OneDrive for Business Setup

Microsoft states 1 TB of cloud storage per user on the Microsoft 365 Business plans, including Business Basic. In practice storage is rarely the constraint for a normal business — the constraint tends to be people storing organisational files in personal OneDrive where nobody else can reach them. Checked 21 September 2026.

Ownership. OneDrive is attached to a person; SharePoint belongs to the organisation. The practical test is simple: if the business would suffer when that person leaves, the file belongs in SharePoint. Technically the two are closely related — a OneDrive is effectively a personal site — but the consequences when somebody resigns are completely different.

Handled properly: sign-in is blocked on the day, the OneDrive is delegated to their manager, anything operational is moved into SharePoint, and only then is the licence reclaimed. Microsoft does retain a departed user's OneDrive for a configurable period after account deletion, but that is a window to act in rather than an archive. Without a documented process, what usually happens is the account stays licensed and active for months.

It redirects Desktop, Documents and Pictures into OneDrive automatically, so files people save to their desktop are backed up without anyone having to think about it. Yes, turn it on. It is the single highest-value OneDrive setting and it is the difference between a lost laptop being an inconvenience and being a genuine loss.

Not with Files On-Demand enabled, which is the default. Files appear in the folder but download only when opened, so a 1 TB allowance works fine on a 256 GB laptop. Where it does cause trouble is people marking enormous folders as always-available, which is a configuration and training matter rather than a product limitation.

It helps materially and it is not a complete answer. Version history plus point-in-time restore of an entire OneDrive means encrypted files can often be rolled back, which is a real advantage over a local drive. It does not cover everything, and it is not a substitute for a proper backup or for the endpoint protection that stops the ransomware running in the first place.

No. It is sync — which means a deletion syncs too. Version history and the recycle bin cover accidents found reasonably quickly, and neither covers something discovered months later. If losing a year-old file would matter, that needs third-party backup as a separate product.

Yes, and whether they should is a policy decision made during setup rather than left at the default. Sharing from OneDrive is appropriate for a one-off document; for anything a client relationship depends on, it should be coming from SharePoint, where it does not disappear when the sender leaves.