OneDrive for Business Windows Client Setup

Overview

UA OneDrive for Business is the University of Alaska's name for Microsoft 365 OneDrive for work or school. It is an online service for storing files, sharing them, and collaborating with other UA individuals. OneDrive for work or school, which is designed for organizations, is not the same as the personal OneDrive service Microsoft offers to individuals. For more about the differences, see Microsoft's What is OneDrive for work or school? page.

OneDrive for Business is a personal document and file storage hub. It's easy to upload, download, and share files. You can also create, view, and edit documents online with Microsoft 365 for the web, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. When you need the full set of Office features, you can open your files in the desktop apps and save them back to OneDrive.

Because OneDrive for Business is tied to your relationship with the University of Alaska, everything stored in it becomes inaccessible if you leave the university. For this reason, it's best used for your own university-related work, such as coursework, your own work files, and OneNote notebooks. Materials that departments, schools, colleges, or other groups need to keep long-term belong in a place built for collaboration, such as a network file share, a Google shared drive, Microsoft Teams, or a SharePoint Online site. Each offers different features and benefits.

For more information, read Get Started with OneDrive for Business.

What materials do I need?

• A Windows 11 computer, or a Windows 10 computer updated to version 22H2
• An active University of Alaska account

How do I use this technology?

1. OneDrive comes installed with Windows 11 and Windows 10, so you normally don't need to install it. If it is missing, download it from Microsoft's OneDrive download page and run the installer.
2. Select Start or the Search box on the taskbar, type OneDrive, and then select the OneDrive app. [Screenshot: Windows 11 Start search showing the OneDrive app]
3. On the Set up OneDrive screen, enter your University of Alaska email address (e.g. UaUsername@alaska.edu), and then select Sign in. [Screenshot: Set up OneDrive]
4. On the University of Alaska sign-in page, enter your UA password and select Sign in. Complete multi-factor authentication if prompted. [Screenshot: UA sign-in page]
5. On the Your OneDrive folder screen, select Next to accept the default location (C:\Users<your username>\OneDrive - University of Alaska). [Screenshot: Your OneDrive folder]
6. If a screen offers to back up your Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders to OneDrive, choose the folders you want, or skip it. Files in backed-up folders count toward your storage limit. You can change this later in OneDrive Settings > Sync and backup > Manage backup.
7. Select Next on the introduction screens (Get to know your OneDrive, Share files and folders, and All your files, ready and on-demand). On the Get the mobile app screen, select Later.
8. On the Your OneDrive is ready for you screen, select Open my OneDrive folder. [Screenshot: Your OneDrive is ready for you]
9. File Explorer opens to your OneDrive folder. The folder also appears in the File Explorer navigation pane as OneDrive - University of Alaska. [Screenshot: Windows 11 File Explorer showing the OneDrive - University of Alaska folder]

Files in your OneDrive folder are stored online and download when you open them (Files On-Demand). To keep a file or folder available offline, right-click it and select OneDrive > Always keep on this device. To remove the local copy and save disk space, select Free up space.

The OneDrive sync app stops uploading new files when you reach your Microsoft 365 storage limit (20 GB for employees, 15 GB for emeritus, 5 GB for students). This limit covers OneDrive, Teams, and SharePoint.