Dec 13, 2016

If your organisation uses Office 365 then you have the ability to save files to the Cloud – to OneDrive. Saving files to OneDrive provides some benefits to both you and the people you work with.

One of the best things about saving files to OneDrive is that you can provide access to a file to anyone by Sharing it. Sharing means sending a link to someone that they can click on to open and edit the original file, rather than sending them an attachment.

There are a few options when sharing a file. You can share it with specific people, and determine whether they can edit or only view the file. You can also create a sharing link that allows anyone with the link to open the file.

Getting Started

The first step is to save the file to OneDrive. Once that’s done, there is a Share button on the right side of the Ribbon. Click this to display the Share task pane:

Sharing with Specific People

The Share task pane has a search box so that you can find the person you want to share with (if they are in your organisation). To perform this task:

1. Click into the box and start to type the name of the person to share with
2. Choose a name from the list of suggestions
3. Choose whether you want to give them Edit or just View access
4. Type a message to them, explaining their permissions

You will then see their name along with yours underneath.

The other person will get an email with a link to be able to open the file:

Creating Sharing Links

If you want to send a link or just create a link that anyone can click on to open the shared file you can choose Get a sharing link at the bottom of the Sharing task pane.

Click this gives you two options:

Once you click one of the Create a link buttons (or both!), you can use the Copy button to copy the link and then paste it wherever you need it.

Send as attachment

There is also an option to simply send the file as a good old fashioned attachment. Two options are given: Copy of original file and PDF. So if sharing the file by way of a link is not possible, you can still enable the other person to see it.

For more information, take a look at New Horizons' Office 365 training courses.