft have provided an App to help. The beauty of this is that in the one app you can get to:

• Personal files in your personal OneDrive (e.g. Hotmail account)
• Photos backed-up from devices to your personal OneDrive
• 'Personal' files in your work or school account
• Teams / SharePoint files (BONUS!) that you have access to through your work or school account

You can download the OneDrive App from the Microsoft website.

Whilst we're here, it's worth mentioning that you can also get to all of this content through the new(ish) "Office" app, available on Android and iOS. The Office app includes loads of other cool features as well including converting photos to tables / text; converting PDF's; and signing PDF's. Get the new Microsoft Office Mobile App from the Microsoft website.

THREE: Sync client to access your online files from any device, any time

So you have everything you need in the cloud and accessible from any device ... but what if you don't have internet connectivity? Whilst we live in a world where we're almost always connected, there will be times when we want or need to work on documents offline. This is where the OneDrive sync tool comes in. By clicking on the Sync button in OneDrive, SharePoint, or Teams, you can sync a folder or entire library to your computer so you can continue working when you're offline. Simple ... but you do need to think about the following:

1. Sync from Teams / SharePoint will only be available if your administrator hasn't turned it off.
2. In the latest versions of OneDrive sync client there's settings which won't actually sync the files! If 'Files on Demand' is checked in the settings then it will sync a view of all the folders and files that are available, but won't actually sync the files to your device unless you tell it to.
3. This is great for personal files, but for work files which others may also be working on, if you work on a file offline at the same time as colleagues work on it online, you'll have problems, often significant ones, when you connect to the internet again.

Once you've synced your first files you'll see a cloud icon in your system tray (for Windows). It's a blue cloud for work/school accounts and a white one for personal.

Microsoft have provided 5 quick and simple videos on how to share and sync files from OneDrive / SharePoint. I can guarantee that spending 20 minutes watching them will save you a lot of headaches later on!

Summary

I hope that this helps others understand the different elements to the wonderfully helpful set of tools known as OneDrive. If there's anything I've missed or you think of it in other ways, please let me know so I can update the article to help others setting off on their Microsoft journey.