Microsoft OneDrive (Windows)

Owned by Laurie Fox
Last updated: Sept 18, 2024 by Susan Palmer
4 min read

Microsoft OneDrive for Business is available to all Faculty and Staff. OneDrive Auto Save will sync your Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders as well as all files in the OneDrive - SUNY Geneseo folder on a Windows 10 or newer computer.

 

Before You Start

  • These instructions are specific to the Windows 10 operating system.

  • Microsoft OneDrive for Business is available to all current Students/Faculty/Staff.

  • You can access your files on iOS or Android using the OneDrive mobile app or via the web.

  • Watch this helpful video from CIT Tech Days.

Signing Into OneDrive

If your computer is not signed into OneDrive already, you will need to sign in first. 

  1. On your main/primary computer, you will need to login to OneDrive. Click on the OneDrive icon (Blue Cloud) in the lower right corner of your Windows taskbar and in the window that opens:

  2. Choose Sign in


  3. Enter your full email address at the next screen and sign in choosing the “Work or School” account option


  4. Accept the default file location settings by selecting the Next button

  5. Proceed with “quick tutorial” of OneDrive tips by continuing to select the Next buttons in the following screens

  6. Choose Later when given the option to download the mobile version onto a smartphone or device

  7. Open the OneDrive folder when asked to do so at the end of this tutorial.

Keeping Files on your Computer

By default, OneDrive will upload your files to the cloud and download them to your computer when you need them. Follow these steps to make sure your files are always available on your computer.

  1. Double-click the "This PC" icon on your desktop or do a Search for "This PC" and click on it to open it.

  2. Under "Quick Access" on the left, right click on each of the Desktop, Documents and Pictures quick access links and select ”Always keep on this device”.

  3. Remember to do this for each of these 3 folders: Desktop, Documents, and Pictures.

  4. If you log into any other computers that are NOT your main/primary computer, you do NOT need to select the option to always keep on this device. This option for using OneDrive on secondary computers will still allow you to access those files as long as you have an internet connection, but will not take or fill up the hard drive space on a secondary computer. 

  5. From now on, when signing into your computer, OneDrive should automatically sign you in and the OneDrive Icon should show that it is backing up. Occasionally you may be prompted to log into OneDrive again. Make sure you do this to keep your files syncing correctly.

  6. Each of the files or folders that are saved in OneDrive will have an icon; either a checkmark or a cloud symbol. These represent if the file has been downloaded to your computer (checkmark) or if it is available to you via the cloud (thus the cloud icon). On your main computer almost all of your main files and folders should have the checkmark.

Accessing your Microsoft OneDrive from Anywhere

One convenient benefit of using Microsoft OneDrive is that you can actually get to any of your backed up documents from any computer via the web at https://onedrive.live.com/about/en-us/signin/, log in with your Geneseo account and continue where you left off! You can even save the files back to Microsoft OneDrive to be updated when you get back to your main computer.

You can find your content on any phone or tablet using the Microsoft OneDrive app

  1. OneDrive on the Google Play store

  2. OneDrive on Apple's App Store

How to tell if your files are syncing:

By default, you will automatically be logged into OneDrive as long as you have signed into it previously on any college provided computer. You can tell that you are logged in by looking at the OneDrive icon (Blue Cloud) in the lower right corner of your taskbar along with some of the other icons such as network and sound. If you see just the Blue Cloud, you are successfully signed in. If you see an “X” through the cloud that means you need to sign into OneDrive to begin syncing. Simply click on the Blue Cloud icon and it should give you an option to sign in. You will need to sign in with your full Geneseo email address and your Geneseo password.

OneDrive’s sync process does make some small changes that you may notice if you were to poke around within the C: drive. Basically the files and folders within each of the backed up directories are moved into a new sub folder on your local hard drive and are then set to synchronize to your OneDrive cloud space. Links that reference your main folders will still direct you to your new directories and you shouldn’t notice much of a difference when saving or opening files to each of these folders. (ie: the File Explorer quick access links will take you to the correct directory).

OneDrive Training - Microsoft 

OneDrive video training - Microsoft Support

Need more storage space? 

By default all Students/Faculty/Staff are allocated 256GB of space in OneDrive. If you require additional storage, please submit a request in our service portal.

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