Tech: Syncing One Drive

Subject: Tech: Syncing OnceDrive
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 10:35 AM

Last month I had to buy a new laptop. I have an existing subscription with Office 265 which includes a large amount of cloud storage (one drive). However, I cannot get my windows file explorer to point to it b or get my office software to synchronise to it. Instead, it created a new onedrive with much reduced storage.

I can access my 'big' onedrive via a web browser and download, but this is very cumbersome and unacceptable. I can't find anything that helps on Microsoft's support page.

Can anyone give me step by step instructions about what I need to do, on the basis that am am a complete idiot (ie jargon free).

Subject: RE: Tech: Syncing OnceDrive
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 10:55 AM

You need to sacrifice a chicken, burn it and then create a pentagram on the laptop with the ashes. It's the only way.

Subject: RE: Tech: Syncing OnceDrive
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 10:57 AM

Tried that - didn't work - wrong type of chicken?

Subject: RE: Tech: Syncing OnceDrive
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 03:41 PM

Try a virgin, or better two. Alternatively, go to a forum about OneDrive.

Subject: RE: Tech: Syncing OnceDrive
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 04:37 PM

Try getting there from your email platform. I've discovered that when I log onto my university email account (Outlook) that if I poke around in the other stuff (look at the symbols in the upper right or left corner, the tic-tac-toe pattern, I think) that that's where I can reach all of my related campus storage and apps. Same if I log onto my personal Outlook with a different browser (I don't use the email, it's just there for all of the other MS stuff, but it's the way in).

Subject: RE: Tech: Syncing OnceDrive
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 05:06 PM

Your chances will improve if you describe your problem precisely and with all relevant data, either here or, preferably, on a specialized forum. A quick search led me to https://forums.windowscentral.com/onedrive/ – there may well be better ones. Good luck!

Subject: RE: Tech: Syncing OnceDrive
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 05:07 PM

For got to fill in "From:", sorry.

Subject: RE: Tech: Syncing OnceDrive
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 05:33 PM

If I knew what the precise description of the problem was, then I would be able to ask the right question. Usually when I ask questions on tech forums or search in google I get answers to irrlavant questions. Not just this, but nearly every problem..... so frustrating.

Subject: RE: Tech: Syncing One Drive
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 08:44 PM

Oh - use a browser for Outlook, not the Outlook program itself.

Subject: RE: Tech: Syncing One Drive
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 18 Sep 20 - 04:53 AM

The art of Googling is to choose the right search words. I entered 'onedrive "windows explorer"' and Google came up with this link, among others. This is likely to solve one part of your problem.

Subject: RE: Tech: Syncing One Drive
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Sep 20 - 09:31 AM

Drive mapping usually has to do with connected devices, but it also works with remote desktop kinds of operations (like connecting to servers at your workplace from home). It may mean, however, that you have to use the Windows logon stuff to start the computer to use it. I never use the Windows logon, I don't let it force my hand that way.

Good luck.

Subject: RE: Tech: Syncing One Drive
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 19 Sep 20 - 09:34 AM

Maybe not the problem you are describing, but also finding OneDrive an absolute pain, and my husband more so. He bought a new desktop PC along with a multi-computer subscription to Office 365. He later found that every new document he had created since having it had been saved to OneDrive rather than "my PC", and all the word formatting had changed - underscores, capitals, paragraphing, page breaks etc. Having copied these docs back to "Documents" in my PC, sigh of relief that the original formatting was restored, thank goodness! Seems that if you leave Autosave on, everything will automatically go to OneDrive by default: probably because MS wants you to fill your allocation of storage and then have to pay for more.
I did use the Office 365 sub to upgrade Office on my own Laptop, but discovered this same problem early on and switched Autosave to "off", so I can save to PC (and back up to my chosen storage, which isn't OneDrive!)

Subject: RE: Tech: Syncing One Drive
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Sep 20 - 10:10 AM

There is a dashboard of sorts that pops up to do with saving Word documents and you have to look to see where it is defaulting to. If I don't watch it my documents would store on University servers. I can still see a few things I saved a work several years ago.

You need to Autosave so you don't lose your work, but the best thing to do to keep control of the document is to FIRST open the folder where you want it to live. Right click on the screen in the folder and you'll see "NEW" at the bottom of that popup dialog. Scroll to NEW and then you'll see FOLDER at the top and below it various types of software you have installed. Move the mouse to Word Document, give it a name and save it right there. Then it should stay there.