OneDrive

Please note that Microsoft offers another storage service called OneDrive. You may already be using your own personal OneDrive to store personal documents and other content in the cloud. This service is different from your UoC OneDrive :

• Personal OneDrive is online storage that you get with Microsoft, Hotmail or Outlook.com email accounts. Use your personal OneDrive to save your own documents, photos, and other files in the cloud. You are free to decide how you want to use it and can access it from your Windows computer, in a web browser or via a mobile app.
• UoC OneDrive is online storage intended for storage of your files whilst you are a student at UoC. Your UoC OneDrive is managed by the University. It allows you to work directly on your files, documents and assignments in Office365 and also lets you share and collaborate on working documents within your groups.

The remainder of this page is mostly about how you interact with your UoC OneDrive from a web browser, but you can also use the OneDrive mobile app for iOS and Android or by saving files on a UoC computer/laptop.

Login to the Student Hub at https://hub.cumbria.ac.uk/ and you will find OneDrive in Systems:

Clicking the link will take you directly through to your own UoC OneDrive. You may occasionally be asked to login if working on your own device or off campus.

When you are working on a University of Cumbria computer or laptop - you can open the UoC OneDrive from any Windows Explorer window. Open This PC from the desktop or any other folder on the device. You will now see a link to OneDrive - University of Cumbria in the left-hand menu.

You can view your files and add new documents to your storage at anytime, anywhere and via almost any device.

View files: Click on the file name to view that file. If it is not a OneDrive support file type, the file will download rather than display.

View folders: Click on a folder name to view a list of files within that folder.

Upload files: Drag a file into the OneDrive window to upload it to the current folder or click on Upload to browse for a file on your computer:

Download files: Click on the three dots menu that appears next to the document name and select Download:

Saving files when working online (OneDrive/Office365)

You do not need to do anything when working on your files in OneDrive - these will be automatically saved every time you make changes.

Saving files from a UoC computer or laptop

• Open the file you want to use
• Choose File - Save As.
• Select Browse
• Scroll down to Computer, and then select Personal - OneDrive (P)
• Specify a name for the file, and then choose Save.

Saving files from your own computer or laptop

If you are using destop software (e.g. Word) and want to save the document into OneDrive, save your file(s) on your own computer and then simply use the instructions (above) for Uploading files to OneDrive.

Saving files from your mobile device

If you are working in OneDrive, the files will save automatically.

If you are using an Office App, there is an option (three dots menu) to resave your file(s) when you have completed editing. You can also open the OneDrive app and choose to upload your file(s) from your device storage.

To edit a document that is stored in your OneDrive, simply click on a document name and you can edit it online*. All edits will keep saving automatically.

Alternatively; with a document open in OneDrive (supported Office documents**), you can select to open that document in the corresponding program on your computer:

If you choose to edit documents on your device (not directly in OneDrive), you will need to save your changes and re-upload the document(s) into the OneDrive when you are finished.

* Documents that can be edited online include most document formats from Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, plus text files. OneDrive will normally convert the edited file to the latest file formats e.g. .docx, .xlsx etc.

** Documents that can be opened in the corresponding Office program, on your computer, are recent and current versions of files that open in Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

Using the desktop, mobile or app versions of OneDrive, simply login and select the + New link at the top of the page:

You can create a New Folder to organise your files into Years, Modules or anything other criteria that makes sense to you.

You can also create new documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Forms and web links). These will be saved into your current location in OneDrive.

Click on the three dots menu that appears next to the document name and select Delete:

Any documents or files that you delete in OneDrive will go into the Recycle Bin (available from the main menu). They will remain there for 30 days before being permanently deleted.

You can recover documents and files from the Recycle Bin with this 30 day period.

By sharing a file with the ability to edit - you can collaborate on documents for things like group projects and everyone in the group can have access to a single copy of your project.

There are a number of ways to access the share and collaborate tools in OneDrive.

On the desktop, you can hover your mouse pointer to the left of the three dots menu of any file and a sharing icon will appear:

You can also click on the three dots menu... to select the Share option.

Selecting a document/file will also change the top-bar menu on your current page - this includes sharing options:

From the Sharing window - you can add the names of people to share with (if you have previously shared with them) or enter email addresses to share to:

If you want to choose an audience or restrict editing - click on the section that says "Only the people you specify who have this link can edit." and choose different options:

Click on the three dots menu that appears next to the document name and select Version history:

This will present you with a list of version of the current document (uploads and saves) which will allow you to go back and choose an earlier version of any document you have amended or overwritten in OneDrive. 

• Introduction to OneDrive and Office Online
• Getting Started with OneDrive
• Create and Share Office Documents
• Upload, Sync and Manage Files
• Working with Office Online

See the Mobile Apps page to download mobile apps for OneDrive, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel and more.

To add your university account to the OneDrive mobile app:

1. Open the OneDrive app
2. Click on the profile icon (top left)
3. Select to + Add Account
4. Login with your university email and password
5. Follow any additional OneDrive instructions including MFA authorisation to confirm securely confirm your identity.

This process will also work to add additional personal accounts to your OneDrive app.