OneDrive Upload and Share files
OneDrive gives you one place to store, share, and sync your work or school files.
As part of your organization’s Microsoft 365 subscription, or SharePoint Server, you can save your files in OneDrive and then work with them from almost any device.
With your work or school account, so you can:
- Upload files from your PC or Mac.
- Share files with others.
- Give others permission to edit files and work on them at the same time.
- Get to your files from anywhere, on your computer, tablet, or phone.
- Sync OneDrive to your PC or Mac, so you can access your files even when you’re offline.
OneDrive Restrictions and Limitations
As OneDrive uses SharePoint storage this means it has the same restrictions and limitations from SharePoint.
Upload and save files and folders to OneDrive
You can upload from your browser, OneDrive desktop client, saved from Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).
OneDrive support the preview of following file types:
| File type | Extension |
|---|---|
| 3-D Modeling/Printing | 3MF, COOL, GLB, GLTF, OBJ, STL |
| Apple | MOVIE, PAGES, PICT, SKETCH |
| Adobe | AI, PDF, PSB, PSD |
| Audio/Video Media Files | 3G2, 3GP, 3GPP, ASF, AVI, M2TS, M4A, M4V, MKV, MOV, MP3, MP4, MP4V, MTS, TS, WAV, WEBM, WMA, WMV |
| AutoCAD | DWG |
| AutoDesk | FBX |
| BioWare Game Engine | ERF |
| Compressed File | ZIP |
| Compressed File (Unix) | Z |
| DICOM Medical Images | DCM, DCM30, DICM, DICOM |
| Finale | PLY |
| HydroCAD | HCP |
| Image Formats | GIF, HEIC, HEIF, JPEG, JPG, JPE, MEF, MRW, NEF, NRW, ORF, PANO, PEF, PNG, RW2, SPM, TIF, TIFF, XBM, XCF |
| License Key | KEY |
| Log Files | LOG |
| Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) | CSV, DIC, DOC, DOCM, DOCX, DOTM, DOTX, POT, POTM, POTX, PPS, PPSM, PPSX, PPT, PPTM, PPTX, XD, XLS, XLSB, XLSX, SLTX |
| Microsoft Outlook | EML, MSG |
| Microsoft Visio | VSD, VSDX |
| Microsoft Windows | CUR, ICO, ICON |
| Open eBook | EPUB |
| OpenOffice | ODP, ODS, ODT |
| Photo | ARW, CR2, CRW, DNG |
| Rich Text Format | RTF |
| Text and Code | ABAP, ADA, ADP, AHK, AS, AS3, ASC, ASCX, ASM, ASP, AWK, BAS, BASH, BASH_LOGIN, BASH_LOGOUT, BASH_PROFILE, BASHRC, BAT, BIB, BSH, BUILD, BUILDER, C, C++, CAPFILE, CBK, CC, CFC, CFM, CFML, CL, CLJ, CMAKE, CMD, COFFEE, CPP, CPT, CPY, CS, CSHTML, CSON, CSPROJ, CSS, CTP, CXX, D, DDL, DI. DIF, DIFF, DISCO, DML, DTD, DTML, EL, EMAKE, ERB, ERL, F90, F95, FS, FSI, FSSCRIPT, FSX, GEMFILE, GEMSPEC, GITCONFIG, GO, GROOVY, GVY, H, H++, HAML, HANDLEBARS, HBS, HRL, HS, HTC, HTML, HXX, IDL, IIM, INC, INF, INI, INL, IPP, IRBRC, JADE, JAV, JAVA, JS, JSON, JSP, JSX, L, LESS, LHS, LISP, LOG, LST, LTX, LUA, M, MAKE, MARKDN, MARKDOWN, MD, MDOWN, MKDN, ML, MLI, MLL, MLY, MM, MUD, NFO, OPML, OSASCRIPT, OUT, P, PAS, PATCH, PHP, PHP2, PHP3, PHP4, PHP5, PL, PLIST, PM, POD, PP, PROFILE, PROPERTIES, PS, PS1, PT, PY, PYW, R, RAKE, RB, RBX, RC, RE, README, REG, REST, RESW, RESX, RHTML, RJS, RPROFILE, RPY, RSS, RST, RXML, S, SASS, SCALA, SCM, SCONSCRIPT, SCONSTRUCT, SCRIPT, SCSS, SGML, SH, SHTML, SML, SQL, STY, TCL, TEX, TEXT, TEXTILE, TLD, TLI, TMPL, TPL, TXT, VB, VI, VIM, WSDL, XAML, XHTML, XOML, XML, XSD, XSL, XSLT, YAML, YAWS, YML, ZSH |
| Web/Hypertext | HTM, HTML, Markdown, MD, URL |
Use OneDrive in Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome
- Sign in to office.com, then select the app launcher
> OneDrive. - Select Upload > Files or Upload > Folder.
- Select the files or folder you want to upload.
- Select Open or Select Folder.
Use OneDrive with other browsers
- Sign in to office.com, then select the app launcher > OneDrive.
- Select Upload, select the files you want to upload, and select Open.
- If you don’t see Upload > Folder, create a folder, and then upload the files to that folder.
Save a file from Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) to OneDrive
-
Select File > Save a Copy > OneDrive - Personal.
-
Select Enter file name and type a name.
-
If you want to save to another folder, select Browse, and select the folder you want.
-
Select Save.
The next time you open the Office app, you’ll see your saved file in the Recent list.
The locations list on the Save a copy page of a Word document.
If you don’t see OneDrive - Personal in the list:
- Select Add a Place
- Select OneDrive and sign into your Microsoft account.
Sync files with OneDrive in Windows or MAC
If you use Windows 10, OneDrive may have already asked you to sign in to sync your files.
When you install the Microsoft OneDrive sync app for Mac, a copy of your OneDrive is downloaded to your Mac and put in the OneDrive folder.
Windows users can work with your synced files directly in File Explorer and access your files even when you’re offline. Whenever the user is online, all changes that are made will be automatically synchronized.
MAC users can upload files to OneDrive automatically, just copy or move the files to your OneDrive folder using the Finder, or save them in your OneDrive folder from an app.
Delete files
-
Select the file or files you want to delete.
-
Select Delete. The files move to the Recycle bin.
Restore files
- Select the Recycle bin.
- If you want all of your files back, select Restore all items.
- Or, select only the files you want and click Restore.
Note: If you’re signed into OneDrive with a Microsoft account, items in the recycle bin are automatically deleted 30 days after they’re put there. If your recycle bin is full, the oldest items will be automatically deleted after three days. If you’re signed in with a work or school account, items in the recycle bin are automatically deleted after 93 days, unless the administrator has changed the setting. See more information about how long deleted items are kept for work or school accounts.
Important PC Folders (auto backup)
You can backup important computer files on OneDrive like your Desktop, Documents, and Pictures files.
-
Select the OneDrive cloud icon in the notification area, at the far right of the taskbar.
-
Select More > Help & Settings.
-
On the Backup tab, under Important PC Folders, select Manage backup and follow the instructions.
Share files
The files on your OneDrive are private until you share them. Keep in mind that when you share folders with Edit permissions, people you share with can add the shared folders to their own OneDrive. This lets them keep the folder alongside their own folders and items, easily move items between folders, and more easily work on it offline. Any updates they make sync with the shared folder, so everyone with access to the folder is up to date.
Share a file or folder
When you share files and folders, you can decide whether to let people edit or just view them. You can see who a SharePoint file is shared with, and stop sharing SharePoint files or folders, or change permissions, at any time.
- With a file open or a file or folder selected, select Share.
- If you are working on your desktop and the file hasn’t been saved to OneDrive or SharePoint, select a location you want to upload your file.
- Select the down arrow to choose permissions for the link you will be sharing. Options include:
- Anyone (if your organization allows it)
- People in your organization
- Share with specific people - Choose this option if you want to send an email invitation to people or groups and keep track of who you invited. This also lets you remove permission for specific individuals or groups later if you need to.
- Share by using “Copy link” - Choose this option to share items with lots of people you might not even know personally. For example, you can use these links to post to Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, or share in an email or message. Anyone who gets the link can view or edit the item, depending on the permission you set. Users with the link cannot upload new items. Keep in mind that the link can also be forwarded and sign-in is not required.
- Select Apply to save the permissions.
- Enter the name or email address of people you want to share with.
- Type a message.
- Select Send or, you can select Copy Link and send the link in an email or add it to a file.
External sharing
Global admins and SharePoint set the sharing level for SharePoint and OneDrive. The default level for both is “Anyone.”
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Anyone | Allow users to share files and folders by using links that let anyone who has the link access the files or folders without authenticating. This setting also allows users to share sites with new and existing guests who authenticate. If you select this setting, you can restrict the Anyone links so that they must expire within a specific number of days, or so that they can give only View permission. |
| New and existing guests | Require people who have received invitations to sign in with their work or school account (if their organization uses Microsoft 365) or a Microsoft account, or to provide a code to verify their identity. Users can share with guests already in your organization’s directory, and they can send invitations to people who will be added to the directory if they sign in. |
| Existing guests | Allow sharing only with guests who are already in your directory. These guests may exist in your directory because they previously accepted sharing invitations or because they were manually added, such as through Azure B2B collaboration. |
| Only people in your organization | Turn off external sharing. |
Section: OneDrive Upload and Share files
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