OneDrive File Management: A Beginner's Guide for M365 Admins

OneDrive is more than a tool; it’s an indispensable part of individuals' everyday work. Becoming familiar with its features not only helps streamline workflows, but also strengthens security and compliance throughout your organization. Because of the value workers get from using it, optimizing your OneDrive environment can unlock new levels of efficiency.

Microsoft 365 admins play a crucial role in creating environments that encourage collaboration, maintain security, and ensure seamless day-to-day operations. Among the many tools in the Microsoft 365 suite, OneDrive stands out as a versatile platform for individual file management. By leveraging its powerful features, admins can enhance user productivity and streamline file handling across the organization.  

Why Leverage OneDrive for Individual Productivity?  

Enabling the use of OneDrive has benefits for both the end user and organization.

OneDrive is built for file management, serving as a centralized hub for documents, media, and other work-related files. Its seamless integration within the Microsoft ecosystem enables users to manage, share, and collaborate on files effortlessly. 

Every user with an M365 license gets access to their own OneDrive account where they can create, upload, share and collaborate on files.  They can access files shared from their colleagues OneDrive accounts as well as their SharePoint document libraries.

Basically, it's an end user's one-stop-shop for files across M365.

From an IT perspective, end users can operate more securely with their content protected in OneDrive.  With contents in the cloud, there's less risk of data loss from hardware failure or from mishandling external drives. Additionally, you can leverage device management tools (see Microsoft Intune) and Sensitivity labels to provide additional protection to content in OneDrive.

With thoughtful governance in place and guidance from admins, OneDrive should be an essential tool for all staff members.

Notable OneDrive Features

OneDrive provides tools that make it easy for users to manage their files while ensuring security and accessibility:

Centralized Storage

Each user gets up to 1 TB of storage space, accommodating draft Office documents, PDFs, media files such as recordings from Teams meetings, and much more. This enables users to work and collaborate without having to worry about managing storage or external storage devices.

Storing Office documents in OneDrive minimizes the risk of losing unsaved work, thanks to its auto-save capability. Since files are cloud-saved, it also lessens the risk of data loss from hardware failure. And for many, OneDrive's killer feature is the ability to access files from multiple devices, enabling the flexibility to work remotely.

Looking to level up your file organization beyond personal storage? Discover how SharePoint takes team-based file management to the next level—with better collaboration, access control, and versioning.

Simplified Access and Navigation 

OneDrive’s intuitive interface ensures users spend less time searching for files and more time focusing on their tasks. Within this interface, users can conveniently access their own files, items shared with them, and documents stored in SharePoint document libraries.

While OneDrive content can be synced to a computer, the web app offers a number of features that shouldn't be overlooked. It allows users to access all SharePoint document libraries under "Quick Access," with the option to pin the most important libraries to the top for easier retrieval. Users can also create and utilize shortcuts to key SharePoint folders and files. The web app also features dedicated "Browse" pages for media, meetings, and collaborators. Users can even launch desktop applications directly from the web app, provided the sync app is installed on their computers. Making sure end users are up to speed on these web app capabilities will help them collaborate more effectively and get the most out of OneDrive.

Effortless Collaboration and Sharing

OneDrive streamlines file sharing within and outside your organization. Users can securely share files, whether it’s for internal teamwork or external collaboration. Instead of sending copies of files when collaborating with colleagues or clients, users should create share links to ensure everyone is working on the same document simultaneously and avoid duplicate copies. These external share links can be managed with added security measures such as expiration dates and passwords. OneDrive sweetens the deal even further by letting M365 admins control sharing permissions at both the tenant and site level for comprehensive oversight.

Deep Integration with the Microsoft 365 Suite

OneDrive is designed to work seamlessly with applications like SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and Outlook. For instance, files shared in Teams chats are automatically stored in OneDrive, keeping everything organized with minimal user effort. This integration extends further, allowing users to access the entire OneDrive web app directly from Teams, Outlook on the web, and the M365 home app. Plus, users can also simplify organization by adding SharePoint folder shortcuts to their OneDrive.

Beyond these core applications, other tools such as Microsoft Whiteboard and Microsoft Forms also save files directly to OneDrive, centralizing content. For users that really want all that OneDrive offers, it can be integrated with Power Automate, enabling the creation of time-saving, automated workflows.

Enhanced Security

Security is at the heart of OneDrive, making it ideal for industries handling sensitive information.

The platform allows users to fine-tune sharing permission on their files, add expiration dates, and passwords. These features not only prevent unauthorized access but also help organizations meet compliance standards.

File Syncing with Offline Access

The OneDrive sync app allows users to access and work on files directly from their desktops. And with the Files On-Demand feature, users can navigate through all of the files in their OneDrive accounts from their desktop, without having to download everything to their hard drive.

End users can keep specific files and folders synced to their device for offline access, a lifesaver for employees who travel or work remotely. Additionally, admins can set policies to prevent users from downloading all files to avoid overloading local storage, enhancing security.  

Best Practices for Admins to Improve OneDrive Usage

Promote secure sharing

• Inform and educate users on the different sharing link types and how (and when) to use them.  Also teach them to use features like expiration dates and password protection when sharing files externally. This not only strengthens the organization’s data protections but also aligns with compliance standards.

Teach users about Files On-Demand

• Advise users to only keep necessary files downloaded to save system resources and prevent device storage issues.

Ensure Users are Informed

• Educate users about the difference between OneDrive and SharePoint. OneDrive should manage individual files or documents in a one-to-one context, while SharePoint is best for team-shared resources.  

Drive Productivity with OneDrive

OneDrive is an essential asset for boosting individual productivity in Microsoft 365 environments. With its streamlined interface, secure sharing features, and intelligent integration across the Microsoft ecosystem, OneDrive empowers users to work smarter, not harder.

By encouraging your organization to adopt best practices and fully utilize its capabilities, you'll help optimize workflows, improve security, and foster collaboration. Having users take advantage of OneDrive for file management is a great way to unlock the full potential of your Microsoft 365 environment.