Mastering Microsoft 365: Get Started with OneDrive for Business

Beth Varcho | February 2, 2021

Hundreds of you have attended our training webinars, and hundreds more have watched the recordings, but there’s a significant amount of information to take in, and not everyone will want to use the same mode of learning. In addition, if you missed the live webinars, you may have questions that need answered to help you decide how to move forward. This article covers some OneDrive for Business questions we are hearing about. In addition, Microsoft has a OneDrive Quick Start guide that shows you were everything is located.

Remember that our Administrative Resource Center is a permanent home for OneDrive for Business resources, and we will make updates to these resources as Microsoft makes changes and adds features and new services.

What is OneDrive for Business?

You can use OneDrive for Business to store and share files. Like BuckeyeBox, OneDrive saves files in the cloud. However, if you have the OneDrive app on your computer, you can sync files between your computer and the cloud, so you can get to your files from anywhere. OneDrive for Business makes it easy to collaborate with multiple people on files across different web browsers and operating systems, including iOS and Android. Ohio State manages your OneDrive for Business account. It is tied to your Ohio State email account. Your account has 5TB of storage.

How do I Save to OneDrive for Business?

Microsoft’s Support site gives a great overview of how to upload and save files, both from your desktop and from your browser. Visit Microsoft’s Support site for succinct instructions describing how to save file OneDrive for Business. One difference you will note in Ohio State’s version is that you will be redirected our login page when you visit office.com. Not only does this add extra security, but it also means that you don’t have to remember a different password to log in.

How Can I Share OneDrive for Business Files?

There are two important aspects to sharing files – who you share with and level of access you grant to them. We recommend sharing with the smallest number of people necessary. Here’s how to choose who to share with:

  • In your browser, select the file or folder to share, click the “Share” button in the controls ribbon at the top of the page, and enter the emails of the people you want to share with, add a message (optional), and select Share.
  • On your desktop, hover over the file or folder to share, right click and choose “Give access to” from the menu. You can choose “specific people” from the submenu to enter the emails of your collaborators.

You can also share to “Anyone in my organization” or “Anyone with this link.” Visit Microsoft’s Support site for more information about sharing using a link. Here are a few things to remember:

  • In OneDrive and Teams “Anyone in my organization” refers to university users. Wexner Medical Center users are on a separate network and are considered “external” users when you are sharing files.
  • Our recommended best practice is sharing with the smallest number of people necessary.
  • We also recommend sharing with the lowest level of access possible. Some roles may only need to see content, but do not require access to edit it. In these cases, be sure to restrict access to “Read.”

In addition, you can decide the level of access. You may want to give some users the ability to add to a folder or edit a file and others “view only” permission. If you would like to enable a collaborator to edit files, choose “allow edit”. If you want files shared, but not edited, be sure to restrict access to “view only.

For information about using OneDrive, visit the OneDrive section of our Administrative Resource Center.