File storage and sharing

There are several options available for storing and sharing your files, each designed to support different types of collaboration. Understanding how Microsoft Teams and Microsoft OneDrive work with files can help you choose the best approach for you and your team. Read on to learn more about the key differences and how they work together to keep your files organised, secure, and easy to find.

Tips for storing and sharing files

OneDrive for personal files, Teams for shared work

Microsoft OneDrive is ideal for your own documents or drafts you're not ready to share. OneDrive files are private until you share them which makes it ideal for sharing with specific individuals. Your OneDrive account is associated with your University account, so when you leave, the content will be deleted. Anything that is for the team, or sharing for the team, is best stored in Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams is ideal for storing files meant for collaboration with a team or project group. Teams can be public or private depending on your preferences. Teams is great for working on files collaboratively and communicating in real time via the chat or meeting tools. The files stored in a Team belong to the team instead of an individual person. This means even if people leave the team, the content remains accessible in the team.

Version history

Both OneDrive and Teams automatically keep previous versions of your files. You can easily restore older versions if something goes wrong, this is especially useful when you are collaborating on a file. Microsoft stores the latest 500 versions of your file so you never have to worry again about losing your work.

To see the Version history of a file:

Locate the file in OneDrive or Teams.
Hover over your file and click the 3 dots menu that appears.
Click Version history.
From here you can either View or Restore a version of your file using the drop down next to your chosen file.

Know your data classifications

You can store Ordinary, Confidential, Restricted and Personal information in Teams and OneDrive, including special category personal information.

If storing Restricted and Personal information in Teams, you must use a private team and ensure the Team membership is appropriate for the files being shared.

If storing Restricted and Personal information in OneDrive, you must have appropriate access permissions set on shared files. Remember that OneDrive is more aimed for personal use and Teams for collaboration and sharing of organisational documents.

See the Security of data and information for further information when storing, sharing and transferring information.

Pin frequently used files in Teams

You can pin important files to the top of the Shared tab (previously called Files tab) in a channel. This keeps key documents easy to access for everyone, especially if your file list is long.

To pin a file in Teams:

Navigate to the Shared section.
Hover over your file and click the 3 dots menu that appears.
Click Pin to top.

Avoid duplicating files

Instead of downloading and re-uploading files for collaboration, use the Share function to share a link directly from Teams or OneDrive. This means you can collaborate on a file without any confusion of which file is the most up to date.

You can work collaboratively with externals using Teams and can also work collaboratively with externals using OneDrive so you should consider both options when working with people outside of the University.

Syncing for offline access

You can sync OneDrive and Teams files to File Explorer on your Windows PC or Finder on your Mac. Syncing your files enables you to access your files from anywhere and can work with your files even when offline. Whenever you’re online, any changes that you or others make will sync automatically.

Request files in OneDrive

Use the request files option in OneDrive to create a secure upload link. This means people you request files from can only upload files; they can't see the contents of the folder, make changes to files or see who else has uploaded files. This can be useful when you need to get a file from someone who doesn't have OneDrive, or when you wish to keep the other contents of a folder private.