What is Microsoft OneDrive? (all you must know)
If you need a storage solution for your files, including photos, music, and videos, you’ve probably decided to look into Microsoft OneDrive. However, if you’re new to OneDrive, you might want to learn more before switching files.
If this sounds like you, this article will answer all the questions you may have, like what OneDrive is, whether you can use it for free, what some of its features are, and more!
What is Microsoft OneDrive?
Microsoft OneDrive is a cloud storage service included with the Microsoft 365 software suite, and if you don’t have the software, you can get a free standalone account. With OneDrive, you’ll be able to save all your files, including photos, music, and videos, to your account and access them across multiple devices.
If you want to learn more about Microsoft OneDrive, keep reading, like how much it costs, what it’s used for, and more!
Microsoft OneDrive is a cloud-based storage service included with the Microsoft 365 software suite. If you don’t have the software, you can also get a separate account.
With OneDrive, you can save all your files, including photos, music and videos, to your account and access them on all your devices.
Not only can you save files for yourself, but you can share them with anyone you like, be it family, friends, or others.
Is Microsoft OneDrive free?
Microsoft OneDrive does offer a free plan that gives you 5 GB of cloud storage absolutely free.
Additionally, you can choose from some paid plans starting at $1.99 per month for 100 GB of storage.
Microsoft OneDrive also offers Microsoft 365 Personal customers 1 TB of storage for $69.99 per year.
Likewise, you can access 6 TB for MS 365 Family Plan users for $99.99 per year, which means each of your 6 family members will get 1 TB of space.
What are the features of Microsoft OneDrive?
Microsoft OneDrive has to offer a lot of handy features, here are some of the features you should know about:
- backup: If your device is lost or damaged, you will not lose access to storage as all your files will be kept in the cloud.
- share: With OneDrive, you’ll be able to share files, folders, photos, and more with others, instead of emailing or using inconvenient USB drives. You can do this by emailing or texting a link to the file.
- document scan: You will be able to scan your different documents, receipts, business cards and other types of paperwork and media directly from your mobile device to storage in OneDrive.
- personal vault: OneDrive lets you protect your sensitive files with a PIN, fingerprint, face, or email a test code. Otherwise, you can use MS Authenticator to lock the file. Likewise, you can scan files from your mobile device and save them directly to your vault. OneDrive’s vault is encrypted with BitLocker, which automatically locks your account when you’re inactive for a certain period of time.
- Upload photos automatically: You can set the OneDrive mobile app to automatically save photos and videos to your account.
How to set up Microsoft OneDrive on your device?
With Windows 10, OneDrive is usually configured automatically after you add a Microsoft account to create a system account.
If this is not the case, or you are setting up a cloud service with a new account, you will need to add the service manually.
Here’s an easy way to set up OneDrive on your device:
- Open Start.
- Search for OneDrive and click the top result to open the app.
- Double-click the file to install it.
- Confirm the Microsoft account address.
- Click to Login”.
- Confirm your account password.
- Click “Sign In” again.
- Click the Change Location option to specify a different folder to store cloud files.
- Click Next. “
- Follow the on-screen instructions to select optional settings until you successfully set up your account.
After completing these steps, MS OneDrive can start uploading files.
What can you do with Microsoft OneDrive?
There are many reasons why someone might choose to use Microsoft OneDrive.
For example, you can view files from any device of your choice.
Plus, as mentioned, you can automatically back up your files and documents, and OneDrive is very easy to use.
Also, you will save a lot of space on your computer and other devices
How to upload files to Microsoft OneDrive?
Uploading files to MS OneDrive is easier than you might think. In fact, it connects with File Explorer to upload files seamlessly.
Follow the steps below to upload documents and other files to MS OneDrive:
- Open File Explorer.
- Click OneDrive in the left pane.
- Drag your OneDrive folder to the side of the page (Windows key + left/right arrow keys).
- Open another File Explorer window (Windows key + E)
- Navigate to the folder containing the content you want to upload.
- Drag a folder to the other side of the page (Windows key + right/left arrow keys)
- Drag and drop the files of your choice into your OneDrive folder.
To learn more, you can also read our post on Microsoft Outlook, why Microsoft bought Nokia and why Microsoft bought Activision.
in conclusion
Microsoft OneDrive is used as a cloud storage service included with the Microsoft 365 software suite. With OneDrive, you can save all your files, including photos, music, and videos, to your account, and you can access them on any device you choose.