OneDrive Training Resource

1. What is OneDrive?

Microsoft OneDrive is a file hosting service operated by Microsoft. It enables you to store, access, share, and collaborate on files from anywhere. You can view files within a browser, share and sync content so you can access it offline. OneDrive also works as the storage backend of the web version of Microsoft Office.

OneDrive is included in your student Microsoft 365 package and provides 1TB of storage space.

2. Navigating to and sign into OneDrive

Navigate to the Blackburn College website (www.blackburn.ac.uk) 

Select ‘Staff & Students’

Select ‘Student OneDrive’ from the Resources for students list

Sign in to OneDrive (https://blackburnlive-my.sharepoint.com/) 
using your-studentID@live.blackburn.ac.uk and your student network password.

3. Creating and uploading files and folders

New files and folders can be created directly from the toolbar

You can also upload files and folders directly from the toolbar

In addition, you can create, open and save files directly from within your Office apps

4. Renaming and moving files

You can Rename and Move files from the ‘My Files’ window in OneDrive by selecting a file or folder and clicking on the three dots icon to the right and selecting the appropriate command.

5. Searching for files

If you can't find a file you can use the OneDrive search function on the top bar, just type a word or phrase in the 'Search' box.

You can narrow or broaden your search results by clicking on 'All files' and selecting an option from the drop-down menu.

You can even just click in the search box, and you’ll see suggestions. For example, the presentation you started yesterday. This is a quick way to get back to what you’re working on. If you see what you’re looking for, just select it to open it.

6. Restoring Files

Restoring deleted files, folders, or previous versions of a file in OneDrive. 

If you accidentally delete a file or folder in OneDrive, you may be able to recover it later from the OneDrive 'Recycle bin'. Items are kept for 93 days from the time they are deleted, unless the 'Recycle bin' is full or they are manually deleted from the site collection Recycle Bin - by clicking 'Empty recycle bin'.

Files 'Restore' enables you to undo all the actions that occurred on both files and folders within the last 30 days. Files 'Restore' uses version history and the 'Recycle bin' to restore, so it’s subject to the same restrictions as those features. Deleted files can’t be restored after they’ve been removed from the 'Recycle bin'. 

7. Sharing Files

The files on your OneDrive are private until you share them. Keep in mind that when you share folders with Edit permissions, people you share with can add the shared folders to their own OneDrive. This lets them keep the folder alongside their own folders and items, easily move items between folders, and more easily work on it offline. Any updates they make sync with the shared folder, so everyone with access to the folder is up to date.

NB. Recipients can add shared folders to their OneDrive, not individual files. If you want the recipient to add files to their OneDrive, put the files in a folder first, and then share the folder.

8. Effective File Management

Naming conventions

Give your files/documents unique and meaningful names. This way they are easier to find or search for. 

Bad practice:

• Document1.docx
• Document1_2.docx
• Document1_6.docx
• Document2.docx

Good practice:

• MobileTechnologies_M1
• MobileTechnologies_M2
• H880_TMA_01
• H880_TMA_02
• H880_EMA

Structuring your files and folders

If you organise your documents/files and folders in a logical way it will be much easier to navigate to and locate your files. For example, create a parent directory/folder called Academic Work 2022-23 with sub folder names aligned to your course codes/names. 

Versioning

If you save your files to OneDrive they are autosaved and you can use the 'Version history' functionality if you need to revert to or access a previous version of your work.

It is also good practice to save your work to your local machine in addition to your OneDrive.

To access the 'Version history' of a particular file or folder select it in the 'My files' window and then select the three dots in the top bar and 'Version history' from the drop-down menu.