How to Set Up OneDrive as your Computer’s Backup

Using OneDrive to back up your computer is a cinch, and is a major benefit of an Office 365 account. Protect your vital documents, cat pictures, and vital cat pictures from the many fates that may befall your hard drive and data. Follow this easy step by step article to set up this function on your workstation.

October 23, 2020
Valiant Technology
3 min

Microsoft OneDrive can be used in many beneficial ways like being able to access your files on the go and syncing your cloud file storage with your local device. Both of these features can be utilized to se up OneDrive as your computer’s back up application and repository. This article will go through the steps to get this set up or your Windows workstation.

Setup OneDrive for the first time

If you do not already have the OneDrive Application on your computer, the first step will be to download and install it. This should already be on your computer if you are running Windows 10. However, we have a video tutorial for installing Office 365 or you can head over to https://www.onedrive.com/download.

This video demonstrates how to download all the basic Office365 applications.

There are a couple of ways to open the OneDrive application on your machine. If this is your first time using OneDrive, I recommend opening your start menu, scrolling to O and opening the OneDrive Application from there.

If you can’t find OneDrive directly in your start menu, try using the search bar.

You will be prompted to log in with your Office 365 credentials. Enter your email, password, and authentication from your preferred MFA method.

If you are not prompted to enter this information, you may have logged in before with another Office365 application.

Once you have logged in, the OneDrive program will setup your OneDrive folder. Hit next to start the tutorial and continue on to the end.

The OneDrive folder tutorial will only appear the first time you open OneDrive on your device.

OneDrive Desktop Sync and Backup

Once the tutorial is over you will need to setup the Desktop Sync and Backup. To do this, click on the OneDrive icon on the taskbar. It should be on the lower right side of your screen near the clock. You may need to click the white arrow to find it.

The OneDrive icon with sync in progress in the hidden icons tray.

OneDrive icon at rest in the taskbar adjacent to the laptop battery meter.

This is also another handy way to access your OneDrive documents in the file explorer or in your web browser. For now, click the gear to access settings.

Then click “settings” in the drop down menu.

Settings is located at the top of this menu.

In the settings menu, click on the Backup tab. Then, click Manage Backup.

Select the folders you want to back up. If you’re not sure, start with Desktop, documents, and pictures. This should encompass the majority of your working documents. When you are finished checking off your folders, press “Start Backup”.

OneDrive will now start backing up the data on your Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders. If your machine is ever lost or broken beyond repair, you will still be able to access and restore any files you saved to these folders through OneDrive.

A synced desktop or documents folder will look the same as before but with the addition of the various sync icons.

Additionally, if you repeat this process on another computer with your account, your backed up files and folders will be synced to that machine. This is especially useful if you have multiple computers as it will keep your Desktops and Documents in sync across each of your machines.

More OneDrive uses

OneDrive is an essential part of Office365 to help adapt your work experience to the demands of the modern workplace. There are many integrations with OneDrive and other Office365 applications as well as third party apps. In the meantime, you can rest well knowing that your Desktop and other computer files are securely backed up in your Office365 cloud file storage.