Understanding how Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive files sync to your computer

Overview

This article is for users who have access to the OneDrive Sync app, as approved by your organization. In this guide, we'll go over how files are synced between apps, where they can be found, and what folders can or should not be renamed.

Fundamentals

Let's start with these 4 foundational pieces of information:

1. Every Team is associated with a SharePoint site, primarily used for file storage and organization (i.e. a Team's files = SharePoint site's library).
2. Every Channel within a Team has its own subfolder within that Team's SharePoint site (i.e. a Channel's files = a subfolder within the SharePoint site's library). 
3. Your OneDrive is your own personal drive, which you manage. It's really meant for personal or one-off/temporary files. Any files with a longer lifetime, or that others will need to access in the future, should be stored in a Team. 
4. The OneDrive Sync app lets you sync your OneDrive and Teams files to your computer so you can access those files via File Explorer. 

File Syncing

When the OneDrive Sync app is installed, by default it syncs your OneDrive to your computer. You can  also sync files from Teams.  

Critical notes about storage space:

• Synced files can use up your local computer storage space. If your computer runs out of storage space, it won't function properly.
• If you choose to stop syncing a folder, a local copy of that folder will be left on your computer, which will be completely divorced from the cloud version of that folder. Any changes you make to the local copy will not sync up to the cloud. If you are trying to save space, you will need to delete the local copy of that data. The Help Desk can help you with that. 
  • If the cloud icon shows up next to a folder, it's syncing. If it has no icon, then it is no longer syncing (you may decide to delete the leftover local copy to avoid having duplicate and differently edited copies of the same file floating around). 

When you open a file on your computer that is synced from a Team or from your OneDrive, your computer downloads that file to your computer. That file then takes up local storage space on your computer.

Sync Tips:

• If you are expecting decreased network performance (i.e. you're traveling, using a mobile hotspot, etc.), you can select to download the files you will need for offline use. Note that this will take up more local storage on your computer. 
• If you run into sync issues, first try pausing the OneDrive Sync app, wait, then set it to start syncing again. 

Renaming or Moving Folders: Do's and Don't's

When you use the OneDrive Sync app, if you open File Explorer, you'll see your OneDrive by default, as well as a separate "drive" displaying any Teams files you've selected to sync. The "drive" name will typically be your organization's name. It'll basically look like this:

• OneDrive (aka your OneDrive "drive")
  • Folder A
    • Sub Folder A
  • Folder B
    
    
• OrgName (aka your Teams "drive")
  • "Team A - Channel A"
  • "Team A - Channel C"
  • "Team B - Channel A"

(Note: you don't have to sync every Channel file library, but you do have pick and choose which ones you want to sync)

Given that example, let's get into the Do's and Don't's:

1. Do not rename folders associated with a Team name. 
2. Do not rename folders associated with a Channel name (including the default Channel called "General"). 
3. Any folder within the Channel folder can be created, modified, or deleted. 

That wasn't so bad, right? Now, if you're someone who likes to know what will happen if you happen to do a don't, there's a whole range of consequences from simple fixes to complete data loss. It simply depends on the situation. If you run into any of these issues, please stop making any changes to the affected folder/files (and have your coworkers do the same), and let the Help Desk know as soon as possible.

Side note: Technically, you can create new folders under the root Team folder, but those will not be associated with a Channel, so you'll only be able to access those via clicking the "Open in SharePoint" button to access the Team's back end (aka the SharePoint site associated with the Team). We don't recommend accessing the back end SharePoint site for any reason other than locating files/folders that were accidentally saved outside of a Channel folder, or checking version history.