OneDrive is a file hosting service from Microsoft. First launched in August 2007, OneDrive allows users to store files and personal data in the cloud (on the Internet). You get 5 GB of free storage with your Microsoft account. If you subscribe to Microsoft 365 you get 1 TB of cloud storage with advanced protection and Office apps. With Gmail, you can send up to 25 MB in attachments and if you have more than one attachment, they can’t add up to more than 25 MB. OneDrive is a good way to share those files that are too big to send by email. Here are some Canadian dollar valued plans. In the US, prices are a bit lower.

• 5 GB OneDrive Basic – Free
• 100 GB OneDrive Standalone – $2 /month CAD
• 1 TB OneDrive Microsoft 365 Personal $79 /year CAD or $8/mo. with Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• 6 TB OneDrive Microsoft 365 Family – $109 /year or $11/mo. with Office

There is an instructional document that is given to you when you sign up. You will need an email address to create a OneDrive account. You can share your OneDrive files, including photos and videos, with colleagues, friends, and family.

Add files from your computer

To add files to OneDrive, just drag them into your computer’s OneDrive folder using File Explorer or Finder. The files will automatically sync across all of your devices that have OneDrive installed. So you can drag a photo from your laptop to your OneDrive—and later open it in OneDrive on your phone.

To add photos and videos on your phone or tablet to OneDrive, use the OneDrive app. Even better—you can also choose to turn on camera backup to automatically save the photos and videos you take to OneDrive. So even if you lose your phone or tablet, you won’t lose your memories! You can also add files from any computer, tablet, or phone by using the OneDrive website. Just go to OneDrive.com, sign in, and then tap or click Upload.

Learning OneDrive

There is a video on YouTube called How to use Microsoft OneDrive that has a lot of views. It is about 24 minutes long. It is by Kevin Stratvert. Over at Udemy.com there is a course called Utilizing Microsoft OneDrive to Effectively Collaborate.

Collaboration

OneDrive works with Office, so it’s easy to collaborate. Instead of sending around different copies of documents, you can give other people permission to edit the document directly. You can even collaborate with people who don’t have Office installed on their computers—they can open and edit documents in OneDrive using Office Online.