As part of our ongoing effort to making the transition to Microsoft 365 seamless, Kean IT has created this guide on saving files in Microsoft OneDrive. Saving files to OneDrive is a simple yet powerful way to ensure your important files are backed up and accessible from anywhere. In this article, we’ll guide you through the steps to save your files to OneDrive, helping you take full advantage of its cloud storage, all while keeping your data safe and synchronized across all your devices.
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Autosaving in OneDrive
Microsoft Office applications can save to OneDrive while you are working on them. This does not require any downloads or webpages and can be accomplished within each Office application.
This feature also enables “AutoSave” so that the document will automatically be saved while you work on it, eliminating the need to manually hit the save button. However, AutoSave will only work on files that are saved to OneDrive; you cannot “AutoSave” a document that is only saved to your computer.
First, ensure you are logged into your Microsoft Account within your Office applications through the "Account" tab. For more instructions, click here.
How To Save To OneDrive
When saving a new file for the first time, you may select OneDrive as a save location. This will save it to the default folder. Access OneDrive through web-browser to move it.
The prompt that appears when you Save a document after logging into Office.
“Choose a Location” should look like this screenshot in order to save to OneDrive.
- To save an existing computer file to OneDrive:
- Open the file and go to the File menu in the top left.
- Select Save As on the sidebar. (If you do not see “Save As,” then the file is already on OneDrive. Instead, you will see “Save A Copy”.)
- You will now see “OneDrive – kean.edu” in the list. Click on it.
- On the right, you can save it a specific folder in OneDrive, just like saving to the computer.
If you would like a document to automatically save to OneDrive as you work on it:
- Look at the top left of the window in the colored top bar (blue, green, etc.).
- Notice the “AutoSave” toggle switch, which might say “Off” by default. If it is “On”, then the document is already autosaving to OneDrive. Click on the switch to turn it on or off.
- If you are editing a document that is saved to your computer instead of on OneDrive, you will be prompted to choose a OneDrive account to save it to. Select your Kean account.
- If the document is not named, it will prompt you to enter a name.
- After a moment to save and upload, the prompt will close and you may continue editing.
- The document will now save automatically as you type, even if you do not hit “Save”.
- This will save it to the default folder. Access OneDrive through web-browser to move it.
Note: You should consider OneDrive to be like saving a file to a different computer entirely.
If you save a document to OneDrive, you will not find it by searching on your computer unless you have downloaded the OneDrive application. Without the application, you will only be able to access your OneDrive files through the website or through the Office applications.
If you already had the document on your computer and then began saving it to OneDrive, the copy on your computer will not update when you save. If you would like to start using the Autosave feature, you should delete the original computer copy (usually in the Documents folder).
Manually Uploading Files in OneDrive
Note: As we proceed with the Microsoft 365 migration, your files from Google Drive will be automatically backed up and copied to OneDrive. It is not necessary to manually upload your Drive files.
Microsoft OneDrive can be accessed through any internet browser. You will need to use your Kean Microsoft account, which is accesses through the same SSO credentials as your e-mail. If you are an employee, this account should have been created for you automatically by our IT team alongside the other accounts. If you are a student, please click here for instructions to register for an Office account using your Kean e-mail. If you find that you do not have a Microsoft account, please contact IT.
- Open any web browser, and go to Office.com
- If you are not using Edge, a banner will show that recommends using Edge. However, this can be safely ignored and you may continue using your browser of choice.
- Find the button that says “Sign In”, either:
- a large orange button beneath “Welcome to Office” (above)
- OR in the top right of the screen with an empty profile icon.
- You will be directed to a page with a white sign-in box in the middle. Where it says “Email, phone, or Skype” enter your KeanGoogle e-mail address with @kean.edu.
- Then, select Next. Enter the password for your Microsoftaccount. This might be different from your KeanGoogle e-mail password.
- If you do not know it, select “Forgot my password” and follow the steps given to you.
- The next box will ask you if you’d like to stay signed in. This is a matter of preference. If you select Yes, then the browser will remember your password and might not ask you to log in next time.
When logging in to office, you’ll see an overview of any files on OneDrive.
- You will then be directed to your Office dashboard. It will greet you by name, and on the far left there will be icons for many of the Office Suite software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.). If you have recently used any documents on OneDrive or SharePoint, they will also be listed here.
The Upload button can is on the right somewhat in the middle of the screen, at the end of the file lists.
- You may upload a file in one of two ways:
- Find the “Upload” link in orange on the right side of the screen, at the top of the file list.
- OR, open a File Explorer/Finder window, select the files, and drag them into the Browser. (See the Google Drive instructions above, starting with Step 3a)
- A notice will pop up over the Office webpage with a progress bar. Once it is done, it will open the file you uploaded from within the browser. You may then close the tab.