Understand Files in OneDrive, Teams and SharePoint

Questions or Issues

  • When should I save something in OneDrive, and when should it go in a Teams channel?
  • Where do my files actually go when I put them in a Teams chat or a Teams channel?
  • What is SharePoint, and why does it keep appearing when I am working in Teams?
  • What changes when a file moves from my OneDrive into a Teams channel?
  • Who can see a file once it is in a channel?
  • How do I reach these files from my computer instead of a web browser?

Environment

  • Bowdoin students, faculty, and staff with a Microsoft 365 account
  • Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint, on the web, in the desktop apps, or on mobile
  • In some versions of Teams, a channel's Shared tab is labeled Files. They are the same thing.

Resolution

Three names, one system

OneDrive, Teams, and SharePoint are not three separate places to keep files. They are three doors into the same Microsoft 365 storage, and which door you use decides who owns the file and who can reach it.

  • OneDrive is your own storage. Think of it as My Documents, online.
  • Teams is where you and your colleagues do the work together.
  • SharePoint is the storage sitting underneath Teams. You will rarely set out to visit it, but it is where Teams files really live.

Once that clicks, most of the confusing behavior in Teams stops being confusing.

OneDrive holds your own work

Your OneDrive is yours. You get 1 TB, and nobody else can see anything in it until you share it. Use it for drafts, notes, and anything that is not yet a group's business. You can share a single file or folder out of OneDrive when you need a second opinion, and you stay in control of who has access.

Because it is tied to your account, work that the department depends on should not live there permanently. When someone leaves Bowdoin, their manager is granted access to their OneDrive to retrieve what is needed, which is a recovery step rather than a plan.

Teams channels hold the group's work

Every Team has a SharePoint site created with it, and files posted to a channel are stored in that site. That is what makes channel files behave differently from OneDrive files:

  • Everyone in the Team can open and edit them, without anyone sharing anything
  • They belong to the Team, so they stay put when people change roles or leave
  • Every save is kept as a version, so there is no need for _v2 or _FINAL in file names
  • Deleting one removes it for the whole Team immediately

For how channels, private channels, and permissions actually work, see Understand Microsoft Teams: Channels, Permissions, and File Structure.

Important: A file you drop into a Teams chat does not go where you might expect. It is uploaded to your OneDrive and shared with the people in that conversation. Only files posted to a channel go to the Team's SharePoint site.

Chats are fine for passing something along quickly. If the group will need the file again, put it in a channel instead, so it does not depend on your account.

SharePoint is the same files through a different window

When you choose Open in SharePoint from a channel's Shared tab, you are not copying or moving anything. You are looking at the same files in a fuller interface, one that adds custom columns, filtered views, and email alerts on changes.

Day to day, work in Teams. Reach for SharePoint when you want those extra tools. See Using Metadata and Tags with Files in Microsoft Teams and SharePoint.

Where to save what

Choosing a location based on who needs the file
What you are doing Where it belongs Why
A draft only you are working on Your OneDrive Stays private until you decide otherwise
Sending a file to one or two people Your OneDrive, shared from there You remain the owner and control the access
Work the whole department relies on A channel in your department's Team Belongs to the Team, so it survives staff changes
A project with a defined group A channel in that project's Team Everyone in the Team can find and edit it without being sent a link
A file you already dropped in a chat It is in your OneDrive Move it to a channel if the group will need it again

Work often starts personal and becomes shared

Most documents begin as a draft in your OneDrive and become the group's once they are ready. Moving a file into a channel is normal and expected, not a sign that you filed it wrong the first time.

Move files through Teams or SharePoint in a web browser rather than dragging them in File Explorer or Finder, so the version history travels with the file. For the steps, see Move Files into a Microsoft Teams Channel.

Reaching these files from your computer

You do not have to work in a browser. Teams channel files and shared folders can appear in File Explorer on Windows or Finder on a Mac, and there are two ways to set that up: adding a shortcut, or syncing.

Note: For everyday access to Teams channel files, add a shortcut. A shortcut follows you to every computer you sign in to, performs better, and removing it later cannot affect anyone else's files.

Sync is the right choice in three specific situations: you need only part of a large library, you work offline with a lot of content on one computer, or a program requires a fixed folder path.

The full comparison and the steps for both options are in Choose How Teams and Shared Files Appear on Your Computer. If your department has moved off the Microwave department drive (J:), start with Find Your Department's Files in Teams.

Two habits worth keeping

  • Treat shared folders as live. Whatever you change in a channel folder changes for everyone, the moment you change it. Deleted items can be recovered for 93 days, but the file is gone for your colleagues right away.
  • Reorganize on the web, not on your desktop. Renaming and moving folders in File Explorer or Finder can break links other people have saved. Do that work in Teams or SharePoint in a browser.

Additional Help

If you are not sure where a file should live, ask before you move it. Sorting it out afterward is harder than getting it right the first time.

  • Bowdoin Bot: chat from any Knowledge Base page for an immediate answer
  • Phone: (207) 725-3030
  • In person: the Tech Hub in Smith Union during business hours
  • Submit a ticket: Service Catalog

Additional Resources

About this article: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by Bowdoin IT staff before publication. If you find an error or something that is out of date, please let us know using the contact options above.

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