OneDrive and Office Online

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Introduction

OneDrive isn't just for storing documents. You can also upload other files, like photos, videos, music, and more. In total, OneDrive gives you 7GB of free space to store files of all types.

In this lesson, you will learn how to upload and sync files from your computer to OneDrive. You'll also learn how to move files from one folder to another. Finally, you'll learn about additional file options, including special options for managing photos.

Uploading and syncing files with OneDrive

The OneDrive desktop application makes it easy to upload and sync files across all of your devices—check out our lesson on Getting Started with OneDrive to learn how to install the app (if you haven't already). The OneDrive desktop application works like any other folder on your computer. Whenever you move a file to the OneDrive folder, that file is moved online to the cloud, allowing you to access the same version of that file from any computer connected to the Internet.

To upload files:

1. Locate the file on your computer you wish to upload to your OneDrive.
2. Click, hold, and drag the file to the OneDrive folder.
   
   Moving a file to the OneDrive folder
3. The file will appear on your OneDrive. Now you can access the file from anywhere by signing in to your OneDrive account.
   
   The uploaded file

To upload folders:

Uploading individual files can start to become very time consuming. Fortunately, you can also move entire folders to OneDrive. Whenever you upload a folder, the folder and every file stored within it will be uploaded to your OneDrive.

1. Locate the folder you wish to upload to your OneDrive.
2. Click, hold, and drag the folder to the OneDrive folder.
   
   Moving a folder to the OneDrive folder
3. The folder and its files will appear on your OneDrive.

Page 2

Uploading files on the Web

If you don't have access to the OneDrive desktop application, you can upload files using the web uploader. The process takes a little more time than uploading files with the OneDrive application, but it's still an easy way to upload files from anywhere.

To upload files to OneDrive on the Web:

1. Navigate to OneDrive. Locate and select the Upload button.
   
   Uploading files
2. Locate and select the desired file. You can select multiple files by holding down the Ctrl key.
3. Click Open.
   Selecting files to upload
4. Your files will be uploaded to OneDrive. (This may take a few moments.)

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Managing files

After you've been using OneDrive for a while, you might find yourself having a difficult time keeping track of all your files. Fortunately, OneDrive offers several features to help you manage and organize your files.

Sorting your files

When you navigate to the OneDrive main page, you'll see all of your files and folders. You can choose which files to view by selecting various options in the left navigation pane.

You can also change how your files are displayed by clicking the Thumbnails view and Details view icons.

• Thumbnails view lets you view your files in a grid of icons. This is the default view for your files and folders.
  Thumbnail view
• Details view lists your files with their names and other information, which may feel more familiar if you're used to working with files on a desktop computer.
  Details view

Searching for files

You can find documents by using the Search feature. Searching lets you look for a specific document using words contained within the document and its title.

• To search for a file, click the search bar. Type the word or words you wish to search for, then press Enter. Your search results will appear.
  
  Searching for a document

Working with folders

You can use folders to organize your files. Documents can be stored in folders and moved from one folder to another. Moving documents can be useful, as you can share a document simply by moving it to a shared folder. For example, if you're working on a project with a group of people, you could share a folder with them. Then, you could move any files you wanted to share with the group to that folder.

To learn about creating and sharing folders, review Lesson 3: Create and Share Office Documents.

To move a file to a folder:

1. Hover the mouse above a file, then click the check box in the upper-right corner. You can select multiple files by clicking additional check boxes.
   Selecting files to move
   
2. Locate and click the Manage button, then select Move to from the drop-down menu.
   Moving a file
3. A dialog box will appear. Select the folder where you wish to move the file, then click Move.
   Selecting a folder
4. Your file will be moved. If you moved your file to a shared folder, your file will be shared as well.

If you have installed the OneDrive desktop application, you can also manage your files using the OneDrive folder on your computer. If you have more experience organizing files on your computer, you may prefer this method over organizing your files online.

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More file options

To access additional file management options, right-click the file.

These options include:

• Version history: Access and restore earlier saved versions of the file.
• Download: Save a copy of the file to your computer. Downloaded documents will not be updated when you make changes to them on OneDrive.
• Rename: Change the file's name.
• Delete: Move the file to the Recycle bin. You will need to empty the Recycle bin to permanently delete a file.

To empty the Recycle bin:

1. Locate and select the Recycle bin in the left-navigation menu.
   
   Opening the Recycle bin
2. The Recycle bin will appear. Click the top-most check box to select all files in the Recycle bin, and then select Delete.
   
   Emptying the Recycle bin
3. The files will be permanently deleted from your OneDrive.

Special file options for photos

Folders that contain only images are called photo albums. When you open a photo album, you can click any photo to switch to a large photo view. This view includes arrows you can click to move through the images one by one, as well as a filmstrip where you can see other photos in the album.