Dilum Senevirathne · February 5, 2025 · 6 min read 
Microsoft OneDrive is an excellent choice for backing up and syncing your files to the cloud on Windows. It integrates smoothly with Windows File Explorer, making interacting, managing, and sharing files a breeze.
If you’re just starting with OneDrive, this tutorial will show you how to set up, add, and use Microsoft’s cloud storage service in File Explorer.
Before You Begin
The best thing about using OneDrive on a PC is that it comes pre-installed on Windows. But if you can’t find OneDrive, you can easily download it from the Microsoft Store or the official OneDrive website.
That said, you need a Microsoft Account to use OneDrive. If you don’t have an account, you must create one while setting up the cloud storage service—it’s free.
Storage-wise, the base OneDrive plan is only 5GB. You can bump that up to 100GB with Microsoft 365 Basic for $19.99 /year or 1TB with Microsoft Microsoft 365 Personal for $69.99 /year.
Sign In to OneDrive
Select the OneDrive icon on the Windows system tray to get started and choose Sign in. You can also search for and open OneDrive via the Start menu.
A Microsoft OneDrive setup screen will show up—enter your Microsoft Account ID into the Email address field to continue. Or, select Create account to create a new account.
You must then enter your Microsoft Account password. You won’t have to do that if you’re already signed into Windows with the same Microsoft Account.
Set Up OneDrive
Immediately after signing into OneDrive, you must specify your privacy preferences by deciding whether to share diagnostic and usage data with Microsoft. Once you do that, you must determine where you want the cloud storage service to sync your data.
The default location is the root of your Windows user account—select the Change location option if you’d like to pick a different directory.
If you already use OneDrive on other devices, you must decide between syncing all cloud data or only specific items to your PC. If you want to sync everything but have storage concerns, you should be able to use Files On-Demand functionality to manage space (more on that later).
OneDrive will also ask your permission to perform real-time data backups of your Windows user account’s Documents, Pictures, Desktop, Music, and Videos folders.
Use the storage estimator to determine the impact on your cloud storage quota after selecting or deselecting each item. If storage is not an issue, choose Start backup. You can always enable and disable backups for each folder later, so feel free to skip this part.
Access OneDrive in File Explorer
Once you finish setting up OneDrive, you’ll find a new entry called OneDrive in the navigation pane on the left-hand side of File Explorer. Selecting it reveals contents already stored on OneDrive, including your user account folders if you opted to sync them during setup.
Because of File Explorer integration, you can manage your OneDrive files just like any local file. Right-clicking provides options for sharing, copying, deleting, and more.
The symbols underneath the Status column denote the sync statuses of files and folders. A green check mark means a fully synced item, while a cloud icon translates to an item stored in the cloud. A rotating circle indicates an item that is actively syncing.
Use Files On-Demand Functionality
OneDrive supports Files On-Demand, meaning that you can store files and folders in placeholder format to conserve storage. Just right-click an item and select Free up space to remove locally stored data and display an online-only thumbnail instead.
File Explorer will fetch the data from the OneDrive servers when you access an online-only item. If you’d like to always make a file or folder available locally, select the Always keep on this device option on the right-click contextual menu.
Share Files and Folders With Others
OneDrive allows you to quickly share files and folders with others directly from within File Explorer. Start by right-clicking an item and selecting Share.
On the Share pop-up, specify who you want to share the item with by adding their name, group, or email. Select the Edit icon and choose between Can edit (default) and Can view to specify the permission level. If you have a paid storage plan, select Sharing settings to add an expiration date and password.
Next, select Send to email a link to the people you want to share the item with or Copy to add a shareable link to the Windows clipboard.
Use OneDrive’s Personal Vault
Personal Vault is a feature in OneDrive that allows you to store sensitive files—e.g., your insurance information—with your Windows user account password or Windows Hello acting as an extra layer of security.
Double-click Personal Vault within the OneDrive folder in File Explorer and follow the on-screen prompts to activate Personal Vault. You can then store up to three files (or more if you pay for extra storage).
Personal Vault times out after 20 minutes. To lock it before that, select the Lock Personal Vault option on OneDrive’s system tray flyout.
OneDrive’s System Tray Flyout
OneDrive comes with a handy flyout on the Windows system tray. It features shortcuts to your OneDrive folder (opens up in File Explorer), an online recycle bin (you have 30 days to retrieve deleted items), and the OneDrive web app. It also lists the sync statuses of recent items.
Selecting the Gear icon on the top right of the OneDrive flyout gives you access to the cloud storage’s Settings pane, an option to lock the Personal Vault, and the ability to pause and resume syncing.
Re-Configure Microsoft OneDrive
OneDrive has multiple settings that you can modify to change how the cloud storage service works on your Windows computer. To get to them, select Settings on OneDrive’s system tray flyout.
The default Sync and Backup section of the OneDrive Settings pane lets you do the following:
- Choose Windows account folders—Documents, Pictures, Music, etc.—to back up to OneDrive.
- Decide if you want to automatically back up photos and videos from external devices when you connect them to your PC.
- Allow screenshots to save to OneDrive automatically.
- Allow OneDrive to pause syncing on battery saver mode and metered networks.
- Determine the download and upload rates for OneDrive.
- Exclude items with specific file extensions from syncing.
- Enable or disable Files On-Demand functionality.
If you switch to the Account section, you can add additional accounts, enable and disable folders in OneDrive from syncing, and determine how quickly the Personal Vault locks itself.
Then there’s the Notifications tab, where you can specify when you want OneDrive to send you notifications—e.g., when syncing is paused, when others share items with you when you have new “On this day” memories, etc.
Your current OneDrive storage plan and the amount of storage you’ve used should appear at the bottom left of the OneDrive Settings window. Use the Upgrade button above the indicator to subscribe to Microsoft 365 Basic or Microsoft 365 Personal and add more storage.
