OneDrive for Business Basics

OneDrive for Business is a place within the cloud where you can store your work-related documents and files that don't belong in a public a location.

OneDrive for Business vs. OneDrive

OneDrive for Business is not the same as OneDrive. The standard OneDrive is for individual users to store files online when they want to have access to them from anywhere. It is used with a personal email address and not a work email. OneDrive for Business is exactly what the name implies — a tool used for work purposes. You'll know it's the business version when you see OneDrive - at - your company's name.

OneDrive for Business can be accessed two ways. You can either log in to your Office 365 account and navigate to OneDrive for Business or navigate to it from SharePoint. Either way, you're accessing your OneDrive for Business storage.

Sign In

Signing into your business's Office 365 account is the first step to accessing your company’s OneDrive for Business storage.

1. Open the Office 365 sign-in window on any browser.
2. Type your email address in the Address field.
   
3. Type your password in the Password field.
4. If you have multiple Office 365 accounts, select an account.
5. Click Sign in.
   

   A dialog box appears asking if you want to stay signed into OneDrive for Business.

6. Click Yes.
   
7. On the Office 365 home page, click OneDrive.
   

OneDrive for Business opens and you see all of the documents that are currently store here.

The Toolbar

Some commands you’ll use for working with your documents appear on the toolbar. You can create new files and folders, or upload files from your computer. These commands will change when you have a file or folder selected.

1. Select a file by clicking anywhere in its row.

   And it’s selected. New commands will appear on the toolbar to open the file, share it, or download it.

   Additional commands will be available in the menus on the toolbar and on a selected file, indicated by the three dots called an ellipsis.

2. Click the ellipsis button for the selected file or folder.

   A menu with actions you can perform with the folder or file appear.

3. Click outside of a menu to close it.
   

The Navigation Pane

Finally, let’s look at the Navigation Pane. If your browser window is big enough, it will always appear on the left. When you're working with a whole bunch of files, the navigation pane comes in handy to check out files you've recently used, see just the items that are shared with you, view the files you're following, check out the site folders, and see what's in the recycle bin.

1. If necessary, show the Navigation Pane by clicking the button on the left that appears as three bars.
2. Select a folder in the Navigation Pane.
   

   You can now view all of the files in the folder you selected.

To access OneDrive for Business settings, click the Settings icon at the upper-right corner of the window. The Settings pane displays a Search field, a link to site settings, theme and notification settings, and more.

Now that we've covered the basics, you're ready to jump into everything else OneDrive for Business has to offer!