Three places that look the same

When you open M365, it seems you can put a file anywhere — and it’s “in the cloud” everywhere. So in practice files end up a bit everywhere, and later nobody can find them. The difference is actually simple and fits in one sentence per place.

OneDrive — your desk drawer

OneDrive is personal work storage. Drafts, your notes, things you haven’t shown anyone yet. Like the drawer in your desk: it’s for work, but it’s yours.

Important: when you leave the company, the drawer leaves with your account.

SharePoint — the company archive

SharePoint is team storage. Contracts, proposals, procedures, project material. The file belongs to the company, not the person, and stays even when the person leaves.

A simple rule: if the file will still matter in a year, it doesn’t go in OneDrive.

Teams — the same SharePoint, just handier

Every Teams channel has its own folder in a SharePoint library. When you upload a file to a channel’s “Files” tab, it ends up in SharePoint.

It isn’t a copy or a separate storage — it’s the same file through a different window. So the question “Teams or SharePoint?” doesn’t really exist.

The whole lesson in one picture — print it out:

Where does this file go?

Will it still matter in a year, or will others need it?
No
🗄 OneDrive — your drawer: drafts, notes.
Yes
Does a team work with it every day?
↓
💬 Yes → the Teams channel's “Files” (it's the same SharePoint).
🏛 No → a SharePoint library: contracts, procedures, archive.
Torn between OneDrive and SharePoint? Choose SharePoint. When an employee leaves, their OneDrive leaves with them.

Tidy up what’s already scattered — AI does the work

You know the rule. But your OneDrive, desktop and Downloads folder already hold hundreds of files, and nobody wants to sort them by hand. That’s exactly the kind of work AI does well: it reads the names, sorts them, suggests — and you just approve.

Copy this prompt, fill in the square brackets and paste it into an AI:

You are my Microsoft 365 tidying assistant. Help me sort my work files so that
each one is where it belongs.

THE RULE WE FOLLOW
- OneDrive — only my personal drafts and notes.
- SharePoint or a Teams channel — everything that will still matter in a year
  or that others need.
- We share files as links, not attachments.

ABOUT ME
- Job: [e.g. accountant, project manager]
- Who I share files with: [colleagues, clients]
- Which Teams channels or SharePoint sites already exist: [if you know]

PROCESS
0. TOOLS. Tell me whether you can see my files yourself (OneDrive or my computer).
   If not, ask for a screenshot of the folder or a list of files.
1. ASK. Ask me the missing questions, one at a time.
2. PLAN. Write a table: file → where it belongs → why.
3. DO. Don't move or delete anything without my approval. If you can move files
   yourself, move only what I approved. If you can't, give me exact steps
   for each file.

GOAL
The job is finished when shared files are in SharePoint or a Teams channel, and
my OneDrive holds only what is really mine.

RULES
- File names are enough — don't read the contents unless I ask.
- Delete nothing. Mark doubtful files "ask".
- Answer in English.

AT THE END
Tell me what was moved, what's left, and separately — WHAT YOU DID NOT CHECK.

🤖 AI route recommended

The AI sees the files itself

If your company has Microsoft 365 Copilot or another AI connected to your work account, it can see the files itself. The prompt above is enough — plus one more sentence:

“Start with the files I've changed in the last three months — they matter most.”

Your job: read the table and approve. Leave doubtful files as “ask” — one question to a colleague is better than a lost file.

✋ Manual route

The AI says, you move

  1. Open the folder, take a screenshot and upload it to the AI chat with the prompt.
  2. Once you have the table, open OneDrive in the browser (office.com → OneDrive).
  3. Select a file → Move to → choose the team library.
  4. A moved file keeps its version history — better than copying and deleting.

One warning. File names often contain client names, and the contents personal data. So do the tidying with a company-approved AI (e.g. Copilot with your work account), not with a personal free account. Why — in the lesson How to start using AI at work (safely).

Why email attachments do harm

When you send a file as an attachment, a second version appears. A colleague edits it, sends it back, you edit yours — and two days later nobody knows which one is right.

A typical situation: a contract travels as an attachment between a sales manager, a lawyer and a client. After the third round of edits, everyone has a different version — contract_final_v2_REAL.docx. The one that gets signed is the one at the top of the inbox. The mistake comes to light when people start carrying out terms that had already been changed.

Instead of an attachment, send a link. There’s only ever one version.

When you share a link, choose who it works for:

  • Specific people — the safest, and the default.
  • Everyone in the company — for internal documents.
  • Anyone with the link — only if you really need it outside the company, ideally with an expiry date.

For team leads: one system for everyone

If everyone organises things their own way, it’ll be chaos again in six months. The team needs a shared structure and a one-page rule. AI will prepare both.

🤖 AI route recommended

Tell it how the team works

“There are [6] people in our team and we [what you do]. Suggest a Teams channel and folder structure, a file-naming rule and a one-page memo for staff on what goes where. First ask me what's missing, one question at a time. If you can create the channels yourself — show me the plan first and wait for my approval.”

Your job: check that the structure matches how you really work, and send the memo to the team — as a link, of course.

✋ Manual route

Three channels to start with

  1. Teams → your team → ⋯ → Add channel.
  2. Start with three: General, Clients, Internal. You'll create more when you need them.
  3. Each channel's Files tab — that's where documents go.

Fewer channels are better than more. A channel nobody posts in becomes one more place where a file “might be”.

Sync is not a backup

This point costs companies the most. OneDrive and SharePoint sync changes — which means bad ones too. When a virus encrypts your files, the encrypted version travels to the cloud within seconds.

Version history sometimes saves the day, but it isn’t a backup. We’re preparing a separate lesson on backups — until it’s ready, the fix below is the minimum.

The three-second rule

Before saving a file, ask one question:

Should this file stay in the company if I left tomorrow?

Yes → SharePoint or a Teams channel. No → OneDrive.

Check yourself

Five questions on what you’ve just read. At the end you’ll get a certificate with your score.