How to Sync SharePoint Online (SPO) Files to a Windows PC
- Justin Brady (Deactivated)
- Joshua Cunningham
Please note that this guide will only work with Microsoft Windows. If you have a Macintosh computer please contact the HelpDesk at ext. 5555 for assistance.
Introduction
In this guide I am going to walk you through how to sync all of your division/school/department files in SharePoint Online (new iShare replacement) to your Windows computer. In brief, what we will be doing is navigating to the new MVNU SharePoint Online (SPO) website, selecting which files to sync, and then syncing the SPO files to your computer.
In the old iShare system you would “map a drive” to access your files. With the new SharePoint Online you now use the OneDrive app on your computer to “Sync” the files rather than map them. The advantage of this is that the files can be downloaded to your computer and accessed while offline or off of the VPN.
Sync SPO Department files to your PC
In SharePoint Online each Division, School, and Department have a “Site” in which all of their Division/School/Department files are contained.
To simplify the wording in this guide I will be referring to all Division sites/files, School sites/files, and Department sites/files as simply “department sites” or “department files”.
If you are a member of multiple departments, schools or divisions then you will have access to multiple sites and their files.
Log into SharePoint Online (SPO) and find your department files.
To sync your SPO department files to your computer you will need to log-into the SPO website and select them.
To do this, first open your favorite browser, navigate to sharepoint.mvnu.edu and log in with your username@mvnu.edu and password if prompted. You should then be presented with a page that looks like this:
As you can see from the image above there are a couple ways to access your department files:
You can use the dropdown at the top of the window to locate them. Here is an example of navigating to Engineering's site to access the files:
Or you can scroll down the page and look through the alphabetical All Department Sites list to locate them as shown below with the Engineering site:
Once you have found your desired department site(s) click on it to open the site and its file libraries. Below is an example site home page.
You may see that there are little to no files in your SPO library. By default there will be nothing in the file libraries until the your department has migrated their files from iShare to SPO. View our guide on migrating here.
As you can see there are two sections on the department site home page. Restricted and Read Only and Shared.
The Restricted section is for files that are shared to anyone in your department. Placing a file here will allow members of your department to view and edit it. Note: To store personal files that you only have access to, please use OneDrive.
The Read Only and Shared section is for files that are publicly shared university-wide (To Faculty and Staff). Placing a file in Read Only allows others to view but not edit and Shared allows viewing and editing.
You will most likely want to sync your department’s Restricted files to your computer but you can also sync the Read Only and Shared files if desired. Also, if you are a member of multiple departments, schools or divisions you can repeat the sync process to sync all of their Restricted and Read Only and Shared site files as well.
Sync the Files to your PC
Once you are on the site home page as shown above you will need to decide which files to sync to your computer. For this example we will be syncing all of Test Team 1's Restricted files to the PC but the process is the same for Read Only and Shared and any other department, school or division sites/files.
Click on the See all button located by the Restricted section (or use the See all button by Read Only and Shared if you are syncing those files)
On the next page you will see all of the Restricted files and folders and a Sync button that is highlighted in the image below; click on it.
You may see that there are little to no files in your SPO library. By default there will be nothing in the file libraries until the your department has migrated their files from iShare to SPO. View our guide on migrating here.
Click Sync now.
Click Open.
This step may look different depending on the browser you are using.
Sign-into OneDrive
If you have used OneDrive before all of the OneDrive steps below will be skipped and your SPO files will automatically sync to your computer. You can then move on to Finding the newly synced SPO files on your PC.
Once you have completed the previous step and clicked Open to open OneDrive you will be prompted to sign-into it with your MVNU account. Click Sign in.
Once you are signed in you will then be guided through a OneDrive tutorial. Click Next to start it and follow the images below to click through it.
Finding the newly synced SPO files on your PC
Once you are through the informational tutorial OneDrive and your new SharePoint department files are set up and syncing. To see your files open File Explorer (shown below).
Then click on the new Mount Vernon Nazarene University section on the sidebar and you will see your synced sites/libraries. In this example we only synced the Test Team 1's Restricted files as seen below. You can sync more libraries though, following the same process and they will appear here under Mount Vernon Nazarene University.
Using the Newly Synced SPO Folders & Information on Syncing
Once you have your SharePoint Online files and folders synced to your PC you can then open, edit, add and delete as you normally would. Each time that you edit, add, or remove a file or folder from your department’s SPO file library on your PC it will sync the changes to the cloud with the OneDrive app. You can track the sync progress and confirm that it is done (and in the cloud) using the method below.
Once your edits, additions or deletions are synced you can view the changes on the SPO department website we accessed earlier in the guide.
Checking the SPO Sync Status
Watching the OneDrive Status Icons
You can look at the OneDrive Status icons in the file explorer window to see sync status (See image below) and verify sync completion for each file or folder. See OneDrive Status Icons for a detailed explanation of each icon.
Once all of the status icons are either green check marks or blue cloud icons you will know your file or folder is synced to the cloud. Here is an example of a completed sync.
OneDrive Status Icons
 | The blue circular arrows mean that the sync is in progress. This includes when you are uploading files, or OneDrive is syncing new files from the cloud to your PC. |
 | A red circle with a white cross means that a file or folder cannot be synced. You'll see this in File Explorer or on the OneDrive notification area icons. Click the blue or white OneDrive icon in the notification area to learn more about the problem. For more help, go to Fixing Sync Errors. |
The blue cloud icon means that the file is synced and in the cloud but not downloaded to your device yet. Online-only files don’t take up space on your computer. You can’t open online-only files when your device isn’t connected to the Internet. Learn more about OneDrive Files On-Demand | |
 | A green check mark by a file means that it is locally available as well as synced to the cloud. When you open an online-only file, it downloads to your device and becomes a locally available file. You can open a locally available file anytime, even without Internet access. If you need more space, you can change the file back to online only. Just right-click the file and select “Free up space.” Learn more about OneDrive Files On-Demand |
 | Files that you mark as "Always keep on this device" have the green circle with the white check mark. These files are synced to the cloud and and downloaded to your device. These always available files download to your device and take up space, but they’re always there for you even when you’re offline. Learn more about OneDrive Files On-Demand |
Checking the OneDrive app for sync completion
Once the sync is completed you will also see a confirmation in the OneDrive app itself. To view the app click on the small blue cloud icon in the bottom right of your taskbar (see below). Once you have clicked on the app icon you will see a window showing your sync status. If the sync is completed then it will show OneDrive is up to date.
If you see sync errors please proceed to Fixing Sync Errors.
Fixing Sync Errors
When syncing files to SPO you may see sync errors appear in the OneDrive app. Here is some information for remedying those errors.
File Size
You cannot upload a file with a size larger than 100GB. If your file is too large you can try compressing or zipping the file.
Naming Restrictions
Make sure that your file doesn't contain any illegal or characters (such as <, >, :, ", |, ?, *, /, \) or that the folder includes any unsupported file types. Learn more about Restrictions and limitations when you sync files and folders.
File Path Size
Make sure the entire file path, including the file name, contains fewer than 400 characters. An example of a file path is: C:\Users\<UserName>\Pictures\Saved\2017\December\Holiday\NewYears\Family…
To resolve this error, shorten the name of your file or the name of subfolders in OneDrive, or select a sub-folder that's closer to the top-level folder.
Give us a call
If all else fails give the HelpDesk a call at ext. 5555. We are happy to help!