Office 365: OneDrive Introduction

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Overview

Microsoft OneDrive is a part of your Office 365 account that provides file hosting services, allowing you to upload files and easily access them from a web browser or mobile devices. OneDrive also allows you to share files with other users and work on documents simultaneously, making OneDrive a handy tool for collaborating with colleagues. Note: OneDrive information is stored in "the Cloud" rather than on campus servers. Microsoft controls backup, recovery, and security. Files are encrypted both in transit and at rest, so security should not be a problem. However, while OneDrive's share feature works well for collaborating with colleagues, the fact that you can easily share files and folders on OneDrive means you also need to be vigilant as to what you are sharing (and with whom). 

Migration of Faculty & Staff H: Drives to Microsoft OneDrive - Week of January 5th

UW-Eau Claire will begin the transition away from H: Drives to Microsoft OneDrive with the official switch taking place during the week of January 5th 2026. 

Currently, the University invests funds in both H: Drive and Microsoft OneDrive for file storage. Microsoft OneDrive comes as a part of our Microsoft contract and the H: Drive is an additional expense associated with maintaining hardware and support. The hardware that the H: Drive file storage uses is up for replacement and thus now is the appropriate time to migrate H: Drive file storage to Microsoft OneDrive. The savings realized from not replacing the H: Drive hardware will be reallocated to replace classroom technology.  

There are a number of benefits to using Microsoft OneDrive for storage including the following: 
•    File sharing, versioning, and recovery
•    Increased storage (1 Terabyte per employee)
•    Easier access to files on multiple devices (computer, tablet, mobile devices)
•    File security and auditing (Okta MFA protected) 
•    Cost savings for UW-Eau Claire 

The plan calls for the University to move your H: Drive data to your Microsoft OneDrive over Winter Break beginning the week of January 5th and will be finished by the end of that week. This migration will not impact other file storage on campus such as the W: Drive, S: Drive, and P: Drive and your H: Drive files will be available in read only mode through end of spring semester. Each faculty and staff will have a folder automatically created in their OneDrive account called “Hdrive” that will contain the files from their H: Drive. 

NOTE: Employees wishing to be proactive can manually move, verify and then delete their data from the H: Drive in advance. This not only will ensure your access to your data during the transition period but will also speed up the overall process.


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