One of the advantages of Teams is its ability to integrate with OneDrive to synchronize folders and files to your local computer.
Before we begin: You must already be a member of a Team for this to work. If not, please see our KB article, Introduction to Microsoft Teams to request your own team.
STEP 1: LOCATE THE FOLDER YOU WANT TO SYNC TO YOUR COMPUTER:
As you build your Team, you will create a variety of Channels. Channels represent different projects, topics, or initiatives within your Team. I think of Channels as sub-folders in a larger folder (Team). Each Channel has a Files section where documents and folders for that Channel are saved. Using OneDrive, we can create a local copy of folders and files from the Files section. Any files saved to this Channel’s file section will show up on Team members’ computers, regardless of where they are.
In this example, I’ll create a local copy of the General Channel from my ITS Department Team.
STEP 2: OPEN THE FOLDER IN SHAREPOINT:
In order to access the sync tool we need, we’ll have to open the File section in Team’s big brother, SharePoint. From within the Channel’s Files section, navigate to the folder you want to sync to your computer, and click the Open in Sharepoint link. This will open a web page (you may need to log in to Office365) that shows the Channel’s file section in SharePoint. Find and click the Sync icon in the toolbar of the SharePoint page.
STEP 3: SYNC THE FOLDER IN ONEDRIVE:
When you click Sync, a permission window will pop-up asking you to confirm that you want to use OneDrive to perform the sync action. Click Sync now to begin. Depending on the amount of data to sync, the process could take a few minutes to complete.
STEP 4: YOUR DATA IS NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUR LOCAL COMPUTER:
Look in your file browser (File Explorer in Windows, Finder in Mac) and you will see a folder named “MNSCU” (not to be confused with “OneDrive – MNSCU”). This is where your Team (Channel) files and folders will be synced. You can also access this folder by right-clicking (Windows) or double finger tapping (Mac) the OneDrive client near the clock.
NOTES:
- You can treat this folder like any other folder on your computer. Open and Save files to it and they will be available to other members of your Team.
- These files are synced. If you delete from your local folder, it will delete on the web version. For everyone. Deleted files can be found in the recycle bin located in the SharePoint view of your Channel files (see step 2).
- You cannot adjust permissions for this sync. Everyone who is a Team member has the ability to create and delete folders and files. Just like they do in Teams.
- Access to these files is determined by membership to the Team. It is the Team owner’s responsibility to periodically review membership to determine if access to resources is still appropriate.
- Large files saved to your local sync folder may take a few minutes to reach all team members syncing that folder.
Instructions on how to stop a folder sync can be found here: