OneDrive and SharePoint
What is SharePoint Online?
SharePoint is a collaborative platform that is a core service of Microsoft 365, allowing companies to build their intranet and create pages, document libraries and lists. You can create team sites where everyone can collaborate on a project, or a communications website to share news and updates with your company or even other audiences such as your customers and partners. If you collaborate on files with multiple coworkers, you can edit files simultaneously.
You can manage and automate your workflows and business processes by integrating SharePoint into Power Automate, such as document approval flows and change notifications. If you have a document that needs to be checked-out, you can use that feature to prevent edits until it is checked in. And if you incorrectly modified a file, you can easily restore and compare file versions.
What is OneDrive?
OneDrive for Business is a cloud service that leverages SharePoint to provide you file synchronization and sharing, similar to services such as Dropbox and Google Drive. It provides you a sync client that you can install on your computer and mobile device, integrating seamlessly with the operating system. All team files that you access in SharePoint are synchronized to your computer via the OneDrive client.
OneDrive uses selective file sync, meaning that only the files that you need are downloaded, saving disk space. You can also enable OneDrive to do automatic backups of your Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders.
How much space do I have on OneDrive and SharePoint?
Each OneDrive user gets a 1TB quota for storing their data. Each organization gets 1TB that is shared among all SharePoint sites, plus 10GB per user. For example, if your company has 30 employees, each employee will have a 1TB OneDrive, and the total SharePoint space will be 1.3TB. Keep in mind that file versions still consume that quota.
What happens if we are nearing our quota in SharePoint?
If you need more storage space in SharePoint or OneDrive, please reach out to our helpdesk team. There are additional subscription levels that provide extra space in SharePoint.
How do I access SharePoint/OneDrive?
SharePoint Online can be accessed in several ways: you can either access your company’s SharePoint Online website, from the link you received via e-mail, through the OneDrive sync client that is installed on your computer, by using the apps installed on your mobile device or from any Office applications that are installed on your computer.
How do I synchronize a SharePoint library to my local computer?
From the browser, you can see which shared libraries you have access to. To synchronize files from OneDrive and SharePoint to your computer, you can open the library, then click on the Sync button. If your organization uses Teams, you can do that from the Files tab inside a teams channel. If you are using MacOS, the OneDrive folders will show up on the left-hand side of Finder.
How do I share files with OneDrive?
To share a file or folder with OneDrive:
- Right-click on the item.
- Click on Share.
- Click on Anyone with the link can edit to customize the link options. You can change the sharing permissions to share the file or folder only with people in your organization, people who already have access, or specific people. You can set an expiration date, allow or disallow editing, set a password and block file download.
- Set the options you want on your link, then select Apply when you're done.
- Type in the recipients name, then click on Send to send them an e-mail, or on Copy link to create a shareable link.
Be careful when sharing files and always be mindful of the company data classification policy. We recommend always setting a password to files you share. Keep in mind that your company may restrict or disallow file sharing with external resources.
How do I request files using OneDrive or SharePoint?
With the file request feature in OneDrive, you can choose a folder where others can upload files using a link that you send them. The users that you request files from cannot see what's in the folder - they can only upload files to it.
To request files:
- Go to the OneDrive website either by using your browser or by clicking on View online on the OneDrive client.
- Select the folder where you want the files to be uploaded.
- Click on Request files.
- Under What files are you requesting, enter a description for the files you are requesting from others.
- You can click Copy link to copy the request link and send it to anyone you would like to request files from, or you can enter the email address or addresses of the people you want to request files from. You can also type a message that will be included in the email that OneDrive sends to them.
The person that receives the link will see a page where they can upload the requested files to that folder and enter their name and file description. You’ll receive a notification email whenever someone uploads files to your file request folder.
What is OneDrive Files On-Demand?
OneDrive Files On-Demand helps you access all your files in OneDrive without having to download all of them and use storage space on your Windows or Mac device. When you turn on Files On-Demand, you’ll see all your files in File Explorer and get new information about each file. New files created online or on another device appear as online-only files, which don’t take up space on your device. When you’re connected to the Internet, you’ll be able to use the files like every other file on your device.
How do I restore deleted files, or previous file versions?
If you are attempting to restore a file deleted from OneDrive or SharePoint, you may use the versioning feature to restore previous versions of a file, or the site recycle bin to restore a deleted file. Follow the instructions on Restoring from SharePoint and OneDrive for that.
How do I enable OneDrive backups?
OneDrive can keep backups of your Documents, Pictures and Desktop folders. To do that:
- Click on the OneDrive client icon (blue cloud) next to the clock on the bottom right of your screen.
- Click on the gear icon, then click on Settings.
- Click on Sync and Backup, then click on Manage Backup.
- Select all three folders then click on Save Changes.
That will save all your files on the Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders to OneDrive. Remember, you have one terabyte of space on your private OneDrive, so that’s plenty to store and protect all your files.
Where can I learn more about SharePoint and OneDrive?
Our team is always happy to answer all your technology related questions. However, if you would like to learn more about SharePoint and OneDrive on your own, please refer to the following resources:
Power Automate help & learning
I'm getting an error when trying to open files from my OneDrive folder.
To open those files, the OneDrive sync client needs to be running and you need to be signed in to OneDrive.
To check if OneDrive is running, check if the OneDrive icon (a blue cloud) is present your taskbar. If not, launch OneDrive from the Start Menu.
To check if you are signed in, click on the OneDrive icon on the taskbar, then look for any error messages or warnings asking you to sign back in.