Sometimes people need to move or copy many files at once from their OneDrive to a shared folder or location. This is sometimes simply for reorganizing and sharing content more efficiently. Other times, it’s because a user learns that OneDrive is tied to individual employees so when they leave, their OneDrive will be gone as well. What files do you currently have in your OneDrive that others would need if you left the company?
Does your team use Microsoft Teams regularly? Every team in Microsoft Teams has a SharePoint site that supports it – so moving files to a site connected to a team makes those files more easily accessible via Teams as well.
If you need to perform a bulk move like this, you can individually select what you want to move or select all files in your OneDrive for Business and move or copy them to a shared location, such as your team’s SharePoint site. The steps are listed below, or a video demonstration is available at the bottom of the post.
How to move all your files from OneDrive to SharePoint
Multi-select the files you intend to move or copy, or “select all”
Select Move to (or Copy to if you wish to keep a version of your own)
Select all files | Move to actions (click to enlarge)
Find the site/team under Quick Access to which you’re moving files (you may need to click More places…)
You can create a new folder (as seen in video at bottom of post) if there’s not a great existing option for keeping them organized
Each site/team may have multiple libraries – use the library switcher next to the site name at the top to choose a different library
Document library switcher when moving or copying files (click to enlarge)
Select Move here and wait for the move to complete before closing your browser
In this video, I’ll show you how to move all OneDrive for Business files to a document library on a team-connected SharePoint site.
This lesson demonstrates how you can upload existing files and folders from your local machine or a shared network drive to your OneDrive for Business. Doing so puts your files in the cloud, giving you access to your files anywhere, anytime, on any device.
This video is part of my FREE 30+ lesson self-paced online training course called Collaboration in Microsoft 365 (OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams). Enroll today at https://www.NateTheTrainer.com for the full learning experience including lesson discussions, quizzes, exams, and a completion certificate.
You can use the Upload button to upload one or many files, or a folder (or several) which will include any sub-folder structures and their files. You can also drag-and-drop files from a local location (shared network drive, your desktop, etc.) via File Explorer into your browser with OneDrive open. This includes the ability to drag into a specific folder in OneDrive.
Learn how to manage your OneDrive files through organization, copying and moving, and more in this lesson.
This video is part of my FREE 30+ lesson self-paced online training course called Collaboration in Microsoft 365 (OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams). Enroll today at https://www.NateTheTrainer.com for the full learning experience including lesson discussions, quizzes, exams, and a completion certificate.
In OneDrive, you can use folders (whether uploaded or created from the New button) to organize files. You can have multiple levels of folders.
You can drag-and-drop files into and out of folders (use the breadcrumb menu to drag files up a level).
Select files and/or folders and use Move to and Copy to to move files inside or outside your OneDrive. If moving or copying files outside your OneDrive, you can select a SharePoint site’s document library as a destination. You can also create new folders from the Move to and Copy to panels.
Sorting, filtering, and searching
Use column headers in My files, Recent, and Shared to quickly group, sort, or filter your files.
Use view settings (upper right) to change sort or style.
You can use the filters pane in Shared to narrow down results and find what you’re seeking more quickly.
You can use search to find files quickly as well – it searches file names as well as their contents.
Your OneDrive is your place to store and manage files you use regularly. Occasionally, you may wish to share files and folders with others, however. Learn how to share with different levels of access (i.e. view vs edit) in this lesson.
This video is part of my FREE 30+ lesson self-paced online training course called Collaboration in Microsoft 365 (OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams). Enroll today at https://www.NateTheTrainer.com for the full learning experience including lesson discussions, quizzes, exams, and a completion certificate.
When you share a file, you have four link types to choose from. The image below color codes the options you get with each. Anyone with the link gets the most configurable settings. People in your company and Specific people get everything except expiration date and password. People with existing access doesn’t modify permissions at all so it has no unique settings.
You’ll only see Open in review mode only as an option if the file is a Word doc and you’re allowing editing.
You can only Block download (includes print) if disallowing (unchecking) editing.
After you click Apply, you don’t have to enter a name or message. In most cases, it’s fine to click Copy link and share that with whomever you’re granting access. And sometimes you may use that copied link on a SharePoint page, org-wide email, etc. rather than sharing with just a few people.
Specific people is the only link type that requires a signed in user to be someone you’ve specified. It is the most secure option (other than People with existing access which doesn’t change permissions at all).
Co-authoring with people you’ve shared edit rights with
Co-authoring allows anyone with edit permissions to a file to be in the file simultaneously making edits. This works for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. If you’re wanting to use the desktop apps for co-authoring, be sure you’re using the most current (Office 365) version of Office and not a year-specific version like Office 2016.
Sharing folders
You can share folders in the same way you share files, but the benefit to sharing folders is that each file inside the folder inherits the shared folder’s permissions (so it saves you time sharing each individual file). You might use this for processes where you drop files in a particular folder regularly that someone else can access (or even help contribute to).
You can add additional access to a particular file inside a shared folder by sharing the file itself (but it’ll still be shared with those granted rights at the folder level).
Managing access
Manage access by clicking Share > More options (…) > Manage access -or- by selecting the file > open the details pane (i) > Manage access.
You can click Stop sharing to remove all links and direct access other than yourself (in OneDrive) or all owners (in SharePoint).
You can remove links shared previously individually by using the ellipsis (three dots) next to a link shown in the Manage access panel.
You can also make changes to the settings of a shared link if the the link was Anyone with the link or Specific people type.
Shared with you and Shared by you
Click Shared from the left navigation to easily find files shared with you and shared by you. You can also share files again or manage access from this page.
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to find and use version history for files in OneDrive for Business. You can access version history multiple ways, and you can view, restore, or delete any particular version.
This video is part of my FREE 30+ lesson self-paced online training course called Collaboration in Microsoft 365 (OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams). Enroll today at https://www.NateTheTrainer.com for the full learning experience including lesson discussions, quizzes, exams, and a completion certificate.
You can get to a file’s version history in one of two places: either from the file’s menu (ellipsis or select and use the ribbon), or from within the document itself (click on the title in the title bar and choose Version History).
From outside the document (so using a file’s menu via the ellipsis or selection), Version history shows you last modifier, a timestamp, version number, and allows you to open each version independently in the desktop app (whether it is Word, Excel, or PowerPoint).
From inside the document (you’ve opened it), Version History shows you when there were multiple co-authors (so not just one of the last modifiers, but all involved), and you can quickly click from one version to the next to preview it without having to open and close each one.
Open, restore, or delete a version
From outside a document, you can open, restore, or delete a version using that version’s ellipsis. If you restore a version, it copies the selected version as the latest version and doesn’t not affect previous numbering. If you delete a version, it goes to the site recycle bin (where you may wish to delete it again).
From inside a document, you can switch between all versions within the active tab, restore a version, or save a version as a separate file. You can’t, however, delete a version from within the document. You must do this from OneDrive (ellipsis > Version history).
You can sync your OneDrive files to your desktop for easy access via File Explorer or for offline access. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to sync and understand sync status of files and folders in your libraries.
This video is part of my FREE 30+ lesson self-paced online training course called Collaboration in Microsoft 365 (OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams). Enroll today at https://www.NateTheTrainer.com for the full learning experience including lesson discussions, quizzes, exams, and a completion certificate.
A common misconception is that Sync is “Refresh” but it isn’t – just refresh your browser if something looks amiss. Sync is to access OneDrive via File Explorer on your machine to be able to work with files locally as opposed to through a browser.
First-time sync
The first time you set up sync, you’ll be walked through a wizard. But if you choose to sync SharePoint libraries in the future, you won’t have to do the wizard each time.
Sync statuses
Synced files aren’t available offline until you open one (making it available On this device) or you right-click a file and choose Always keep on this device (making it Always available). If a file is Online-only, you won’t be able to access it if you lose your internet connection.
How to use synced files
Simply double-click a file to open it in the desktop version of its app (i.e. Word, Excel, etc.). Since the file is cloud-based, Autosave will be active so you can close the application once you’re finished making changes and those changes will automatically be synced with the cloud (assuming you’re connected to the internet at the time).
You can delete whole files or just specific versions of files in OneDrive for Business. You can also restore those deleted files or specific versions from your OneDrive’s recycle bin.
This video is part of my FREE 30+ lesson self-paced online training course called Collaboration in Microsoft 365 (OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams). Enroll today at https://www.NateTheTrainer.com for the full learning experience including lesson discussions, quizzes, exams, and a completion certificate.
You can delete files, folders, and specific versions of files. These can all be restored from your Recycle Bin(s) to their original locations.
To delete a file, select it and hit enter on your keyboard or choose Delete from the file’s menu.
You can delete a specific version of a file by viewing a file’s version history, using the ellipsis menu for the specific version, and choosing Delete.
To restore a file, visit the Recycle bin (or Second-stage recycle bin), select the file(s) and choose Restore from the ribbon menu.
Items are available in the recycle bin(s) for 93 days from the date of deletion after which they’re permanently deleted. That 93 days is shared between both recycle bins. You can permanently delete items sooner by manually emptying the first- and second-stage recycle bins.
Learn how you can request files from others by sending them a file request link where they can drop files without seeing anyone else’s. For this to work and to see the option, you must be allowed to share externally (some admins and orgs choose to disable this ability for security reasons).
This video is part of my FREE 30+ lesson self-paced online training course called Collaboration in Microsoft 365 (OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams). Enroll today at https://www.NateTheTrainer.com for the full learning experience including lesson discussions, quizzes, exams, and a completion certificate.
Requesting files from others is not the same as sharing a folder with others to which they’ll add and edit files.
When you share a folder normally (with edit permissions), users can add files but they can also see others’ files and edit anything in the folder.
When you request files, users can add files but they can’t see any files in the folder (including their own) and they can’t modify anything after uploading (including their own). It’s basically a file drop or an FTP replacement to allow secure file submissions.
Learn how you can undo any changes made in your OneDrive for Business library by using the Restore feature. You’ll be able to restore your entire library in one action to a point in time you specify.
This video is part of my FREE 30+ lesson self-paced online training course called Collaboration in Microsoft 365 (OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams). Enroll today at https://www.NateTheTrainer.com for the full learning experience including lesson discussions, quizzes, exams, and a completion certificate.
If you’ve been working in OneDrive and something has gone wrong, you can restore your entire OneDrive (undo all changes across all your files and folders at once) by using the Restore your OneDrive feature. You can restore to a specific time such as yesterday, a week ago, or a custom date/time. Every edit, deletion, etc. that’s reversible will be reversed.
While the restore is in progress, your OneDrive will be in read-only mode (for existing content) but you can continue to access the content, create or upload new content, and access your Shared content as well.
If you’ve run into either of the following error messages, you may be attempting to share too large a folder, or share within a high-traffic list or library that has too many files or items already shared individually:
“You can’t share this folder because there are too many items in the folder.”
“You can’t share this item because too many items have already been shared in this library.”
If you want to share a folder, item, or file, there’s a limit of 50,000 uniquely shared items per list or library. So between you and your colleagues, if you’ve shared 50,000 items, files, and/or folders individually (one-off shares using the share button), you’ll need to do some sharing cleanup (remove links and access no longer needed) and consider creating additional lists/libraries or establishing improved best practices for more efficient sharing.
Additionally, the list, library, or folder for which you’re trying to initiate a new share can only have up to 100,000 items total (regardless of share count) before breaking and re-inheriting permissions is allowed. So, for example, if you want to break inheritance on a folder that has 150,000 files already, you’ll need to temporarily reduce the file count to 100,000 or fewer so you can break inheritance, then move the additional files back into it.
