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It's seriously slick and easy to use.Īlternately, the web interface, which can be accessed from any computer using your Microsoft ID, lacks a level of sophistication – it doesn't have the simplicity and style of its competitors: Google Drive or Dropbox.
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When running Windows, OneDrive shows up in the navigation pane, right alongside Documents, Desktop, and everything else, to quickly right-click on files and folders to move them to the cloud or make sure you've got local copies available. (Image credit: Microsoft) OneDrive interface This was more notable using the desktop client, which should be less of a concern because this is typically left to run in the background. We found upload speeds to be as expected, however in our tests downloading the same file for offline access took longer than the upload.
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Files (including photos and videos) can be protected with additional authentication, including biometrics, a pin, or a one-time code sent by SMS or email. Whether you’re using OneDrive as an individual, managing important documents as a family, or dealing with sensitive information on behalf of a company, we like the Personal Vault feature which adds an extra layer of security when it’s required. Additional cool tricks include being able to play audio and video files directly from the web, and using AI-enhanced search on photos you've stored in the cloud for spotting landmarks and objects, though this is now commonplace among its key rivals, too. Sharing files and folders with other people is a breeze too, as OneDrive can generate a link for you.įor sharing, when you opt to store your Office files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) in OneDrive, extra tricks get enabled such as autosaving so you never lose your work, and advanced collaboration features to let you work on files simultaneously with other people, right inside the desktop applications or on the web. If you want to save space on your local machine, the option is to just keep a copy in the cloud, which is handy.
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Drop a file or folder into OneDrive, and it gets synced to the cloud and your other devices.
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