Prepare upward file storage and sharing in Microsoft 365

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  • 8 minutes to read

One of the best ways to set up file storage and sharing for your business organization is to use OneDrive and a team site together. This is ideal if you have a small-scale business organisation with a few employees.

Watch: Where to shop files in Office 365

If you lot found this video helpful, bank check out the complete training series for minor businesses and those new to Microsoft 365.

Microsoft 365 document storage and management

  • OneDrive is designed for individual apply, with the occasional sharing of files.

  • A team site is designed for sharing and collaborating on files regularly. A team site is ideal for storing files that accept shared ownership where several people own the files and might collaborate on them. Create a Microsoft Team to add together a team site. Larn more at Create a team in Teams.

Both OneDrive and team sites provide anywhere access for you and your employees.

A diagram that shows how Microsoft 365 products can use OneDrive or Team sites.

Here are recommendations for what to store in each location when you use OneDrive and team sites together:

Storage location What's it for What to store here
OneDrive Storing content in OneDrive is similar storing files on your computer; no one else can easily access them.
For more info, see What is OneDrive for Business?
Business files that other squad members won't need to interact on or access regularly.
SharePoint team sites
Collaboration. When you create a Microsoft 365 group (for case, in the Microsoft 365 admin middle, in Outlook, or past creating a team in Microsoft Teams), a SharePoint team site is created for that grouping. As well, when yous create a new SharePoint squad site from the SharePoint home page or from the new SharePoint admin eye, it also creates a Microsoft 365 group. For more info, come across What is a SharePoint team site? and Create a squad site in SharePoint Online.
Files that take shared ownership. We recommend carve up squad sites for each unit of work in your organization. For example, to keep personnel and financial documents individual to a minor team, create a separate team site.

Note

SharePoint also has other types of sites you lot can use for your business. You lot can use communication sites in your intranet to publish information for a broad audience. And you can use hub sites to connect sites in your intranet.

Outset using OneDrive and your team site

Team members can store their own files in OneDrive

Each person in your business who has a Microsoft 365 license assigned (and SharePoint Online selected) gets OneDrive cloud storage. They tin store business-related files here for access from any device, and they are just bachelor to that user. For example, they might shop a draft proposal, their meeting notes, or the script for a demo they're going to deliver.

Employees can also share OneDrive files and folders. If an employee is away or leaves the company, others tin access shared files stored in OneDrive (OneDrive team binder sharing).

Here'southward how each person on your team can ready OneDrive and share files.

  1. Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center, and sign in with your user name and password.

  2. From the App launcher, select OneDrive.

  3. In OneDrive, team members tin store their own business-related files. Y'all can share either individual files, or a whole binder. Choice a file or binder, right-click, and and then choose Share.

    Sharing a folder.

  4. On the Ship Link page, go out the default option Anyone with the link tin can view and edit.

    Type names or e-mail addresses of squad members who you desire to have access to the folder, and add together an optional bulletin.

    If yous want your own copy of the e-mail that volition be sent, add your electronic mail address to the list.

    Share a link dialog box showing showing typing and selecting a name.

  5. When you lot're done inbound who you want to share with, select Ship. The email is immediately sent to the people you invite.

    Share a link, showing list of names.

  6. Here's what the email looks like.

    Email with link to share OneDrive folder.

Upload files to a team site for online collaboration

Team sites come with a place to store files, called a document library.

Here are the steps to add files:

  1. On the home page of your team site, choose Documents from the left-mitt navigation menu. This volition take you to your Documents library.

  2. While you're all the same signed in to Microsoft 365, open up Windows File Explorer from your taskbar or other location. Go to the files you want to upload to your team site.

  3. Select the files yous want to upload to your squad site, and and so drag them to the Certificate library.

  4. When you lot're done, the files will be stored in both your squad site and your computer.

  5. You tin can delete the files from your reckoner. In the adjacent step, Sync online files with your PC or Mac, y'all're going to create a new location for these files on your computer.

    If you have numerous files or big files to upload to your team site, read these tips on uploading large or many files to a library.

    If you demand more storage space, come across Change storage space for your subscription.

Sync online files with your PC or Mac

Now that you accept files on your team site, you tin can set them up to sync with your PC or Mac. This way, you can work on your files from your PC or Mac instead of working in Microsoft Border, Chrome, or another browser. It's also useful to take a version of your files synced on your computer for situations when yous need to get to a file and yous aren't continued to the Internet.

Afterwards y'all set up files to sync with your computer, when you're connected to the Internet, they'll be synchronized automatically.

Hither'southward how to synchronize files on your team site with your desktop:

  1. On the domicile folio of your team site, cull Documents from the left-hand navigation menu. This takes you to your Documents library.

    Tip

    When syncing files on your squad site, yous're syncing each file library on the site, not the entire site.

  2. Cull Sync to synchronize all the files. Or browse to the specific folder y'all want to sync.

  3. If prompted to switch apps, choose Yes. OneDrive is the process doing the synchronization.

  4. If you then get a Prepare OneDrive prompt, sign in with your piece of work or schoolhouse account.

    OneDrive setup screen.

  5. If you oasis't yet synced your OneDrive, you might see a This is your OneDrive binder screen. Check the path under Your OneDrive folder is hither. Choose Change Location if you desire to use a different path, and then select Next.

    Change your local folder at this screen.

  6. The files in your team sites volition appear in the left pane of File Explorer under the proper noun of your organization. The files in OneDrive will announced under "OneDrive - <Name of Organization>"

    See what's been sync'd in your local folder.

  7. Test the synchronization by opening a file in the squad'due south folder on your calculator. Brand a change, and then choose Relieve.

Best practices for file storage and sharing

Hither are a few tips for getting the most from OneDrive or your SharePoint team site.

File storage and collaboration recommendations for other types of pocket-size businesses

  • Sole proprietorships: Employ OneDrive to shop your own files and share them with customers on a case-past-instance basis.

  • Co-ownerships: Both owners use OneDrive and share files dorsum and along.

  • Businesses with external clients or partners who need access to files: Create a new team site to shop and share documents intended for a specific client. Set the site to allow access to only that customer. You and so don't need to worry that 1 client will accidentally get access to information intended for another client.

Keep private files individual

When you store a file in OneDrive it'south just accessible by you, unless you share it with others. When you share files, y'all can choose to create a link that can be forwarded, or to share with only specific people. You can besides create separate folders in OneDrive for unlike purposes such as public, personal, or for private projects. Each folder can be shared with a different person or group, or nobody else at all.

For more information on sharing, also see Share files and folders with Microsoft 365.

Rail how much space you take left

To run into how much storage space you have left in OneDrive, run into Manage your OneDrive for Business organization storage.

What files can be stored in OneDrive and a team site?

While you can upload almost all types of files, some file names and characters in file names aren't immune. For more info, see Invalid file characters and file types in OneDrive for Business.

Enable or disable tertiary-political party storage services

You tin can enable third-political party storage for your users in Microsoft 365 and then they can store and share documents using services like Dropbox in improver to OneDrive and team sites. This can be a nifty manner to provide services that your users may already be using or prefer to use for business projects. If yous don't want people in your organization using Office to open up files in a third-party service, follow these steps to plough it off.

Important

Third-party storage is enabled past default so you need to perform these steps right away if you don't want information technology available to your users.

  1. Sign in to to the admin center.

  2. Become to the Settings > Org settings page.

  3. On the Services tab, select Office on the web.

  4. Select or deselect the check box to plow third-party storage on or off, and so select Salve changes.

Adjacent steps

  • Customize your squad site for file storage and sharing. This step-by-step tutorial shows yous how to you can take advantage of more storage and collaboration features.

  • Set up Part apps on your tablets and phones. You lot need to do this so you can edit files that are stored in OneDrive and on team sites from your tablet or phone. If you don't install the Office apps for your tablet or phone, you'll be able to view the files only not edit them.

    • Install and set upward Office on an Android with Microsoft 365

    • Install and fix upward Office on an iPhone or iPad with Microsoft 365

    • Gear up Role on Windows Phone with Microsoft 365

Related content

Add storage space for your subscription (article)
Share files and folders with Microsoft 365 Business (video)
Customize your team site for file storage and sharing (commodity)