Speaker 1: At first glance, Microsoft OneDrive might be a bit overwhelming or even confusing to use. But if you know the basics and how to use OneDrive's functionalities properly, it's actually quite simple and straightforward. So let me show you what you need to know when setting up or using OneDrive to have the best experience regardless if you're using it via the browser or your file explorer. Put simply, OneDrive is Microsoft's cloud storage service that stores and connects all your files. You can create, store, manage, edit, share, backup, restore or collaborate with others via OneDrive and across multiple devices. It's not only available for when you're online, but it even lets you use your files in offline mode. OneDrive is included in all Microsoft 365, Office 365 and SharePoint plans and also can be purchased separately. Most of you will have it available via your 365 subscription for personal use or at work. One more free way to make use of OneDrive is by creating an Outlook email address. This just takes a few steps and will grant you 5GB of free storage. If you're using Windows 10 or 11, OneDrive will already be pre-installed on your computer and you can make use of it right away. If not, you can download it from this website, either for your computer or your Mac. I leave the link to this website and the one where you can create your free Outlook email address in the description, just as the link to my free newsletter in which I share so many more insights beyond the ones in my YouTube videos. So make sure to subscribe now. And just as with any other Microsoft app, OneDrive is also available for mobile, both for Apple and Android devices. You can find it either in the app or the Play Store by searching for OneDrive. Having installed the app, you will be able to view, edit or share your files not only on your desktop, but also when being on the go. Back to your desktop computer, where you will see a little cloud icon in your taskbar, which symbolizes OneDrive availability. Clicking on the icon, you will see a list of documents that have been uploaded or synchronized most recently. On top, it will tell you if your OneDrive is currently up to date, if its processing changes or if there is a sync issue. By clicking on the little gear icon on top right, you will get to the OneDrive settings, which I will cover later in the video. More important for now are the three big buttons at the bottom that let you open the OneDrive folder on your computer, view it online in the browser or access a recycle bin via the browser as well. Let's first look at the browser version of OneDrive that lists all of your files and folders underneath each other by default. You can change this view by clicking on the top left and choose a compact list or tiles. On the left side, you can find the navigation bar that lets you access all of your files, the ones recently created, edited or uploaded, your photos, documents or files you have shared with other people and the recycle bin. You can access the bin either like we just did or directly via the third button in your OneDrive overview when clicking on the cloud icon on your taskbar. The browser view is very similar to the one you can access via your file explorer, either by clicking on open folder via the cloud symbol or just by navigating to your OneDrive folder in your file explorer. Having clicked on it, it will appear besides all the other standard folders in your file explorer and show the same files and folders that you have seen in the browser view. Staying with the file explorer, let's see how you can edit and work with files. And all this is no magic and really not very different from just working on your local drive but there are some specifics you need to know. If you want to create a new file, just open for example a new Word document and make sure to save it in your OneDrive. Deleting something from your OneDrive is similarly simple and can be done by pressing the delete button or by right clicking and deleting. For personal OneDrive accounts, whatever has been deleted will be kept in your recycle bin for 30 days in case you would like to restore a document. Thereafter it will be cleared. To access the recycle bin, you need to go to your browser OneDrive view, ideally via the app on your taskbar. One of the best features of OneDrive, at least in my opinion, is the ability to view each document's history and even have the ability to restore older versions of that document. You just need to do a right click on any document with a history, so for example a Word, PowerPoint or an Excel file and click view history. This will open a new window with the file's complete version history from the date of creation. You will see a list of automatic backups that OneDrive did in the background or whenever the document was closed and saved as well as the person that modified the document how long ago and what size the document had at that point in time. By clicking on the three little dots that appear when hovering above a specific version, you can either restore or download this version of the document. But you cannot restore an older version whilst the current one is open, but you can always download an earlier version, which is great to, for example, compare a current one with what has changed from two days ago. Now you might have seen and wondered already about the different icons that are shown in the status column, which is unique to OneDrive, accessed via the file explorer. Those symbols tell you the sync status of the respective OneDrive files. In total there are more than 20 different symbols, but I bet in 90% of the cases you will only need the following ones. The solid green circle with the checkmark means this document is always synchronized to your device. This means it takes up space on your device but will also be there even if you're offline. The light green tick icon means that this file used to be an online-only file that has been downloaded to your device, having become a locally available file, again, both when you are being online or offline. The blue cloud icon means that this file or folder is only available online, so it does not take up space on your computer, but can also only be accessed if you're connected to the internet. Whenever you see a people icon, it means that this file or folder has been shared with other people. I will cover a few more sharing settings in just a bit. And another important symbol is the blue sync icon, which means that this file or folder is currently being synced to the cloud. You can also hover with your mouse above the respective icon and it tells you what it means. But those icons can not only be seen next to your files and folders, but also your OneDrive app icon in your taskbar might show one of those icons from time to time. Mostly it will be this one, meaning that OneDrive is currently being synced to the cloud. Or this one, which means that there is a sync issue. Usually you can just click on the app symbol so it guides you through the bug fix. But if you would like to learn more about fixing sync or other issues with OneDrive, let me know in the comments down below, as well as make sure to hit the like button and subscribe to the channel if you found the video helpful so far. Sharing is another great OneDrive feature that allows you to collaborate with others. To share a file or folder, just do a right click and go to share within the context menu. Just as the other five or so features below, this is only available when working with OneDrive documents. Having clicked share, this new window will pop up and lets you specify the sharing options. On top, you can edit the overall permissions and share the file or folder with anyone or just with specific people. At the bottom, you can also choose if that person has full access and editor permission or if they should just be able to view the content but cannot make any changes. In addition, you can set an expiration date on which the permissions would expire, for example, if someone would just need to have access for two days. Before sending, type in the email address of the person you would like to share the file as well as an optional message that they will receive together with the sharing notification via email. Alternatively, you could just copy the link to the file or folder and share it, for example, directly via WhatsApp or Teams. To change share settings, you need to go via the OneDrive browser version that you can access by right clicking on the file or folder and choosing to view it online. Now click on shared next to the document you would like to manage access for and adjust the sharing settings by either removing individual people or changing their permissions. One other really great and maybe even unique feature about OneDrive is the availability of a personal vault. This is a special folder that you can set up only by having access via two-factor authentication. So to access the documents within the personal vault, you would first need to log into your computer or OneDrive and second, complete the two-factor authentication with your phone or email to get inside your wallet. This extra layer of security is great if you have documents like scans of your ID, passport or driver's license that you would like to store in a more secure place. Now going back to the OneDrive settings that you can access via the cloud icon on your taskbar, there are some important things you need to be aware of. In general, I would recommend going through all of the different settings once so you know what's available and what can be changed. One of the most important settings, in my opinion, is the choice of folders that you would like to synchronize. You can adjust this by going to your account and clicking on choose folders. The list shows you which folders or subfolders are currently being synced with your computer and shown in your OneDrive file explorer view. In case you don't want to keep or don't need access to some folders locally, you can just untick the boxes and they will be unsynced. This might make sense if you want to free up a lot of space at once or if you just need some specific folders on a second or third device such as a laptop that you're traveling with. Even though working with OneDrive should be quite intuitive, at least by now, it's still very important to keep it clean and organized such that you will always have an overview of your files and folders. This however is not always an easy task, which is why you should watch this video next where I will show you how you can organize your files and folders so you will never lose sight of any document anymore.