How do I upload files to Teams?

❗ In most cases, simply dragging the folder/files in question from the source (i.e. the network drive) to the Teams Files tab should be sufficient to copy the files to Teams. The guide below is meant for when you run into issues and require a different approach.

Contents

1. Overview: A quick primer on file/folder sizes and breaking up large folders into more manageable chunks.
2. How to move data to Teams (in 4 parts): The actual process of moving data from the network drive to Teams and, optionally, how to double check that
   1. Part 1: Move network files to your local computer
   2. Part 2: Data verification (optional)
   3. Part 3: Upload to Teams
   4. Part 4: Data Verification (optional)

Overview

File sizes and manageable amounts to move at once

Let's start with a metaphor. Think of your network drives as all the products in a grocery store. And think of a Teams file library as your one grocery bag (a reusable one, of course). If you try to stuff the entire grocery store inventory into your bag, something's bound to go wrong. Taking a few things at a time is going to be much more manageable for your grocery bag. 

Likewise, there's a lot of data on the network drives. Transferring too much data at once exponentially increases our risk for data loss. That's why we recommend moving smaller, more manageable amounts of data over to Teams at a time - there's simply less risk for data loss. 

So what is too much data?

When we’re looking at file and folder sizes:

• Anything with a "KB" in it is very small (KB stands for kilobyte).
• For anything with an "MB" in it (MB stands for megabyte):
  • Between 1-50 MB is small.
  • Between 51 – 100 MB is medium.
  • Between 101-500 MB is large.
  • Between 500-999 MB is very large.
• Anything with a GB in it is gigantic (GB stands for gigabyte).

For best results, please try to avoid moving all at once any folders that are gigantic in size. Even the large and very large sizes increases the odds of a rare transfer issue occurring. Instead, break them up into smaller chunks and move them one by one.

Anything over 1 GB in size will be very difficult, if not impossible, to move all at once and should be broken up into smaller chunks. Let's say we have a folder that is 1.2 GB in size, containing 15 sub folders, each ranging from 400 MB to 800 MB in size. We recommend moving each of those sub folders to Teams one at a time. If you're moving a lot of data, be mindful that you could end up with a lot of files stored on your computer -- if you're not sure how to delete these, or any questions, please let the help desk know so that you don't inadvertently fill up all the space on your computer.

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How to move data to Teams

Part 1: Move network files to your local computer

What we want to do instead is copy files from the network drives to a local folder on your computer. Then we can upload the local copy to Teams. 

1. In your Downloads folder, create two new folders. Name one of them "1 Network Drive Transfer" and name the other "2 Teams Download":
   
2. Double-click the "1 Network Drive Transfer" folder.
3. Now open a new File Explorer window.
   1. Move the new window to the left of your screen, and move the Downloads window to the right of your screen. (Pro Tip: You can use the Windows key + arrow keys in combination to automatically resize and move around program windows.)
      
4. In the new File Explorer window on the left, navigate to the network drive folder(s) you wish to transfer.
   1. You can right-click on any of the network drive folders, select Properties, and look under "Size" assess whether or not you should transfer the data in smaller chunks. 
      
   2. Right click-on the folder you want to move and select Copy (do not select "Cut" since that can result in data loss).
      
5. In the "1 Network Drive Transfer" window, right-click the white space and choose Paste.
   
6. You’ll start to see the files transfer over. The larger the overall size, and the more files, the longer it will take. You can do other computing tasks, step away for a break, etc. during this transfer.
   

Part 2: Data verification (optional)

While not required, it never hurts to double-check that your data copied over successfully. It may be more important to double-check if the files are extremely mission critical, etc.

To verify:

1. Right-click on the original network drive folder you copied from. Select Properties and look at "Size". 
2. Right-click on the copy of the network drive folder within "1 Network Drive Transfer". Select Properties and look at "Size". 
3. The Size should be the same or fairly close. The number of files should be identical.

Part 3: Upload to Teams

1. Navigate to the Team, then the Channel, the Files tab, and anywhere within the Files tab where you want to upload your folder. 
2. Click Upload, then select Folder.
   
3. Browse to and then select the "1 Network Drive Transfer" folder.
4. During the transfer to Teams, you’ll see an Uploading notification appear towards the top right of the Teams window. It will briefly show a notification and then disappear when the upload is complete.
   

Part 4: Data Verification (optional)

Again - it doesn't hurt to double-check that your data upload was successful!

1. In Teams, hover over the folder you just uploaded, and an ellipses (...) will appear. Click the ellipses and select Download.
   
2. In a File Explorer window, navigate to your local Downloads folder (this is where Teams saves files by default).
3. Right-click on the zip file in your Downloads folder, then select Extract All. 
   
4. It will ask you where to save the extracted files. You can click Browse, then select the second folder we originally created: "2 Teams Download". You can check the box to Show extracted files when complete. 
5. Once the files have finished extracting, a new File Explorer window will open.

Now, we want to repeat what we did in Part 2 above. We want to compare the Size of the sub folder in "2 Teams Download" to the same sub folder in "1 Network Drive Transfer".

If there is a discrepancy, it may be easier to delete the folder in Teams, and then redo the transfer process. Other times, you may need to compare folder by folder, file by file, to see what was missed. If you are doing a lot of this file comparison and getting transfer discrepancies, the CTD Help Desk can show you during a call and screen share session some tips and tricks, as well as (optionally) some apps you can use to help you compare folder versions. 

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