Tag Archives: OneDrive

OneDrive

OneDrive No Entry Sign

Leave a comment

OneDrive No Entry Sign is one of the icon states of OneDrive / OneDrive for Business on Windows 10. (Reading time 3 min).

It looks like this OneDrive No Entry Sign

It means your OneDrive account is not active – for some reason. You can’t access the files unless you resolve the issue. Here are the possible reasons:

OneDrive No Entry Sign

Account expiry is probably the most common reason. Check your subscription status and renew it. Sometimes, you think the subscription is active but the associated credit card may have expired.

Some Promotions give you extra space. Promotion expiry also leads to a frozen OneDrive account. For example, Samsung mobile purchases have / had a 100 GB OneDrive space promotion. This is limited to a one-year period. After this period, your files using the extra space will be considered as exceeding the quota.

Other option is that you are using more than the quota. OneDrive allows you to exceed the allotted quota temporarily – but after 3 months, it will freeze the account.

The files will not be deleted. But you must act on it and streamline the account either by increasing the quota or deleting unwanted files. Otherwise, after some time the files will be deleted. Exact time for which files are kept is shown in the OneDrive account.

Therefore, OneDrive No Entry Sign should be noticed as soon as it appears and you must act on it quickly.

OneDrive No Entry – buy Office Home

If you are just using OneDrive personal and run out of space, the logical option is to buy more space. But there is a better option. Buy Office Home. It comes with OneDrive…

If you buy the entry level Office Home edition, it gives you 6 TB of space – at just 500 INR (9.99 USD) per month.

Yes – you read it correctly.  See for yourself – India site , US site.
This is as on Sept, 2019.

In addition to this, you get  full Office Pro Plus – for 6 PCs / Mac and Mobile devices. Unbelievable value for money.  When  you compare this to other pure storage vendors, there is simply no comparison. The OneDrive integration with devices (Windows, Mac, Mobile devices) and Office is absolutely top-class. Nothing comes close to it.

The only shortcoming I have seen is that on many occasions, the latest OneDrive client is not installed. Or worse still, the old and the new version coexists. In these cases, OneDrive does not work well. The solution is easy. Just use Windows 10 and make sure you have all patches updated.

Related : OneDrive Knowledge Pack (10 articles as of Sep 2019)

image

OneDrive

Move to OneDrive option

Leave a comment

Small but useful enhancement for OneDrive. When you have the latest version of OneDrive for Business installed (it updates automatically along with Windows Update), you should see a Move to OneDrive option on right clicking any file or folder in Windows Explorer.

Move to OneDrive option

Choose between all the locally configured OneDrive accounts.
Business as well as Personal.

Importance of Move to OneDrive option

Without this option, most users COPIED files and folder to OneDrive. This had two side effects…

  1. The original files stayed on the local drive as a separate copy. This means the same file is occupying space twice.
  2. Often users got confused about which file they are editing / opening – the local copy or the OneDrive based file. This leads to lost changes and further confusion.

Best Practice: Move to OneDrive

The best practice is to MOVE rather than COPY local files to OneDrive. But even if you mention that as a best practice, moving itself is a cumbersome task. Even though everyone understands the difference between Copy Paste vs. Cut Paste, people feel more safe to do a Copy Paste first.

Why? Because they are worried about what happens if the Cut Paste (Move) fails. The reality is, even if a bulk Move fails, only the file which was being moved will get affected. Other files will be either in the source or destination. So there is no real danger of losing all the files in case of a failed Move operation.

Nevertheless, having a direct option for Move to OneDrive is more authoritative and reassuring.

Make sure you include this option in your training material and best practices documents.

Bonus : New OneDrive logo

Hope you have noticed the new OneDrive logo… here it is.

This one is modern and is implemented as an SVG file rather than a raster icon. It uses a more vibrant colour scheme. All Office logos have changed to make it visually consistent.

image

OneDrive

Change filename while the file is open

Leave a comment

Hope you have noticed this handy feature. If your Office files are stored on OneDrive, Teams or SharePoint, you can change the file name WHILE you are editing the file.

It is so simple, but extremely useful. From the title bar, open the dropdown next to the file name. The filename textbox is editable. Change the name and press ENTER. That’s it.

Change file name dialog

What else can you do here?

  1. See Version History
  2. Open the file on web location (OneDrive, SharePoint or Teams)
  3. Share a file (this can be done more easily using the Share button in the ribbon)

Rename not possible with older file formats

image

This is an XLS file. It opens in Compatibility Mode. Live Rename is not possible.

OneDrive

Difference between save to This PC and Browse

Leave a comment

While saving files we see these two options: This PC and Browse. What is the difference?

If it is a local file, Save or Save As – there is no difference. It opens the standard file save dialog showing local PC files.

If this is a OneDrive, SharePoint or Teams file, there is a difference. For saving these files for the first time, we choose OneDrive or Sites (Teams). Therefore, the Browse and This PC does not come into picture.

However, when you are saving a copy of such files, there is a difference. Note that for online files, there is NO Save As option, it is a Save a Copy option.

If you choose This PC, it will still show the standard File Save dialog showing the default folder (typically Documents).

image

But if you choose Browse, it browses the current file save location – which is OneDrive or Teams or SharePoint.

image

Office 365

Store files in Office 365 – Best Practices

1 Comment

(Reading time 3 min ) This article provides concise instructions on where to store files when you have Office 365 E3 or above in your organization. There are multiple places and apps within Office 365 where files can be stored. But there is no clarity about which file goes where.  Here is a simple guide for everyone.

where to store files poster

Continue reading Store files in Office 365 – Best Practices →

Office 365

Productivity Session at CIO meet: Video

Leave a comment

I recently spoke at the CIO Powerlist 2017 event which was attended by 100+ CIOs from India.  Watch my session video – 27 min.

Topics covered

  1. Office 365 Secure Score
  2. File storage best practices
  3. Skype FB best practices
  4. Better teamwork using Office 365 Groups
  5. Chat based collaboration using Office 365 Teams
  6. Team Task management using Planner
  7. When NOT to send a mail (because there is a better option available)
  8. Amazing data cleanup using Power Query
  9. Excel Forecasting – new feature
  10. Automated animation using Morph in PowerPoint
  11. Summary Zoom in PowerPoint

Excel

Pivot Report Sharing

Leave a comment

Here is a fast paced, 8 minute video which will revolutionize Pivot Report Sharing. Using OneDrive or SharePoint, control the visibility and provide full interactivity. Reports render instantly even with large files and low bandwidth.

Pivot Report Sharing articles

New, Improved way of delivering Excel reports: Part 1
New, Improved way of delivering Excel reports: Part 2
New, Improved way of publishing Excel reports: Part 3

Outlook

Outlook Attachments Usage Guide

Leave a comment

Attachments is the most popular and misused Outlook feature. If you are DELIVERING a file – use attachments. If you are Sharing a file – it is best to share the file. Sending CCs is the most important reason why “Teamwork” is inefficient. Here is a practical guide about how you should use Outlook Attachments with Office 365.

Outlook Attachments - Poster

Continue reading Outlook Attachments Usage Guide →

Office 365

Office 365 Storage Guide

Leave a comment

Many customers have deployed Office 365. However, the usage of all components is not optimal. That is why I wrote this short and simple Office 365 Storage Guide. Tweak it as per your specific needs but the base concept is same. No documents should be stored on local My Documents. Storing a document on a particular device makes it unavailable to even the person who created it. That is why, it should go on a cloud storage.  In addition, files stored on the cloud are easier to share with others.

Office 365 Storage Guide poster

Continue reading Office 365 Storage Guide →