As more people have flocked to Microsoft Teams to communicate with their associates and clients remotely, the ability to share files across a variety of Microsoft’s products. This is why the company has added the ability to add shared folders — both your own and others’ — to OneDrive from Microsoft Teams or Sharepoint, making it easier than ever to find and edit files. However, this isn’t the only upgrade to Microsoft Teams and related products this summer.
Outsourced IT specialist, Greg LaScala with LaScala IT shares insights in his experiences working with Microsoft OneDrive.
Microsoft Announces Updates for OneDrive Users Working Remotely
If you’re an employee working remotely or are in charge of your company’s IT department, you’ll be pleased to notice that the sharing and access control options for files now work the same as file-sharing functions in other Microsoft 365 apps. The ability to choose to share with individuals or groups with ease makes your job that much easier and saves users both time and frustration. On top of that, Microsoft is rolling out updates for OneDrive that will increase support for metadata on shared libraries and files. And when file owners move files, others with access to the file will receive a notification with the file’s new location.
Microsoft recently announced a few other perks for users of its software. First comes a significant increase in maximum file size from 15 GB to 100 GB for business users of OneDrive and SharePoint. This is a long-awaited change for those businesses that work with large media and design files, including 3D and CAD files will benefit from this increase. No longer will you need to look for an alternative file sharing tool. Syncing these files shouldn’t take too long as Microsoft Products rely on expedited sync to update only the parts of the files that have changed.
Because security risks have changed as more people work from home, Microsoft has streamlined security processes, including external access expiration dates for files, multi-factor authentication, and single-use passcodes that will help IT professionals ensure everyone is working as securely as possible. The company has made security features such as sensitivity labels, including those for SharePoint Site, label classification, and information barriers, which prevent certain people or departments from communicating with one another, more readily available across its suite of software. Those in the IT department can also look forward to Sync admin reports, which Microsoft announced will be available in the near future and will allow administrators to see a variety of statistics about the organization’s use of OneDrive, including app versions, file sync status, and sync errors.
Several changes have to do with communicating with colleagues. It will soon be possible to copy and paste links from your browser’s address bar into Microsoft apps to easily share with others. Sharing using this method will still respect file and sharing permissions. For users who want to focus on the work and not the chatter, the newly-added ability to turn off comment notifications will be much appreciated.
Keep Your Family Connected with OneDrive
Of course, many people use OneDrive for personal and not just professional reasons, and commercial (non-business) OneDrive users can easily share files to a predefined group of people. This is ideal for sharing files such as photos with family or a group of friends to ensure that everyone remains connected even if they cannot be together physically.
Other changes include a new dark mode for the browser version of OneDrive that’s perfect for viewing at night or in low-light conditions without straining your eyes. If you already use OneDrive on your mobile device, you’ve had access to dark mode, but even those users whose devices aren’t compatible with the app can use this from their browser.
Finally, you know that security is just as important for your personal documents as business ones, and in an effort to keep personal files safe, Microsoft allows users to store files in their Personal Vault. This tool utilizes a two-step verification process that requires users to enter a code that is sent to their phone or email on top of the user’s regular password. The Personal Vault automatically locks out users after 20 minutes of inactivity.
You can see almost all of these updates live in OneDrive right now.
