OneDrive: How to Use

0 - Introducing OneDrive

Provided as part of Microsoft 365, OneDrive is the way Royal Roads is moving to for people to store their work and collaborate with others. At a glance OneDrive offers the following:

  1. One set of files - available from anywhere in the internet

  2. Lots of space - Each person get 1 Terabyte for individual storage 

  3. Use "File Request" - to safely allow others send you files without allowing them access to your work

  4. Share files with anyone else - Use this instead of email attachments. Unlike Email attachments, you decide who has access for how long

  5. Excellent version control - See who's made changes and when and roll back to a previous version if a mistake has been made

  6. Collaboration - Edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations in real-time with others

  7. Mobile - Access your work from phones or tablets. Use the built-in camera to create PDFs

1 - Where do I get OneDrive?

Depending on where you use OneDrive, it's available in the following ways:

  • Royal Roads Computer: (currently in pilot) OneDrive is standard on Staff, Meeting Room, Lab and Remote Desktop Server and sets itself up automatically when you sign in

  • Mobile Devices: OneDrive can be installed from the Google Play or Apple App Store

2 - OneDrive on a Royal Roads Computer and remote.royalroads.ca

Whether you're using a Royal Roads Laptop, Desktop or the remote.royalroads.ca Remote Desktop Server, OneDrive will be there for you. So, what does this mean?

  • Your Documents, Desktop and Photos are backed up and sync'd to other Royal Roads devices you log into.

Shortcuts are NOT saved to OneDrive
Any shortcut icons you have on your computer will not be uploaded to OneDrive online as per RRU group policy. We apologize any inconvenience this may cause.

  • On Royal Roads computers, your Outlook signatures are also enabled to Roam using OneDrive

  • You can access your files on OneDrive from the programs you use as well as File Explorer

  • Changes made to your OneDrive files on one machine will automatically reflect almost immediately wherever you use your Royal Roads OneDrive

Shortcuts are NOT saved to OneDrive

(What if I do not want the files backed up to the cloud?)

3 - Where can I find my files?

3.1 - Online:

OneDrive can be accessed using a browser such as Edge, Chrome or Firefox. This is useful when you need access to your files and are away from your computer. If you open an Office document or PDF, this will open in an on-line version of Office.

Office on the web has improved immensely in recent years, with the current offering having a very familiar look and feel to what's installed on your computer.

3.2 - On Windows:

In File Explorer, OneDrive can be found in the list on the left hand pane.

4 - How do I know my files are synchronized?

We use on-demand files as standard, so your computer won't fill up, even if it has limited storage. OneDrive files have an indicator to show their status on your computer.



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