What is OneDrive? Things to know about Microsoft cloud storage

If you have a Microsoft account, you get 5 GB of free storage space in the Microsoft cloud storage called OneDrive. If you need more storage for business tasks, simply choose the paid OneDrive sub­scrip­tion.

What is Microsoft OneDrive?

OneDrive is a cloud service, meaning it provides external data storage. You can use it to store important data as a backup, share files with others, and col­lab­or­ate on documents. It works in­de­pend­ently of your device and location.

Windows users are familiar with OneDrive, as it has been in­teg­rated into the operating system since Windows 10 and comes included with every Microsoft account. Like other cloud services, it allows you to upload data to the Microsoft cloud with a single click, back up your files, and share selected content with other users.

What functions does OneDrive offer?

To use the OneDrive functions, simply sign in with your Microsoft account. Signing in also gives you access to other Microsoft online services such as Word, Excel, Teams and Skype. If you use Windows 10, you will already be able to see the OneDrive icon in Windows Explorer.

The most important functions of OneDrive include:

• Upload and download files to or from the cloud
• Share selected files with others for editing
• Use col­lab­or­a­tion functions with Microsoft services such as Word and Excel
• Move files to the OneDrive folder on desktop to syn­chron­ise files between cloud and computer
• Syn­chron­ise changes to documents and files between the cloud and end device
• Access to cloud storage re­gard­less of location or device
• Mobile cloud access to data via app (for Android, iOS, Windows Phone)
• Storage expansion through paid OneDrive packages
• Direct saving of Office documents in OneDrive via the ‘Save as’ function

Re­quire­ments for using OneDrive

The use of OneDrive requires a re­gistered Microsoft account. The following minimum technical re­quire­ments and re­stric­tions also apply:

• At least Windows 10
• At least macOS 13.0
• No Linux support
• At least 1 GB RAM
• Fast internet con­nec­tion

In principle, OneDrive can be used with newer computers, laptops and smart­phones without any problems. If you’re logged in as a Microsoft user in Windows 10 or Windows 11, you already have OneDrive as an in­teg­rated Microsoft feature.

Which OneDrive variants are available?

Microsoft’s cloud storage OneDrive is not only offered as an app in your Windows operating system or via the browser, but can also be used via various other end devices. Other OneDrive app and client variants are:

• OneDrive client for Mac
• OneDrive for Xbox
• OneDrive for HoloLens
• OneDrive for Surface Hub
• OneDrive for Microsoft Tablets

You can also use the OneDrive mobile app. In addition, you can use it to access your cloud data on Android (from 6.0) and iOS (from 16) and edit it as you wish.

Ad­vant­ages of OneDrive

Value for money

One of the biggest ad­vant­ages of OneDrive is its strong value for money across different sub­scrip­tion packages. The Basic package offers 100 GB of cloud storage for just £19.99 per year. The Microsoft 365 Personal package includes 1 TB of storage along with essential Office apps and Skype, all for £59.99 per year. If you’re simply looking for free, no-frills cloud storage, the basic option with 5 GB is a great starting point.

In­teg­ra­tion with Microsoft 365

With a Microsoft 365 sub­scrip­tion, you auto­mat­ic­ally benefit from OneDrive premium services, a benefit that’s par­tic­u­larly worth­while for pro­fes­sion­al or academic work. This includes the unlimited and secure OneDrive vault for your most important data, links with expiry dates, password pro­tec­tion, in­teg­ra­tion of Office services such as Word, Excel and Power­Point, ransom­ware pro­tec­tion and a restore function for all changes made in the last 30 days.

Personal vault

For both free and paid packages, OneDrive offers a digital vault for your most important data. The free package allows you to store three files, while the Premium package allows you to store an unlimited number of files.

Quick and easy syn­chron­isa­tion

With OneDrive syn­chron­isa­tion, you can save changes in­de­pend­ently and centrally in the cloud and syn­chron­ise them easily. So, if you access your storage from other (also mobile) end devices, changes are auto­mat­ic­ally applied.

Store files in the cloud as required

By of­f­load­ing your files to the cloud, you free up more local storage space, create important backups and gain flexible access to your files in the cloud.

Dis­ad­vant­ages of OneDrive

Only 5 GB of free cloud storage

Even a simple cloud storage com­par­is­on shows that OneDrive offers re­l­at­ively limited free storage. For example, Google Drive provides 15 GB of free storage, giving it a clear advantage. While OneDrive still offers more than Dropbox’s free 2 GB, it falls short compared to many Dropbox al­tern­at­ives when it comes to free storage options.

Restoring version history not free of charge

The option to restore document and file versions from the past 30 days is only available with paid packages. Ac­ci­dent­ally deleted data in the free cloud storage cannot be recovered.

Limited upload size even with paid packages

Even in paid packages, uploads are limited to files with up to 250 GB per file. You should therefore look out for OneDrive al­tern­at­ives if you want to upload content with more GB.

What does OneDrive cost?

Depending on re­quire­ments and needs, Microsoft’s cloud storage offers various prices and packages as well as Microsoft 365 license models for personal, family or business use.

All package in­form­a­tion is correct as of January 2025.

How secure is OneDrive?

To protect your data, OneDrive offers two-factor au­then­tic­a­tion, which protects your OneDrive and Microsoft account from misuse. Your OneDrive data is trans­ferred and accessed using AES 256-bit en­cryp­tion. The following features provide ad­di­tion­al security:

• A personal password
• Security in­form­a­tion and security questions
• Advanced security features such as ransom­ware and virus pro­tec­tion
• 30-day data recovery with a Microsoft 365 sub­scrip­tion

The most important OneDrive features

The user interface in OneDrive is basically self-ex­plan­at­ory and easy to use. The left side menu shows you the most important items, including your content stored in the cloud under ‘My files’ (1). Documents and media files that you have used recently can be found under ‘Recently used’ (2). Files that you edit or share with others are in the ‘Shared’ folder (3). The ‘New’ option (4) is used to create new folders or documents or to store new folders or files in the cloud.