Thank you for such a well written article that I now know just what it is and how to use it. Have been looking for something but just did not know what to use or how. Great job, thank you very much for taking of your time to post this invaluable article!!! Have a great day!!!
I’m glad you found this article useful. Don’t hesitate to pay us a visit every now and then. I’m sure you will find other useful articles on 7 Tutorials.
Thanks a lot for this article, but i have one question ,when you choose a folder to be synchronized with onedrive lets say my document, if i modify a file located in my local computer in my document will it be synchronized automatically with onedrive? Thanks
When I send a document it arrives very small unable to read what should I do?
michel
9 years ago
First, this also works on Vista, Yes, some of us still use it. Second, what you can’t configure is when the OneDrive app will choose to sync your files, It will kick in whenever it feels like it – and slow your machine down to a crawl. Seriously, every time it syncs my files, I have to quit the application just so I can keep working. Microsoft should add a scheduling option, or fix it so that it waits until idle time to sync.
I live and work from a rather remote mountain top in rural Montana. Only reasonable web connection is via satellite which can be expensive most of the time. Several hours at night access is free (from midnight to 0500h) so I would like to do all my syncing during that period — without having to lose my sleep. Yes, a scheduling option would be worth a LOT to me and the group with whom I work.
dpnelsonl2001
9 years ago
Is Onedrive supposed to update files when changed on the PC or does it require that user upload revisions? I thought that changes to a file were automatically reflected in the Onedrive file but I can´t see how/if this happens.
Yes. Any change to a file in the OneDrive folder should automatically be synced to OneDrive and updated to all other connected devices.
If this did not occur, there could be a few reasons why. First, I assume that your system is properly connected to the Internet and not being blocked by some type of malware or firewall.
1) Make sure that your file is being saved in the OneDrive folder, and not in another User folder. This is the most common mistake, I made it myself a few times when I first started using SkyDrive.
2) Check the OneDrive desktop app settings:
Right click the OneDrive “Cloud” icon in the notification tray (usually found in the lower right corner of your screen near the time)
Click on “Settings”
Check the Choose Folders settings to ensure OneDrive is synced to the folder you saved your file in.
3) Same as above, Right Click the Cloud icon, check the “View Sync Problems” link, if available. Occasionally a file will not sync due to an error. These errors should be noted here and offer options to solve the issue.
I hope I’ve been able to help.
Robert Boss
9 years ago
I have a video file 8.5MB I tried to upload it to a one drive folder. However halfway through and a day later it failed and all was lost. Will using the one drive sync be able to it in such a way that it will be able to this file in stages? My download speed is a reasonable 10MB but it is the upload speed 0.75Mb that is the problem
Upload speed is often an issue. Due to the slow speed it sometimes takes hours/days for large files (your file is not large). Question; Does your computer go to sleep automatically during the file upload? Depending on system settings, sometimes the LAN will be disconnected during sleep. Obviously, this causes problems. The download must be paused, and sometimes can experience errors that require it to start over.
You might try keeping it awake. Even at your slower speed, I would expect the upload to only take a few minutes for the given file size.
Other possible issues could be due to network error. Possibly Modem and/or Router issues (If you’ve experienced unusually slow performance, sometimes a simple reset by unplugging the power from the modem/router for 30 seconds, then plug it back in, wait a couple minutes for it to reset). Another possible common issue is malware causing connection problems.
Hope I’ve offered some useful information.
Malc S
9 years ago
Great article BUT – it still does not address the one question nobody seems to be able to answer – how do I get the blessed One Drive App to see my already existing Onedrive folder already full of my documents (that is the Onedrive that comes with a Tb of space with my existing Office 365 account). All I ever read is how to set it up as a freebie new Onedrive account.
I already have an account stuffed full of files and I can only link to this new tiny Onedrive account. NOT what I am looking for.
paul w
9 years ago
bump on previous question. I set up OneDrive on my Windows 8.1 machine but when I installed OneDrive on my Windows 7 machine, I can’t see any of the files on the OneDrive. Confirmed same account (when I right-click OneDrive on my Windows 7 machine and go to my OneDrive.com folder, everything is there), but nothing in my local C: OneDrive folder.
Guy De Maeseneer
9 years ago
Hi, I want to upload files from a external harddisk to Onedrive because my laptop has only an SSD of 250 GB. How can I do that without directly put the folders on the laptop because there is not enough space on it !
QUAY BARNES-JOHNSON
9 years ago
I am testing OneDrive. I want to get lots of files and folders TO the OneDrive Office 365 free terabyte cloud space (really a SharePoint site) from my PC. Using OneDrive for Business (Desktop version gives same issue), i can only put one file at a time? Interestingly, the system created all the FOLDERS in the cloud on its own, and SAYS that is it syncing, but the folders are empty. The application has been syncing for days, is this just a timing issue? How do people get thousands of files and folders to the cloud drive in batches, or maybe even in one upload per user? Do files appear only show up in the cloud only after they are changed on the PC? How is this supposed to work? I have a small network with about 70 users and want to use the free terabyte for their Documents, in an Office 365 migration
Maybe you’ve got sorted by now. But if not………..I am 10 minutes new to OneDrive……experimented ….. and already successfully copied over loads of files by copying a main folder in Explorer then pasting it into OneDrive. Copied over in a flash. Am just about to copy over photos I want to keep. Hope this is helpful to someone out there.
Eugene
9 years ago
HI, Isn’t there a way to right click on a folder/file through ms explorer and select (i forgot the exact term) “sync with onedrive” or something? I KNOW i was able to do it a while back but since then I have replaced my primary OS Disk then recently had another storage disk fail on me, fortunately I had one of the folders on that failed disk linked to onedrive so it alone was saved, Unfortunately that was the only folder saved, anyway How do i get that right-click option back? The folder wasn’t moved to the onedrive folder and I don’t remember doing anything with cmd or outside apps just right-click folder and sync…. I can’t seem to find what it on a google search.
stevenol
9 years ago
Onedrive is Good 🙂 But I found KrojamSoft SyncFile better than onedrive for syncing files 🙂
Michael Cook
9 years ago
I’ve been using the OneDrive on Windows 7 just as you explained in this article for a few years and it is still working well and synchronising. My problem is I don’t remember my username. I need to sync my account with a new PC but I can’t see anywhere on the OneDrive settings where it shows the username it is syncing with. I have a Hotmail account but it’s not linked to that.
Erik Kirknel
9 years ago
I have uploaded a bunch of zip files to OneDrive and succesfully established links to my forum. BUT, one of the files will not download! The download dialog box never shows up! I have remived the file and reloaded, but No, same result. One thing that might influence this situation is I have uploaded 15GB (free upload) except for 400 mb.
I would really like a useable advise here!!
Carlos A.
9 years ago
Really help me a lot!!
Larry Massey
9 years ago
How do I load files to OneDrive and still keep a copy in my computer?
Fiona Thompson
9 years ago
I would also like to know if it it possible to make files/folders stored in my OneDrive folder on my computer also available offline using Windows 7? Or is this facility only available with Windows 8.1. I have enabled offline working on the computer but there is no option in OneDrive to mark files to also be available offline. Many thanks for any help on this.
shahroze
9 years ago
is there any way to copy files to one drive from pc without copying them to one drive folder? for example i want to sycnh all my documents, is it necessary to make a copy of all the documents in one drive folder?
Donn
9 years ago
I went through all these steps but only the folders are copied to Onedrive – none of the files.
Janet Cadigan
8 years ago
My One Drive keeps coming on and gives me the message that it is UPloading over 16 GB, consisting of over 8000 files. This is not the usual syncing (or updating) of files). It goes very slow and never finishes. I have no idea what files it is uploading, where they are uploading from or why. I have to right click on the One drive icon in the notification and click on exit to get it to quit, but then it will do it again. I finally let it run all night and it looks like it just looped and did it over again. What is happening and what can I do to fix it.
Lenka
8 years ago
Hi, is there any way how to make data from OneDrive available ONLINE only in Windows7?
David
8 years ago
I have my files stored on a partitioned D drive. How can I get the D drive recognised so that OneDrive synchronises with it ?
Tony C
8 years ago
One Drive needs some serious fixing. It is killing my internet. It needs to be configurable to only run late at night or between strict hours
Linda
8 years ago
I have little space on my C drive where my One Drive is. I’m using Windows 7.
I have more space on my E drive, so would like to change the drive. Is it as simple as changing the C to E or would that upset the apple cart!!
Ted Nesbitt
8 years ago
I have files to upload to OneDrive, using the cloud as an external hard drive. I need more space on my hard drive. Is it possible to upload the files to OneDrive, AND delete them from my computer. In other words, if I upload 50GB to OneDrive, will I be able to remove them from my hard drive’s OneDrive folder?
chris
8 years ago
I installed onedrive on my w7 desktop and set up a number of folders with photos in them.
I installed the onedrive app on my ipad and everything was fine – I could see all the pictures I had put into onedrive on my pc.
However, when I made any changes to folders or added pictures on the ipad, these changes were not reflected back on my pc.
I checked for WSearch running in Task manager and it is running.
How can I sync onedrive between my ipad and pc?
Thanks
Dana Brackett
8 years ago
I already have ONE DRIVE set up….but it does NOT sync!! Files at work computer do not reflect files on home PC….how do I force a sync??????
Piyush Singh
7 years ago
Nothing is working as such. While installation not able see options after first step, either it is failing to install but see a one Drive folder in my favorite option. When I open that folder, I don’t see anything synced. Then check for OneDrive system tray, that is also not present. Right clicked on oneDrive folder on favorite but don’t see any option for sync. Its like one folder created as a new folder of windows.
Please suggest.
Izz
6 years ago
Very very useful article. Thanks for the help!
frank-e
5 years ago
Good article, but some years later some details are different, e.g., “save all” (desktop+documents+pictures) is a disaster, it moves these folders into the Onedrive folder, and “good old apps” not checking the registry for “where are my pictures today” hate this.
The old sync-FixIt is apparently gone, or rather, I haven’t found it on support.office.com. “Choose folder” is apparently also gone, I only get my existing old SkyDrive folders.
Something that still works, and you haven’t mentioned it, OneDrive can be added to the network places (nethood), e.g., for box MYBOX with OneDrive below userspublic the network location is \MYBOX\UsersPublicOneDrive
Nani
5 years ago
Great instructions. Worked like a charm! Thanks much.
Thank you for such a well written article that I now know just what it is and how to use it. Have been looking for something but just did not know what to use or how. Great job, thank you very much for taking of your time to post this invaluable article!!! Have a great day!!!
I’m glad you found this article useful. Don’t hesitate to pay us a visit every now and then. I’m sure you will find other useful articles on 7 Tutorials.
Thanks a lot for this article, but i have one question ,when you choose a folder to be synchronized with onedrive lets say my document, if i modify a file located in my local computer in my document will it be synchronized automatically with onedrive? Thanks
+1
so far, modification has not been synced in my computer
I’m human all right!
When I send a document it arrives very small unable to read what should I do?
First, this also works on Vista, Yes, some of us still use it. Second, what you can’t configure is when the OneDrive app will choose to sync your files, It will kick in whenever it feels like it – and slow your machine down to a crawl. Seriously, every time it syncs my files, I have to quit the application just so I can keep working. Microsoft should add a scheduling option, or fix it so that it waits until idle time to sync.
Indeed, a scheduling option would be useful but they do not have this feature in any of their clients, not even in Windows 8.1.
I live and work from a rather remote mountain top in rural Montana. Only reasonable web connection is via satellite which can be expensive most of the time. Several hours at night access is free (from midnight to 0500h) so I would like to do all my syncing during that period — without having to lose my sleep. Yes, a scheduling option would be worth a LOT to me and the group with whom I work.
Is Onedrive supposed to update files when changed on the PC or does it require that user upload revisions? I thought that changes to a file were automatically reflected in the Onedrive file but I can´t see how/if this happens.
Yes. Any change to a file in the OneDrive folder should automatically be synced to OneDrive and updated to all other connected devices.
If this did not occur, there could be a few reasons why. First, I assume that your system is properly connected to the Internet and not being blocked by some type of malware or firewall.
1) Make sure that your file is being saved in the OneDrive folder, and not in another User folder. This is the most common mistake, I made it myself a few times when I first started using SkyDrive.
2) Check the OneDrive desktop app settings:
Right click the OneDrive “Cloud” icon in the notification tray (usually found in the lower right corner of your screen near the time)
Click on “Settings”
Check the Choose Folders settings to ensure OneDrive is synced to the folder you saved your file in.
3) Same as above, Right Click the Cloud icon, check the “View Sync Problems” link, if available. Occasionally a file will not sync due to an error. These errors should be noted here and offer options to solve the issue.
I hope I’ve been able to help.
I have a video file 8.5MB I tried to upload it to a one drive folder. However halfway through and a day later it failed and all was lost. Will using the one drive sync be able to it in such a way that it will be able to this file in stages? My download speed is a reasonable 10MB but it is the upload speed 0.75Mb that is the problem
Upload speed is often an issue. Due to the slow speed it sometimes takes hours/days for large files (your file is not large). Question; Does your computer go to sleep automatically during the file upload? Depending on system settings, sometimes the LAN will be disconnected during sleep. Obviously, this causes problems. The download must be paused, and sometimes can experience errors that require it to start over.
You might try keeping it awake. Even at your slower speed, I would expect the upload to only take a few minutes for the given file size.
Other possible issues could be due to network error. Possibly Modem and/or Router issues (If you’ve experienced unusually slow performance, sometimes a simple reset by unplugging the power from the modem/router for 30 seconds, then plug it back in, wait a couple minutes for it to reset). Another possible common issue is malware causing connection problems.
Hope I’ve offered some useful information.
Great article BUT – it still does not address the one question nobody seems to be able to answer – how do I get the blessed One Drive App to see my already existing Onedrive folder already full of my documents (that is the Onedrive that comes with a Tb of space with my existing Office 365 account). All I ever read is how to set it up as a freebie new Onedrive account.
I already have an account stuffed full of files and I can only link to this new tiny Onedrive account. NOT what I am looking for.
bump on previous question. I set up OneDrive on my Windows 8.1 machine but when I installed OneDrive on my Windows 7 machine, I can’t see any of the files on the OneDrive. Confirmed same account (when I right-click OneDrive on my Windows 7 machine and go to my OneDrive.com folder, everything is there), but nothing in my local C: OneDrive folder.
Hi, I want to upload files from a external harddisk to Onedrive because my laptop has only an SSD of 250 GB. How can I do that without directly put the folders on the laptop because there is not enough space on it !
I am testing OneDrive. I want to get lots of files and folders TO the OneDrive Office 365 free terabyte cloud space (really a SharePoint site) from my PC. Using OneDrive for Business (Desktop version gives same issue), i can only put one file at a time? Interestingly, the system created all the FOLDERS in the cloud on its own, and SAYS that is it syncing, but the folders are empty. The application has been syncing for days, is this just a timing issue? How do people get thousands of files and folders to the cloud drive in batches, or maybe even in one upload per user? Do files appear only show up in the cloud only after they are changed on the PC? How is this supposed to work? I have a small network with about 70 users and want to use the free terabyte for their Documents, in an Office 365 migration
Maybe you’ve got sorted by now. But if not………..I am 10 minutes new to OneDrive……experimented ….. and already successfully copied over loads of files by copying a main folder in Explorer then pasting it into OneDrive. Copied over in a flash. Am just about to copy over photos I want to keep. Hope this is helpful to someone out there.
HI, Isn’t there a way to right click on a folder/file through ms explorer and select (i forgot the exact term) “sync with onedrive” or something? I KNOW i was able to do it a while back but since then I have replaced my primary OS Disk then recently had another storage disk fail on me, fortunately I had one of the folders on that failed disk linked to onedrive so it alone was saved, Unfortunately that was the only folder saved, anyway How do i get that right-click option back? The folder wasn’t moved to the onedrive folder and I don’t remember doing anything with cmd or outside apps just right-click folder and sync…. I can’t seem to find what it on a google search.
Onedrive is Good 🙂 But I found KrojamSoft SyncFile better than onedrive for syncing files 🙂
I’ve been using the OneDrive on Windows 7 just as you explained in this article for a few years and it is still working well and synchronising. My problem is I don’t remember my username. I need to sync my account with a new PC but I can’t see anywhere on the OneDrive settings where it shows the username it is syncing with. I have a Hotmail account but it’s not linked to that.
I have uploaded a bunch of zip files to OneDrive and succesfully established links to my forum. BUT, one of the files will not download! The download dialog box never shows up! I have remived the file and reloaded, but No, same result. One thing that might influence this situation is I have uploaded 15GB (free upload) except for 400 mb.
I would really like a useable advise here!!
Really help me a lot!!
How do I load files to OneDrive and still keep a copy in my computer?
I would also like to know if it it possible to make files/folders stored in my OneDrive folder on my computer also available offline using Windows 7? Or is this facility only available with Windows 8.1. I have enabled offline working on the computer but there is no option in OneDrive to mark files to also be available offline. Many thanks for any help on this.
is there any way to copy files to one drive from pc without copying them to one drive folder? for example i want to sycnh all my documents, is it necessary to make a copy of all the documents in one drive folder?
I went through all these steps but only the folders are copied to Onedrive – none of the files.
My One Drive keeps coming on and gives me the message that it is UPloading over 16 GB, consisting of over 8000 files. This is not the usual syncing (or updating) of files). It goes very slow and never finishes. I have no idea what files it is uploading, where they are uploading from or why. I have to right click on the One drive icon in the notification and click on exit to get it to quit, but then it will do it again. I finally let it run all night and it looks like it just looped and did it over again. What is happening and what can I do to fix it.
Hi, is there any way how to make data from OneDrive available ONLINE only in Windows7?
I have my files stored on a partitioned D drive. How can I get the D drive recognised so that OneDrive synchronises with it ?
One Drive needs some serious fixing. It is killing my internet. It needs to be configurable to only run late at night or between strict hours
I have little space on my C drive where my One Drive is. I’m using Windows 7.
I have more space on my E drive, so would like to change the drive. Is it as simple as changing the C to E or would that upset the apple cart!!
I have files to upload to OneDrive, using the cloud as an external hard drive. I need more space on my hard drive. Is it possible to upload the files to OneDrive, AND delete them from my computer. In other words, if I upload 50GB to OneDrive, will I be able to remove them from my hard drive’s OneDrive folder?
I installed onedrive on my w7 desktop and set up a number of folders with photos in them.
I installed the onedrive app on my ipad and everything was fine – I could see all the pictures I had put into onedrive on my pc.
However, when I made any changes to folders or added pictures on the ipad, these changes were not reflected back on my pc.
I checked for WSearch running in Task manager and it is running.
How can I sync onedrive between my ipad and pc?
Thanks
I already have ONE DRIVE set up….but it does NOT sync!! Files at work computer do not reflect files on home PC….how do I force a sync??????
Nothing is working as such. While installation not able see options after first step, either it is failing to install but see a one Drive folder in my favorite option. When I open that folder, I don’t see anything synced. Then check for OneDrive system tray, that is also not present. Right clicked on oneDrive folder on favorite but don’t see any option for sync. Its like one folder created as a new folder of windows.
Please suggest.
Very very useful article. Thanks for the help!
Good article, but some years later some details are different, e.g., “save all” (desktop+documents+pictures) is a disaster, it moves these folders into the Onedrive folder, and “good old apps” not checking the registry for “where are my pictures today” hate this.
The old sync-FixIt is apparently gone, or rather, I haven’t found it on support.office.com. “Choose folder” is apparently also gone, I only get my existing old SkyDrive folders.
Something that still works, and you haven’t mentioned it, OneDrive can be added to the network places (nethood), e.g., for box MYBOX with OneDrive below userspublic the network location is \MYBOX\UsersPublicOneDrive
Great instructions. Worked like a charm! Thanks much.