Is OneDrive Working, and Is My File Safe?

Your computer is already telling you the answer. It is in the small badges next to your files, and once you can read those, most of the worry goes away.

First: is OneDrive actually running?

Look at the bottom-right of your screen, near the clock. You want a cloud icon. If you do not see one, click the small arrow near the clock to show the hidden icons.

Clicking the cloud opens a panel showing what it is working on and when it last finished.

If there is no cloud icon at all

Press the Windows key, type OneDrive, and open it. It should appear near the clock within a few seconds and start catching up on its own.

If you have to do that every time you sign in

OneDrive is meant to start by itself. When it does not, it has almost always been switched off at startup rather than broken:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Click Startup apps on the left-hand side.
3. Find Microsoft OneDrive in the list.
4. If its status says Disabled, right-click it and choose Enable.
5. Sign out and back in to check that it sticks.

You can also confirm it inside OneDrive itself: click the cloud, then the gear, then Settings, then Sync and back up, and check that starting with Windows is switched on.

If it still will not start on its own, tell us. At that point it is something on the computer rather than anything you are doing, and it is worth us fixing properly. Nobody should have to remember to start their own backup every morning, and a morning somebody forgets is a morning that work is only in one place.

What the badges next to your files mean

Open File Explorer and go to your OneDrive, or to your Desktop or Documents. Every file and folder has a small badge. That badge is the whole story.

The one to remember. A blue cloud outline is not a problem. People see it and assume the file has gone missing or has not saved. It means the opposite: the file is safely stored and simply is not taking up space on your hard drive until you need it.

If you want a file available with no internet, right-click it and choose Always keep on this device.

How to tell if a file is shared

Two ways:

1. Look for the two people badge next to it in File Explorer.
2. Right-click the file, choose OneDrive, then Manage access. That lists everyone who can open it, and lets you stop sharing with any of them.

That Manage access window is worth a look at anything holding client details, payroll or personal information, just to confirm the list is who you expect.

If you are about to share something rather than checking what already is, read How to Share a File Safely first. It is short.

Where you save matters

OneDrive only covers what is actually inside it. A file saved somewhere else on the computer is not covered by any of the above.

The quick check: open the folder and look for the badges. Badges mean you are inside OneDrive. No badges means you are not, and that file exists in exactly one place.

On most computers we set up, your Desktop, Documents and Pictures already sit inside OneDrive, so saving in the usual places is covered. To confirm:

1. Click the cloud icon near the clock.
2. Click the gear, then Settings.
3. Go to Sync and back up, then Manage backup.
4. Desktop, Documents and Pictures should each show as backed up.

If one of them is switched off and you think it should not be, tell us rather than switching it on yourself. Turning it on moves files around, and it is worth us doing it with you.

Synced is not quite the same as backed up

Worth understanding the difference, because it decides what you can fix yourself.

OneDrive keeps your files in two places at once and keeps a history of changes. That covers the everyday accidents:

• Deleted something by mistake? Open OneDrive in your browser and check the Recycle bin. Deleted files sit there for 30 days.
• Saved over a good version? Right-click the file, choose Version history, and open or restore an earlier one. This one surprises people. It has saved a lot of afternoons.

What sync does not do is protect you from something that affects every copy at once, because a change on your computer becomes a change everywhere within seconds. Protecting against that is a separate job from syncing. If you are not certain what cover you have, ask us and we will tell you plainly.

So: for "I deleted it" or "I have broken it," the two tools above will usually have you out of trouble in a minute. For anything larger, text or call us before experimenting.

If OneDrive says it is not syncing

1. Click the cloud icon near the clock and read the message. It is usually specific about what it wants.
2. If it says paused, click Resume syncing.
3. If it asks you to sign in, sign in with your work email address.
4. If it mentions being full, that is a storage limit rather than a fault. Let us know and we will sort it.
5. Restart the computer and give it ten minutes to catch up.

If it is still unhappy after that, text or call us. Do not start moving files out of OneDrive to be safe. That usually makes the tidy-up harder, and your files are almost certainly fine.

On a Mac

The same ideas apply and the badges look similar in Finder, but they appear in a column next to the file name rather than on the icon itself. The OneDrive cloud lives in the menu bar at the top-right of the screen instead of near the clock. Everything else in this guide reads the same way.