Use OneDrive shortcuts and files on demand
Welcome to another Modern Work Workout. This workout is for people who are using OneDrive and syncing files. You are confident using OneDrive in File Explorer and you want to go to the next level, syncing your files on demand. This is a good way to reduce the storage that files consume on your device. You only sync a file when you need it.
The workout will introduce you to two exercises to get you in shape for working with files in the Microsoft 365 cloud. We will learn how to sync a folder from a team in Microsoft Teams. Then we will learn about adding a shortcut to a folder and how to use it to sync our files on demand.
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Download related resources for this workout, included with your membership.
Exercise One - Sync a folder from Microsoft Teams
Our first exercise begins from Microsoft Teams on your desktop. Open a team that you frequently use to work on files with your team. Open the Files tab and navigate to a folder with files you are currently working on.
Wouldn’t it be great to make these files easy to access, right from within File Explorer? We can, using Sync. Click Sync in the toolbar above the files.
Sync a folder from Teams to OneDrive on your device
Teams pops up a message to confirm the files in this folder will be synced. It connects OneDrive on your device, to the folder you chose to sync. If you are using Microsoft Windows, it will open File Explorer to show you the files. They are ready to be synced on demand.
What do I mean by “synced on demand?” Well, OneDrive downloads a file to your device the first time you open it. Following that, the file will sync any changes you make to your local copy, into OneDrive in the Microsoft 365 cloud.
Take a closer look at where the synced folder is in File Explorer. The navigation panel will show a folder with a blue icon and is named after your organisation. That’s where you will find all the folders you choose to sync.
Synced folders can be found together under your OneDrive organisational folder.
Exercise Two - Add a shortcut to OneDrive from Microsoft Teams
Our second exercise introduces a different way to organise and sync files, using Shortcuts. Open another team that you frequently use to work on files with your team. Open the Files tab and navigate to another folder containing files you are currently working on.
This time from the toolbar, choose Add shortcut to OneDrive. Teams will confirm that it has Added 1 shortcut to My files in OneDrive. “My files” is where your private files are stored in OneDrive online.
Add a shortcut to OneDrive for a folder in Teams
On your device in File Explorer, you will find My files in the folder named OneDrive – followed by your organisation’s name.
When you open a Shortcut, it jumps to the folder in the team Files, letting you quickly navigate to the files. When you open a file, it downloads a copy to your device and keeps it in sync with the online copy. Just like with Synced folders.
Shortcut folders use a different icon to regular folders. They can be renamed, and grouped together in folders in your OneDrive. Try creating a folder with the same name as the team that the shortcut points to. Then move the shortcut into the folder. You can create other shortcuts to folders from the same team, then organise them in the same folder to group them together.
Rename shortcuts in OneDrive, so you know where they are from.
Finally - Start using OneDrive in a web browser
The final thing I want you to do is start to build confidence with using OneDrive in a web browser. To open OneDrive on the web, browse to m365.cloud.microsoft. Sign in if you are prompted to. Open the app launcher and choose OneDrive. The landing page will show files you have been recently working on. I want you to take note of My Files in the left navigation. Open My Files and you will see the same folders, files and shortcuts you saw in OneDrive from Files Explorer.
Get confident using OneDrive in a browser. Start with My Files and check out what you can do with files and folders.
There are many benefits to using OneDrive from a web browser, beyond just working with My files. Using Shortcuts is a good way to begin to bridge working with files on your device, with files online in a web browser.
Cool down
That’s it! We have completed two exercises that exercise our file management muscles using OneDrive. We have seen that OneDrive is more than a place for storing our private files. We can use it to work on team files too, syncing them on demand and creating shortcuts to the files we want to focus on.
In the next workout we will push ourselves further out of our comfort zone, working from OneDrive in a browser and realising more of it’s benefits to personal and team productivity.