There is a huge debate raging about which company to use for file sync and share for businesses with many turning to Dropbox to make efficient mobile workforces possible. The only problem with this is the costs don’t scale well. As OneDrive for Business becomes more mature it becomes a real contender for this space especially when integrated with Windows Explorer. Here is how to make this happen for the “Sharepoint Online” shared storage space for an organization:

Configure Sharepoint Online and OneDrive for Business

1. Sign in to Office 365 using your credentials at the Portal Login. Make sure that you click to select the Keep me signed in check box.
2. Switch to the SharePoint Online site by clicking on the Sites tile.
3. Open a document library in Explorer View – we need to do this to obtain the URL for the library.
   1. From your Team Site, select your Document Library.
   2. In the Ribbon, click the Library tab.
   3. In the Connect & Export group, click Open with Explorer.
   4. Click on Allow if an Internet Explorer Security warning pops up.
   5. Explorer should now Launch with your chosen Library
4. Right-click and Copy the URL from the Explorer window address bar.
5. Right-click on the My Computer icon and choose to Map Network Drive.
6. Click the Connect to a Web site that you can store your documents and pictures link, and then click Next two times.

5. Paste the site URL, click Next, and then follow the instructions in the wizard. For example, https://companyname.sharepoint.com/Shared Documents
6. This location will now be added as a Network Location in Windows Explorer

There is still one piece missing from this puzzle which is easily changing folder permissions from Windows Explorer. To do so it is still needed to login to the portal as follows:

1. From your Team Site, select your Document Library.
2. Select the Folder and click on the Share button.
3. In the Share window, click Invite People.
4. In the dialog box, enter the names of the people or groups that you want to give access.
5. As you add names, you can specify the permission level that you want the new users to have.
6. You can also include a personal message
7. When you finish, click Share.

Those are the basics for using Sharepoint Online’s OneDrive for Business to function like Dropbox for Business. If you need any help with this setup contact us and one of our Office 365 Sharepoint Online experts will help.