Each University member has OneDrive cloud storage quota of 1GB (which will increase in the near future) as part of the Office 365 subscription. You can access OneDrive at www.office.com, logging in with your University credentials. This storage can be used for any kind of files, though only Microsoft Office filetypes can be edited online. Please be aware that it should not be used for storage of sensitive data.
To upload files from your PC:
- Click on OneDrive from the choice of apps along the top of the page.
- Click Upload and choose the files/folders from your PC
- You can also drag and drop them directly onto the page.
- If you have multiple files, you can put them together in one folder
As well as storing files for your own use, you can share files and folders with specific individual people (staff and students!), which will appear when they log into their own OneDrive. By sharing files you can let others see or collaborate on documents. The sharing process is slightly different depending on whether the recipient user is within the University, or external to the University.
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To share files/folders with other UoR users:
- Right-click the file/folder, click Share
- Start typing the name or email address of the recipient
- Click the recipient from the choices that appear
- Repeat to add more users if required
- Add a message (optional) and click Send to email the link to the recipient(s).
An email will be sent to the user to notify them that you have shared the content with them. By default they will have editing capabilities for the document (if in a Microsoft Office format) – this is fine if you wish to collaborate on a document. If view-only sharing is required, click the dropdown arrow and untick ‘Allow editing’ before sending the link.
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To share files/folders with external users:
- Right-click the file/folder, click Share
- Click the drop-down menu and change to ‘Specific People’
- Enter the Microsoft account email address* of the recipient(s)
- Tick/untick ‘Allow editing’ as required
- Click Apply.
- Add a message (optional) and click Send to email the link to the recipient(s).
*The external recipient will receive an email with a link to click, which will take them to the site where they can access it. They will be required to sign in with a Microsoft account to access the content. Examples of Microsoft accounts include organisational Office365 subscription’s (like UoR’s), personal Outlook.com accounts, and non-Microsoft accounts that have been manually linked. The recipient can only access it if they log in with the email address you sent the link to – so either you must confirm beforehand what their Microsoft account email address is and send it there, or if the email address is not linked to a Microsoft account, they can create a linked account for that address.
When your recipient accesses content you have shared, you will receive an email notification to let you know.
File vs folder sharing: If you share an individual file, the recipient will only be able to access that one file from the share link. If you share a folder, you can add more files to it later and they will also be shared with the recipient. Note that the file/folder you share will stay accessible until you remove the sharing permission or delete the file/folder.
To stop sharing files/folders:
- Right-click the shared file/folder, click Share
- Click the three dots at the top of the Send Link window
- Click Manage access
- Click the dropdown arrow underneath the name of the recipient
- Choose Stop Sharing.
For more information about OneDrive sharing, visit the Microsoft Office support guide:
Share SharePoint files or folders in Office 365
