Overview
UA OneDrive for Business is the University of Alaska's branding of the Microsoft Office 365 OneDrive for Business, an online service that provides resources for file storage, collaboration, and communication with other UA individuals. The OneDrive for Business service, aimed at enterprise users, is not the same as the OneDrive service offered by Microsoft to individuals. For information on the differences, visit Microsoft's What Is OneDrive for Business page and read the section titled How is OneDrive for Business different from OneDrive.
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 using the integrated Office Online applications, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. For those times you need the complete set of Office features, you can open your files in the full version of the applications and save them to your hard drive or back to the cloud.
Because OneDrive for Business is associated with your relationship to the University of Alaska, everything stored in it will be inaccessible should you leave the university. For this reason, it's best to use it to store materials that are your own personal university related (e.g. homework, business) use, like OneNote notebooks. For storing materials that are important for departments, schools, colleges, or other groups at the university indefinitely, you should be aware that there are several options available more suitable for collaboration such as network file shares, Google Team Drives, Microsoft Teams, and a SharePoint Online site. All of them offer various features and benefits.
For additional information read about UA OneDrive for Business.
How do I use this technology?
Cost
OneDrive for Business is included in the University's Microsoft campus agreement for all current UA students, staff and faculty.
Eligibility
- UA OneDrive for Business is enabled automatically for all current UA students, staff, and faculty.
When you leave the University of Alaska:
- Faculty and Staff access to UA OneDrive for Business is disabled automatically after 14 days from their employment end date.
- Student access is disabled automatically after 1 year from their last active course enrollment.
Store and share files
- Store up to 5 TB of data in the cloud.
- 250 GB maximum file size.
- Any files created in Office Online are automatically backed up in your OneDrive space.
- Easily recover deleted documents or roll back to previous versions.
- Share files with anyone across the University of Alaska system
Access and synchronize files easily
- Access files using a Web browser or mobile device.
- Access files directly from Microsoft Office desktop applications (with appropriate client software installed).
- Synchronize your local files in UA OneDrive for Business.
Best Practices
- Keep folder and file names short.
- Keep nested folder depth to a minimum.
- Review sharing/permissions at the beginning of each semester.
Create and edit Microsoft Office files in the cloud with Office Web Apps
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- OneNote
Getting Started
OneDrive for Business works well with all major, current web browsers. To access your UA OneDrive for Business just point your browser to https://portal.office.com and sign-in with your UA username (e.g. UaUsername@alaska.edu) and password. Click the App Launcher icon in the upper left (it is made up of nine squares), and select the OneDrive tile.
Alternatively, OneDrive for Business also comes with the ability to sync your files and folders to your desktop or mobile device.
To create a new document, click the + New icon, then select the desired file type. To open a file or folder, click on its name. To share a document, while viewing it in Office Online, click the + Share, enter the people you would like to share it with and whether they should be able to edit or just read, then click + Share.
To go back to a prior version of a document, while looking at the list of documents, hover over the desired document, then click the circle to the left of its name. Select the ellipse (...) from the menu above the list, then click Version history.
To retrieve a recently deleted document, click Recycle bin in the left-hand menu.
OneDrive for Business client guides
Information from Microsoft
Microsoft provides extensive online help for OneDrive for Business. When using OneDrive for Business, click the question mark icon in the upper-right corner of the browser window to access Microsoft help.
Other useful information from Microsoft:
Is there any additional information I should know about?
For additional assistance contact the IT Services Technical Support Center via phone at (907) 786-4646, toll-free at (877) 633-3888, email us at uaa.techsupport@alaska.edu, or visit the Services section to open a support ticket.