What the Heck is OneDrive?

OneDrive is a Microsoft cloud storage and synchronization system. There are two flavors of OneDrive.

1) OneDrive, the installable app, lets you sync files between your Documents, Desktop, and Pictures folder (and other folders, if you want) between your computer's local storage and the OneDrive cloud. So when you create or modify file(s) in one of those folders, it will automatically sync to the cloud.

2) OneDrive Integrated is built into all the Office 365 apps -- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. App and integrated are two different things even though they both access the same OneDrive cloud service.

That means when you save a file in any Office 365 app, it will silently default to saving in OneDrive's online cloud service unless you specifically save in your local Documents folder. And, I might add, it's not immediately and obviously clear how to do that. Worse, there will be no local copy of that file. You almost certainly did not intend for it to work this way. You quite likely expected the file to be saved locally in your Documents (or wherever) folder, just like it did for decades. Erm, that's no longer the case, and hasn't been for a few years now.

You don't even need the OneDrive app installed for that to happen. Your Office 365 subscription includes 1 TB of OneDrive storage. And as mentioned just above, it's automatic when using the Save command in any Office 365 app unless you specifically avoid it.

Pros and Cons to that

To the extent you don't back up your computer (tsk tsk tsk, we need to talk, yo!), that could be a convenience if your computer/laptop were to be lost, stolen, or damaged.

But Microsoft should be more clear on what's happening here. If you deliberately declined the more visibly exposed OneDrive app, thinking you're home free, you may still be inadvertently using the integrated OneDrive feature in the various Office 365 apps when you save your files.

Unless you are deliberately saving locally, then your files quite likely aren't residing on your computer at all, especially if you're saving in Word or Excel and not paying attention to where the files are being saved. That would make them unavailable if you lose internet connectivity for whatever reason. Or, worse, if your Microsoft account became compromised and locked-out. That happens disturbingly often. Regaining access is often impossible.

If you have a lot of data (pics and vids mainly) exceeding the 1 TB limit, you could be forced to buy additional storage which isn't easy. Not easy because Microsoft doesn't really cleanly offer OneDrive as a separate product SKU. It's included with office 365.

Regulated Entities

If you are a business user and your business is subject to certain regulations regarding data handling practices, then you could be in violation for inadvertently saving data in the cloud. e.g. Regulations like HIPAA, GLBA, SOX, PCI DSS, FERPA, etc. It's up to you to know that.

Thanks for that, Microsoft. Can I send you the fine to pay for me?

My Advice

OneDrive is ... ok. I don't hate it, and I do use it for one or two very specific purposes, but not for everything. But you need to be aware if you are using it or not and to understand its limitations.