Microsoft’s cloud storage, OneDrive, can back up your files online. It’s built into Windows 10. With it you can sync files on your Windows 10 PC to the cloud and to your other Windows PCs, your smartphone or tablet (with the OneDrive app for Android, iOS, or iPadOS installed), and even your Mac (via the OneDrive Mac app).
It’s handy for collaboration, too. You can share files or folders in your OneDrive with anyone by sending them a web link to it. If it’s a Microsoft Office file, then you and others can collaborate on it with the web app versions of Excel, PowerPoint and Word. Anyone with a Microsoft 365 subscription can also use the desktop versions of these Office apps to work together on the file.
Here are the essentials for using Microsoft OneDrive on a PC. While these instructions focus on using OneDrive through Windows 10’s built-in File Explorer, OneDrive integrates similarly with Finder in macOS.
Let’s get started
When you sign in to your Windows 10 PC with a Microsoft user account, OneDrive is already activated by default. (If your company uses Outlook or you have a free account on Outlook.com, then you already have a Microsoft user account. If not, you can sign up for one for free.)
