Can you tell me my understanding of Microsoft OneDrive?

[Heathsideboy]

Can you tell me my understanding of Microsoft OneDrive?

If I explain what I think should happen when using Microsoft OneDrive, can somebody put me straight on two things:

1. If I am correct in my assumption on how it should work?

2. If I am correct in my assumption, can somebody explain what I should do to make it work that way?

Imagine I have a document in my documents folder, say for example; a Microsoft Excel document. This could be a timesheet that I change everyday, I then put this as a copy in Microsoft OneDrive on two of my other PCs.

As I change it each day, am I right in assuming that the other 2 computers will also automatically make the same changes? If this is so, how do I make it so that they all change systematically?

If this is incorrect, does that mean that if I make the changes each day, then these changes will also be available on Microsoft OneDrive online?

This is what I would like to happen is that as I make the changes on any of the 3 computers that I have in Microsoft OneDrive, it automatically makes the same changes on the other computers. Is this how it should work and if so, can anyone tell me exactly how to get it to work like this? I have tried but when I make the changes on one computer, the others are not changed.

Or have I got it all wrong with this on how it should work?

Thank you.

HB

 

[Trouble]

Try reading this
https://www.howtogeek.com/183667/how-to-use-onedrive-as-your-default-save-location-on-windows-8.1/
See if that helps you to better understand it.

As I understand it, your local "documents" folder C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents is distinctly different and discreet from your OneDrive documents folder C:\Users\YourUserName\OneDrive\Documents
So storing files in your local documents folder will not support their syncing with other computers using the same account / OneDrive. They would necessarily need to be stored within the OneDrive data structure that all accounts use in order for that syncing to be supported.

There is (in the article) a recommendation to relocate your local "documents" folder to the OneDrive "documents folder". That may or may not be something you would want to employ.
Otherwise, just drop the edited doc into the appropriate OneDrive folder and it should sync from there to the other computers using the same account.

 

[Tim Locke]

I keep all my documents locally. The ones I want to copy I save a copy into the Onedrive folder. I don't want to keep my financial spreadsheets in the cloud but sometimes I want to check that Excel is properly intsalled in my Insider machine...so I copy the files to onedrive temporarily.

A none document example: I have an executable file of the 'old' Windows solitaire suite. I keep that in Onedrive so that every time the Insider build wipes it out I can reload it. Works for that and therefore ought to work for other programs as well.

 

[Grizzly]

You can change the location of your local documents folder to the one in the ONEDrive folder. That way changes in that folder will automatically be synced with the cloud and also on other folders. Now this is quite a security risk as others on other computers with the access to the same cloud account directly can change your own file. I'd recommend to always put a copy in that folder and leave the locations as they are by default

 

[Heathsideboy]

I don’t want to put all of the documents I have in ‘This PC’ into Microsoft OneDrive, I only want to put about 11 folders from my documents within ‘This PC’ into OneDrive. The folders I have in ‘This PC’ happen to be on my D drive.

All I have tried at the moment is to transfer these 11 folders (with files within them) into Microsoft OneDrive hoping that when I changed each file within them, that this would automatically sync with the other 2 computers I have with the same 11 folders in their Microsoft OneDrives and be changed also. This, ultimately did not work and perhaps I am not syncing them correctly.

I haven’t read all of troubles link yet to see what I am doing wrong.

Other than that, if you have a simple step-by-step instruction guide on how to do this, that would be welcome also.

In the meantime, I shall read troubles link thoroughly.

Thanks

HB