Accessing and Copying OneDrive files from another user's OneDrive

Sometimes when a staff member leaves an organization, we're asked by HR to grant access to that user's former files to a designated staff member.

• If the terminated user had files in their personal network drive, then we would copy those over to the designated staff member's personal network drive. 
• If the terminated user also had files in their OneDrive, then we would grant the designated staff member access to the terminated user's OneDrive files for 6 months.
  • During that 6-month period, you (the designated staff member) can peruse and copy whatever files you need.
  • After that 6-month period, the terminated user's OneDrive is subject to deletion (we'll send you a reminder email 2 weeks prior to deletion). 

OneDrive can be a little complicated to navigate if you're new to its interface. We've created this guide to help you navigate OneDrive in order to preserve the folders and files you need.

How to access another user's OneDrive files and folders

When we grant you access to another user's OneDrive, we'll send you a link you can click on that will take you to that user's OneDrive.

If you lose the link, you can still access the other user's OneDrive with the following steps:

1. In a browser window, navigate to Office.com
2. Click the OneDrive icon (it should show up somewhere in the left-hand sidebar). This will take you to your own OneDrive.
   
3. Click Shared on the left-hand side of the page. This will show you all the files and folders that have been shared with you. 
   
4. The folder name will start with the terminated user's first and last name. Simply click on the folder to open it. 

How to copy another user's OneDrive files and folders to your own OneDrive

It's important to note that just because a folder or file shows up in the Shared tab, that doesn't mean the file is copied to your own OneDrive. Access can be revoked from Shared items at any time. In the case of the terminated user's OneDrive folder, access will be revoked after six months (and the folder itself will be deleted). It is crucial for you to copy the files and folders you need over to your own OneDrive prior to the end of that six month period. Here are the steps to do just that:

1. Continuing from the steps above, once you've found a folder or set of files you'd like to copy, first select the files and folders by checking the box to the left of them (you'll see those boxes if you hover over the files). 
2. Once you've selected the files/folders you want to copy, click Copy to at the top towards the right side of the page. This will open a new side bar on the right side of the page.
   
3. On the right side bar, click Your OneDrive to select your own OneDrive as the destination for the copied files and folders.
4. Now you can choose where within your OneDrive to save the files/folders. You can copy them to an existing folder or you can create a new folder. If you want to create a new folder, simply enter the new folder's name, then click the blue checkmark icon. 
   
5. Once you're ready, click the folder you want to copy the files to. Then click Copy Here. In the example below, we can see we are copying files to the "John Doe's Files" subfolder within "Your OneDrive." 
   
6. You can check the file copying progress by clicking the "Copying X items" at the top right of the page. After it says Done, you can safely exit the page.