Overview of Sharing OneDrive for Business Files and Folders

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Last updated: Oct 13, 2023 by Grosshandler, Mike
2 min read



Files that you store in OneDrive for Business are visible only to you unless you take action to share files or folders.

Departmental Sharing

Since OneDrive for Business is a personal drive, it should not be used as a replacement for departmental folders (V: drive folders) or Microsoft Teams/Microsoft 365 Groups. 

Storage of University Documents

OneDrive for Business, Microsoft Teams, and the University's network drives - your departmental folders (V: drive) in your divisional file space or in your home folder (U: drive) - are all appropriate storage locations for University data, including many kinds of Category 1 Protected Data.  Please see this chart for storage requirements covering various protected data types.

Steps to share

Read these instructions to get started with sharing in OneDrive for Business:

Sharing permissions

You have the option to restrict the level of access (anyone with the link, only people within your organization, only people with existing access to the file, or only individuals you specify). Also, if you opt to disable editing, you can also opt to prevent viewers from downloading the file.

  • Anyone gives access to anyone who receives this link, whether they receive it directly from you or forwarded from someone else. This may include people outside of your organization.

  • People in University at Albany - SUNY gives anyone in your organization who has the link access to the file, whether they receive it directly from you or forwarded from someone else.

  • People with existing access can be used by people who already have access to the document or folder. It does not change the permissions on the item. Use this if you just want to send a link to somebody who already has access. 

  • Specific people gives access only to the people you specify, although other people may already have access. If people forward the sharing invitation, only people who already have access to the item will be able to use the link.

  • Allow editing - When you share items with this type of link, people can edit files, can add files in a shared folder, and can delete files in a shared folder if they're signed in. Recipients can forward the link, change the list of people sharing the files or folder, and change permissions for recipients. If you're sharing a folder, people with Edit permissions can copy, move, edit, rename, share, and delete anything in the folder.

Additional information