One Drive for Business Help Guide

Managing your files in OneDrive for Busines

 

 

 

Credits

Microsoft Office Training Centre

Editorial

Charis Alexandra Training

 

Managing your files in OneDrive for Business

After you sync your OneDrive for Business files with your computer, you can put away your browser and manage your files like other files on your computer. Need to add a file to OneDrive for Business? Just drag it to your OneDrive for Business folder. You move, rename, and delete your files the same way you're used to, with one important difference: the changes you make to OneDrive for Business files will sync to all your other devices. So if you delete a file here, it's deleted everywhere.

Copy or move files in OneDrive for Business

 

• In File Explorer, select the files you want to copy or move.
• Right-click the files and drag them to your OneDrive - YourCompanyName folder or to another location.

• Select Copy here or Move here on the shortcut menu.

Rename a file in OneDrive for Business

1. Right-click the file you want to rename in your OneDrive - YourCompanyName folder.
2. Select Rename on the shortcut menu.
3. Type the new name for your file.

 

Delete a file in OneDrive for Business

• Select the file you want to delete in your OneDrive - YourCompanyName folder.
• Press Delete on your keyboard.

Tip   Remember, any changes you make to a file in your OneDrive for Business folder apply to all devices, not just to this computer. The changes will sync to all your other devices.

Dragging and dropping files to OneDrive for Business

You can upload files to your OneDrive for Business by just dragging them from your computer. OneDrive for Business shows you where you can drag and drop files to add files to a library.

• At the top of the page, select the Office 365 app launcher, and then select OneDrive.

• Find the documents that you want to upload on your computer and drag them to your OneDrive for Business.

Notes   

• The first time you click OneDrive, you see some setup screens and instructions while your personal site is being set up. You may have to wait awhile and then click OneDrive again before continuing to step 2.
• If you don’t see the option to drag files, update your copy of Office.
• The Edge browser doesn't support drag and drop into OneDrive for Business. Internet Explorer 11 is supported.

Here’s another way to upload files:

• Instead of dragging files, select Upload.

In OneDrive for Business you can choose Files. Use the Open dialog box to select the files you want to upload, and then click Open.

For SharePoint Online use the Add a Document dialog box. Click Browse and select the files you want to upload. Click Open and then click OK.

 

Note   You can only drag and drop, or upload files in OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Online. If you need to upload folders, consider syncing the folder with your computer. For more information on syncing, see Sync OneDrive for Business or site libraries to your computer

Tip   Your files are private unless you decide to share them. To share files easily with everyone in your organization, drag them to your Shared with everyone folder. For more information, see sharing files with others.

Seeing your files from other devices

After you upload files to OneDrive for Business, you can see them from other devices by just signing into your Office 365 site in your browser, and then clicking OneDrive. Here are the details.

• On any device, sign in to Office 365 with your work or school account. For example, ellen@contoso.onmicrosoft.com, ellen@contoso.edu, or ellen@contoso.com. If you're not sure what your work or school account is, check the welcome email that asked you to sign in the first time.

• At the top of the page, select OneDrive. Or, select the app launcher , and then select OneDrive.

• The files you upload from any device are right there for you to use.

Tip   Your files are private unless you decide to share them. To share files with everyone in your organization, upload or move them to your Shared with Everyone folder. For more about sharing, see Sharing files with others.

Set up Office Mobile on your phone or tablet

To get your Office Mobile apps to work with Office 365, choose your device.

 

Saving and opening files

You can work with the files you store in OneDrive for Business right from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office desktop apps. There's no need to go to your Office 365 site in a browser.

Save a file to OneDrive for Business from an Office desktop app

With a document open in an Office desktop app, click File > Save As > OneDrive - YourCompanyName. For example, OneDrive - Contoso.

• Browse to the location where you want to save the file, and then click Save.

Open a OneDrive for Business file from an Office desktop app

• In an Office desktop app, click File > Open > OneDrive - YourCompanyName. For example, OneDrive - Contoso.

Browse to the file you want to open, and then click Open.

Tips   If you don't see OneDrive - YourCompanyName, click Add a Place > Office 365 SharePoint. Then sign in to Office 365 with your work or school account.

Once you add OneDrive for Business as a place in one Office app, you can save files from all your Office apps.

Syncing your files with your computer

Sync OneDrive for Business to your computer, and then get to your files in File Explorer instead of in a web browser. All your changes sync to OneDrive for Business whenever you’re online.

• At the top of the page, select OneDrive. Or, select the app launcher , and then select OneDrive.

• On your OneDrive for Business page, click Sync.

• At the prompt, click Sync Now to start the sync app.
• The app automatically fills out the name and web address of your OneDrive for Business library.
• Select Sync Now in the app to start syncing.
• You can click Show my files in the app to open the synced OneDrive for Business folder in File Explorer. The folder appears in your Windows Favorites as OneDrive for Business or OneDrive - YourCompanyName.

Note   To sync files to your computer, you need the OneDrive for Business sync app, available with an Office 365 subscription that includes Office 2013 desktop applications. If you don’t have Office 2013, you can download the OneDrive for Business sync app.

Managing your files in OneDrive for Business

After you sync your OneDrive for Business files with your computer, you can put away your browser and manage your files like other files on your computer. Need to add a file to OneDrive for Business? Just drag it to your OneDrive for Business folder. You move, rename, and delete your files the same way you're used to, with one important difference: the changes you make to OneDrive for Business files will sync to all your other devices. So if you delete a file here, it's deleted everywhere.

Copy or move files in OneDrive for Business

• In File Explorer, select the files you want to copy or move.
• Right-click the files and drag them to your OneDrive - YourCompanyName folder or to another location.

• Select Copy here or Move here on the shortcut menu.

Rename a file in OneDrive for Business

• Right-click the file you want to rename in your OneDrive - YourCompanyName folder.
• Select Rename on the shortcut menu.
• Type the new name for your file.

Delete a file in OneDrive for Business

• Select the file you want to delete in your OneDrive - YourCompanyName folder.
• Press Delete on your keyboard.

Tip   Remember, any changes you make to a file in your OneDrive for Business folder apply to all devices, not just to this computer. The changes will sync to all your other devices.

Sharing files with others

• When you store your files in OneDrive for Business, you can share with others from any device by going to your Office 365 site in a browser.
• You can also share a Word document, PowerPoint presentation, or Excel spreadsheet right from within Office without even going to Office 365 in a separate window. Whichever way you choose to share Office files, you can work with others at the same time they work on a file and see the changes that other people make as they make them.

Share a file from a site

• At the top of the page, select OneDrive. Or, select the app launcher , and then select OneDrive.

• Select the file you want to share, and then select Share.

• In the Share window, type the name of each person you want to share the file with. As you type each name, suggestions appear that match your contacts. When you see the name you want, select it to add it to the invitation list.

Tip   To share files with everyone in your organization, type Everyone instead of the name of a person.

• Select the permission in the list that you want to grant people.
• You can change the permission later for any person.
• If you want, type a message to send to all the people you're inviting.
• The email message sends a link to the shared document.
• If you don't want to send an email to invitees, clear Send an email invitation.
• Click Share.

Share a file from an Office desktop app

• With the file open in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or another Office app, click File > Share > Share with People.

• in the Share dialog, click Share with people.

• Type the name of each person you want to share the file with. As you type each name, suggestions appear that match your contacts. When you see the name you want, select it to add it to the invitation list.
• Select the permission in the list that you want to grant people.
• You can change the permission later for any person.
• If you want, type a message you want to send to all the people you're inviting.
• The email message sends a link to the shared document.
• Click Share.

Work on files with others at the same time

• When you store and share your files in OneDrive for Business, you can work with others at the same and avoid reconciling multiple versions of your files. Work together from either the online or the desktop versions of Word, PowerPoint, or OneNote. For workbooks, use Excel Online. If someone opens the workbook in the Excel desktop application, the workbook can’t be edited in Excel Online until it’s closed again in desktop Excel.

Here are a few details to keep in mind as you work with others:

• In the desktop programs, co-authoring works best in the most recent version of Office (Mac and Windows), but is also supported in Office 2010.
• There's no special co-authoring mode and no command to begin working together on a document. Just open the file for editing and start working.
• As you edit, the Office app tells you when other people are working too. In Word, you'll even see which paragraph they’re working on.
• Updates are handled differently in some programs from others. For example, OneNote notebooks and Excel Online workbooks show updates immediately. In Word documents, save the document to share your updates and to see others’ updates.