Microsoft offers a “cloud” storage feature in its Windows 10 and 11 Operating System called “One Drive” with 5 GB of storage space at no cost to you. Any files you store in One Drive are secured by your Microsoft account sign-in security credentials.
Many of my clients say they have no idea what One Drive is or how to use it or why they would need it. There are some distinct advantages to using One Drive.
- 1. Share: One Drive can be used to share one or more files across your devices, such as your computer and your smart cell phone. For example, if you keep your document with medical information and list of current meds on One Drive, you can access that file from your smart phone while at your doctor’s office.
- 2. Sync: One Drive can be used to keep a second, duplicated copy of all of your computer document and picture files. This is called “sync-ing” which is similar to an automatic backup of your files. Files synced to One Drive are not lost if your hard drive ‘crashes’. The 5 GB of free storage is usually not enough for all of your files. The good news is that you can buy lots of extra storage space on One Drive from Microsoft for a low cost (100 GB for $1.99 per month). I highly recommend this option, if you run out of space on your One Drive.
- 3. Recover: If you need to get a new computer, replace your hard drive or recover Windows on your current computer AND you have sync-ed your files to One Drive, your files can be recovered from One Drive to your new or rebuilt computer.
The one exception is that downloaded files in your DOWNLOADS directory are not sync-ed to One Drive. I recommend regularly monitoring DOWNLOADS and moving downloaded files to DOCUMENTS or PICTURES directories. They will then be automatically sync-ed to your One Drive.
Once you get used to One Drive cloud storage, you may wonder why you had not used it before. Contact Linda if you want help setting up your One Drive cloud storage.
I am committed to protect your computers at an affordable price. Thank you for trusting me to keep your computers healthy. Contact us at 239-567-0104 when it is time to renew your protection software, or if you need computer and internet help. Be well.
By Linda Lindquist, April 4, 2022
https://www.computerandinternethelp.com/contact-us
