OneDrive, put simply, is where you can store your documents and other files on a cloud. You can then access those files from anywhere using a web-browser and it also helps clean up your data on the system because the space is occupied by the OneDrive servers and not locally. But you can also install OneDrive on your machine and download the files locally to access them on the PC.
The free edition of OneDrive gives you 5 GB of space. For $1.99 per month, you can extend it up to 100GB, for $69.99 per year as part of Microsoft 365 personal edition, you get 1000GB of OneDrive storage (along with the other Office 365 services), and with $99.99 per year as part of Microsoft 365 family edition, you get 6000GB OneDrive storage, 1000GB per user up to 6 users in total.
How to Install OneDrive?
- To use OneDrive, click: https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-365/onedrive/download, and then click “Download” to download the setup file.
- Double-click this file once it is downloaded and install
- Once the installation is finished, which doesn’t take more than two minutes, you will be shown the login screen. Login with your Microsoft account credentials. If you don’t have an account, you can first create it here: https://onedrive.live.com/signup. This Microsoft account will be associated with all the other Microsoft services and not just OneDrive, but you have the option to use it only for OneDrive, if you don’t want to use other services like Outlook/Hotmail.
- During the installation of OneDrive, you will be asked to choose the location within the OneDrive folder on your local PC. All the files you choose to keep Offline (as well as online on the cloud) will be stored in that directory that you pick.
- You can also access all the files online using a web-browser from any computer. Sign in here if you want to do that: https://onedrive.live.com/about/en-us/signin/
Tips and Tricks to Access OneDrive from Local computer
- Right click on the “OneDrive” icon inside the Windows Taskbar and click on “More” and then click “Settings”
- Inside the ‘Settings’ dialog box, you can set the preferences as you see fit. Click “Choose Folders” to select the folders that you want to see in your local OneDrive folder. The folders that you exclude will still remain on the cloud and accessible via a web browser.
- Click the ‘Checkbox’ next to the folders that you wish to keep on your computer.
- To keep the files always offline ready to be opened by the appropriate program (like Word for .docx file), right click on the file and select “Always Keep on This Device.” Same applies for the folder.
- The files/folders that have been completely downloaded and ready to be opened will have the green check next to them and surroundings will be filled with green as well.
- The files/folders that are not on the device will have the “Green” tick next to them but the surroundings will be filled with white.
- The files/folders still in the process of downloading/synching will have the “blue” sync icon next to them.
- By Default, in Windows, OneDrive will always be under sync mode, which means that the computer is syncing all the changes made to your OneDrive Directory. All the files edited, deleted, renamed, etc. are also reflected on the “cloud” as well, once they are finished syncing.
- To pause syncing, right click on the OneDrive icon from the taskbar, click “pause syncing” and select the time for which the syncing will be kept under “pause” mode. This can help in situations where you need the upload speed of your internet connection, which would otherwise be consumed by OneDrive.
- You can also completely close the OneDrive app running, which will permanently switch off the sync mode until the OneDrive is started manually or after the system is restarted.
We hope the above info will help you get started with OneDrive with ease and speed.