File storage for your business

As you continue to set up your business on Microsoft 365, it's important to understand the options you have for where to store your files.

One of the best ways to set up file storage and sharing for your business is to use OneDrive for personal files you want to control sharing with, and SharePoint and Teams for the files everyone or most should have access to.

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OneDrive is a cloud-storage platform where you can store your individual or personal files. OneDrive is tightly integrated with apps like Word, Excel and PowerPoint which makes it a convenient place to store and access your sensitive documents securely.

Use OneDrive when you want to create a document that is only yours, for example, when working on highly sensitive or private information.

To get started with OneDrive, sign-in to download and install the OneDrive desktop app, then follow the prompts to sign in and select the folders you want to sync to the cloud. 

SharePoint is a collaboration tool used to manage and share files and information across an organization. SharePoint allows multiple users to collaborate in one central location.

Use SharePoint when you need to create a document that will be written and managed by a team of people or when it needs to be shared broadly. For example, use it as a centralized location for team members to view project timelines, tasks, and milestones. This allows teams to track progress, stay on schedule, and collaborate more efficiently.

  • To create a new file in SharePoint, navigate to the document library where you want to create the file and click on the New button.

  • To manage files, check out a file to make changes to it, and then check the file back in when you're done.

  • To share files, click on the file and select Share. You can also collaborate in real-time by opening the file in the appropriate application, such as Word or Excel, and enabling co-authoring. To view previous versions of a file, click on the file and select Version History. Learn more about how to manage files in SharePoint.

Teams and SharePoint

When you create a new Team, it automatically creates a corresponding SharePoint site that's linked to the Team.

You can use SharePoint to store and manage files related to your Team's work, and you can share those files directly in Teams. You can also use SharePoint permissions to control who can view, edit, and delete files, and you can use version control to keep track of changes to files over time.

When you create a new Channel in Teams, it creates a new folder in the corresponding SharePoint site. This means that all the files and conversations related to that Channel will be stored in that folder, making it easy to organize and manage your work. 

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Next steps

After you've setup how you'll store files for your business, you'll want to start sharing files and collaborating with others.

Collaborate in Teams

Save and share outside your organization

Tip

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Related topics

Microsoft 365 help for small businesses on YouTube

Move files to OneDrive for Business

Share files in Teams

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