What is Microsoft OneDrive for cloud storage

Microsoft has many essential services in our day to day and who does not know or have used tools such as Excel, Word or PowerPoint. But in addition to document creation, Microsoft also has cloud storage with Microsoft OneDrive that allows us to save documents and photos.

If you are thinking of using Microsoft OneDrive, in the following paragraphs we will explain what is the tool or service that allows free storage in the cloud for all users or payment plans for up to 6 TB.

What is Microsoft OneDrive

OneDrive is a Microsoft service or tool that allows us to store content in the cloud to be accessed from any device and from anywhere. We can access it from mobile applications or from the browser, entering our Microsoft account and accessing all the content that we have stored in the cloud and with access to all the files.

OneDrive allows us to make backup copies of photos and documents to always access and not lose the data even if our computer or mobile phone breaks, but it also allows us to share the folders and files that we have stored in the cloud to share photos with relatives or documents with coworkers or classmates, for collaborative work.

How to access and upload and download files

We can access Microsoft OneDrive from the free application for mobile phones whether you have an Android or iOS tablet or phone… But OneDrive also allows access from the browser. You simply have to go to the Microsoft website and log in with your email and password and you will automatically access the cloud where you can download the uploaded files or where you can drag whatever you want to upload them to your personal cloud

It is very easy to use and we can see recent files, the recycle bin or we can organize all the photos and documents stored by folders .

Price and plans

Just by having a Microsoft account we already have access to OneDrive at no cost, without paying anything. It is completely free to have a personal storage of photos or files in the cloud but we must bear in mind that it is only 5 GB maximum.

To have Microsoft OneDrive we have to hire one of the plans offered by Microsoft 365 or the only available OneDrive plan, Standalone. If we only want storage, we can buy the OneDrive Standalone 100 GB plan for 2.00 euros per month that offers us only storage, with a total of 100 GB, but without access to other programs or services such as Word, Excel, etc.

In the case of Microsoft 365 it can be for companies or for individual users with the home plans that allow multiple users in a single plan . The personal plan with annual subscription is Microsoft 365 Personal for €69.00 per year or €7.00 per month. It allows us 1,000 GB of storage (1 TB) in OneDrive, but also access to applications such as Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Microsoft 365 Family is another of the plans that is priced at 99.00 euros per year with up to six users included with 1,000 GB per person, a total of 6 TB.

How to get more free space on OneDrive

There are several options with which we can get more space on OneDrive: in addition to freeing up the one we are not using, we can get codes or bonuses that will help us multiply the gigabytes.

There is no doubt that an effective technique to get free space on OneDrive is to delete all those files that we no longer want to have stored in the cloud. In this way, we can free up space and use it to store other documents, photos, videos, etc. Files that we want to have safe in the cloud and that we can access at any time from any place and device.

As soon as we enter our account, if we select the Manage storage option, a bar will appear showing the amount of space we have occupied. But if what we want is to know what we are really occupying it with and thus be able to decide what we want to eliminate, then all we have to do is click on the option What is taking up space?.

This will show us all the files and folders that we have saved in our space. From there, all we have to do is mark each of the elements that we want to delete and, finally, click on the Delete button that is shown in the upper bar. In this way, we will be freeing up part of our free space in OneDrive to store new files.

Currently it is possible to increase the storage available in OneDrive for free, either through the referral program or through Microsoft Rewards.

Rewards

Previously, it was possible to increase storage in this application for free if we were users of devices such as Surface or some Samsung brand equipment, which offered up to 200 GB of free storage.

Update: As of today (October 2021) these types of promotions for the purchase of Surface or Samsung products are not active. In addition, they add the following: “From July 25, 2019, Samsung will no longer provide new customers with the 100 GB offer on Samsung devices on which the OneDrive application is pre-installed.”

In the case of having a student account associated with a university, you will not have more space either. The 5 GB are those that Microsoft includes in its student profiles and you can expand it through referrals or by buying a plan.

Referrals

Now, if we have 5GB occupied and we do not want to delete anything from everything we have saved, then we will have no choice but to expand our space. If, in addition, we want to do it completely free of charge, then we will have to use the referral bonus that the cloud storage service has.

In this way, we can get more free space on OneDrive. We just have to invite our friends to use the Microsoft cloud storage service. Specifically, for each friend who signs in to OneDrive as a new customer, both we and our friend will receive an additional 0.5 GB of space for free.

The maximum free space in OneDrive that we can get through the referral bonus is 10 GB , so we can enjoy a maximum of 15GB of free space in total .

To recommend the use of the storage service, what we have to do is enter our account and select the Manage storage option. Once there, we will find information about the space occupied, the current plan and the option to get more free space in OneDrive by bonus.

With the simple fact of clicking on Get more , a small window will appear in which we can choose how to share the link that we will have to send to our friends, although we can also do it via Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or Sina Weiboo . From then on, for each friend who creates an account and logs in as a new customer, we will see an increase in our free space by 500MB or 0.5GB.

Through certain campaigns or promotions, we may get a coupon that allows us to get additional storage space. In that case, from the Manage storage page, we will be able to redeem said code and expand our free space.

Microsoft Rewards

The Redmond company has a specific rewards program that offers prizes in exchange for promoting and using some of the brand’s services. Through this loyalty program we will be able to play different applications, carry out surveys or tests and we will accumulate points that will be exchangeable for prizes. It is essential to be signed in with our Microsoft Rewards account before participating in any of the actions to earn points. The alternatives to earn points offered by the Microsoft Rewards program are:

Games and surveys on Microsoft products.
Opinion questionnaires on specific products.
Perform searches in Bing (if they are from Microsoft Edge they score more)
Use the Windows 10 search box to search the web.
Make purchases in the Microsoft Store online.
Use Cortana with Bing.
Play Microsoft Rewards program games on Xbox One.

From Microsoft they give us guidance so that we can calculate the value of the prizes that can be obtained, every 5,000 points will allow us to exchange a prize worth approximately 5 dollars.

Microsoft 365 trial period

Microsoft 365 is the most popular office suite, formerly Microsoft Office. It is true that the subscription to the annual program with the family account involves a fee of €99 per year , which, looking only at the OneDrive service, means having 1 terabyte of storage in the cloud. The monthly fee, dividing the €99 per year by 12 months means a cost of €8.25 per month. This fee is cheaper than the individual Dropbox plan, for example, whose price is €9.99 per month (it is true that the storage space would be double) and it does not offer more applications than the storage service itself on the cloud. In contrast, Microsoft 365 offers its entire office suite within the mentioned fee.

In any case, Microsoft 365 has a 1-month free trial , if we add this trial month to the months that we can acquire with the Microsoft gift card that we would exchange for Microsoft Rewards, we could accumulate free storage space for a long time.

OneDrive folder location in Windows

By default, OneDrive files are stored in a specific folder, but if you want them to be saved in another, follow these steps:

Type OneDrive in the Start window
Select the OneDrive application (with a blue cloud)
Right-click and a window opens.
Choose Settings
A new window will open with tabs at the top
Select the Account tab.
Click on the link that says “Unlink account” and another window will open.
Enter your Outlook email address and you will be logged in.
Select “This is your OneDrive folder”
Tap on “Change Location”

Before continuing with this wizard, to avoid having to download the data again we must move the folder that we have used for the cloud up to now (which by default will be in the path C:/Users/xxxx/OneDrive (changing xxxx for our name username)) to the path we are going to use from now on, for example, on D:/, the second hard drive. Once the folder has been moved (it is an optional step, but this way we will avoid downloading the files again and we will free up the occupied space) we return to the window from before and log in to the client again.

Once done, you choose the new folder or path where you want all the files to be saved from now on.

Choose the files you want to be synchronized with the PC
Click on Next and it will be synchronized.

In the explorer that appears, we must choose the new OneDrive path, the path where we have moved the folder before (or where we are going to download all the files again). In the event that the folder already exists, a window will appear with a warning that we must accept so that the files in the folder and in the cloud are merged.

If you left folders unsynced, once it completes you’ll need to do it again. This time you should go to the Windows 10 taskbar (it’s at the bottom of the screen). If this does not appear, click on the arrow Show hidden icons.