OneDrive for Business Quick Start Guide

 

Features and Benefits: 

  • 1 TB storage
  • 93 day self-managed restore from Recycle Bin
  • Microsoft Office Online tools available from anywhere, at any time

Login:  https://office365.uiowa.edu and use HawkID@uiowa.edu to login.  Click on the OneDrive cloud.  NOTE:  You must use Duo to login to Office 365 now.

Microsoft Office Online:  You have access to all Microsoft Office products online or you can choose to use Office on your computer.  To start a new document, select “New|Word Document”.   To change the name of a document, type a name where it says “Document”.  Your file will automatically be saved as you work with Office Online.  To get back to your document, use the “back” browser button or click on your name or click on the “waffle”.

Create a new Folder/File:  From your main document area, click “New” and select New Folder or select the type of file you would like to create (e.g. Word, Excel) from the list.

Delete a file:  From your main document area, highlight the file and click on Delete.

Share a file or folder:  Both the Share and Copy link commands are now default to the same permissions and use the same link settings.  Share uses the automatic email messaging inside of Office 365.  Copy Link allows you to send your own email message.

  • Anyone with this link:    This is anonymous sharing.  Anyone can forward the link to another person.  This option does not require recipients to sign-in.  You do NOT have to have any Microsoft account to use this.  You can check the “Allow Editing” if you only want recipients to edit.  You can set an expire date, a password and block downloading.
    • When would I use this:
      • Easiest way to share files and folders.
      • Use for files and folders that are not considered sensitive.
  • People in University of Iowa:    This is useful if you are sharing with someone at the University of Iowa.
    • When would I use this:
      • Use for files and folders when sharing internally with other UI people.
  • Specific people:    Grant permission only to the people you list. This link will only work for users who have a Microsoft account (either at another institution using O365 or a personal Microsoft account such as outlook.com, live.com or Hotmail.com).   You cannot forward this link.
    • When would I use this:
      • Use for files and folders that are sensitive.
      • Use if you do not want anyone to forward your link.

Sharing a Document from Word and Excel is very simple and easy.  The document must be opened up from within OneDrive and you must be done editing the document.  Click on “Share” in the upper left side and the regular OneDrive sharing box will open.  Proceed to share your document the same way listed above.

Collaborating on a Document from Word, Excel, etc. will allow multiple people to work on a document at the same time.  To do this, share the document.  If another person is editing the document at the same time, it will show up in the upper right hand corner. 

Moving a File or Folder to a new location (such as a Group):  Select the file or folder and click on “Move To”.  Select the Group or SharePoint Online site and move.

Uploading a Document

You can upload a document multiple ways in OneDrive for Business.  The first is to click on the “upload” button in your web browser and browse to the document on your local hard drive. 

A second method is to drag the file up and “hover” until it says “Drop here…”.  You can also just drop the file in your local sync client and it will automatically upload in the background.

Mobile Devices:  OneDrive for Business is fully functional with mobile devices. 

Syncing Features of OneDrive for Business

You can sync your data to your local computer if you are the only one who uses that computer.  This is for Macs and Windows PCs.  Before you choose to sync your data, please check to see whether you have Files On-Demand set in your client.  This will help you to save space on your local computer and not fill up your hard drive.  To watch your documents sync, go to the Windows notification area (lower right hand side of your window) and select the blue cloud.  Please note:  You do not want to sync your data if you are on any type of shared computer.  Login to office365.uiowa.edu instead.

Recycle Bin:  To access the Recycle Bin, go to the left side of your browser screen and double click.  Documents are saved for 93 days after they have been deleted. 

OneDrive Service Center:  http://its.uiowa.edu/onedrive

Article number: 
102633
Last updated: 
August 12, 2022
Category: