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OneDrive through UniSA Staff Account

OneDrive is an online service provided by Microsoft where you can create, upload and share files and access these from a web browser.

OneDrive provides:

  • Online storage
  • Convenience
  • Control
  • Publishing power
  1. To use OneDrive - all UniSA Staff and Students must comply with Microsoft's Terms and Privacy conditions. On first use, you will be prompted to accept these Microsoft terms and conditions.
  2. The use of OneDrive is optional. UniSA does not require you to use OneDrive to complete your studies/work. However, it is UniSA's recommendation for sharing large files between people, instead of attaching to emails.
  3. UniSA and Microsoft will not be held responsible for any and/or all data loss or corruption. Staff and Students will have to arrange their own backup or replication of their data. Microsoft provides no commitment to guarantee continuous access to your files; therefore any loss of service may deny access to important files at critical times.

NOTE: As of the end of March 2025 available online storage is 250GB. The storage capacity is to Microsoft's discretion and may change over time.

When setting up the OneDrive app on your device to sync with your cloud storage, you need to be aware that the device needs to have enough free hard disk space, or it will fail to synchronism. Standard laptop and desktop purchases do not have large hard drives. This means that you need to be vigilant when selecting the OneDrive folder location or the number of files/folders being synchronized at any time.

The app allows you to check your cloud storage used and how much is remaining.

By default, OneDrive automatically makes all files available between the app and online storage. This is fine if you have not yet uploaded anything to OneDrive or only a small amount, but you will need to keep this in mind as your usage increases. If your hard disk drive becomes full, one of your options is to change the files/folders being synced.

How you maintain your OneDrive file(s)/folder(s) is a personal preference, but UniSA strongly advises ensuring file(s) are stored in appropriate folders for easier:

  • maintenance
  • sharing
  • synchronisation
    NOTE: Microsoft no longer allows individual files to be selected, only all Files not in a folder or entire folders.

Like any electronic storage option, this can be altered in the future to meet your changing needs.

Step-by-step instructions (including screenshots) are available here: cloud storage used.

Staff:

  • Immediately lose access once their employment ceases. It is their responsibility to back up their OneDrive content to a personal device prior to leaving UniSA.
    NOTE: Once access is lost, there is no way to regain this without obtaining a new contract with the university.

Students:

  • Alumni of the university can find appropriate information on the Alumni section of AskIT.
  • Those who do not graduate from a UniSA degree will immediately lose access once their study ceases. It is their responsibility to back up their OneDrive content to a personal device prior to leaving UniSA.
    NOTE: Once access is lost, there is no way to regain this without becoming actively enrolled with the university again.

OneDrive also allows you to recover/restore your files, should your files become infected with a virus, or accidentally deleted.

  1. If the device has been compromised with Malware, take the device off-line (disconnect from Network & Internet). You may also want to power off the device.
    • You should seek advice from an IT Professional immediately.
  2. On a non-compromised PC follow the steps below.
    • You should ensure OneDrive is NOT running on the non-compromised system.
  3. Go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/microsoft-365/onedrive/online-cloud-storage
  4. Login with your account
  5. In top right corner click on the settings icon (cog icon)
  6. Select "Restore your OneDrive"
  7. onedrive-restore-option.png
  8. Select a date range when you want to restore from
  9. onedrive-select-date-range.png
    • Wait for the process to complete, as this will take some time to do. OneDrive will provide a percentage on how far completed the process is.

On your machine, start-up OneDrive again. If your machine was not compromised as per step 1, then allow OneDrive to sync again.

Additional information can also be found on Microsofts support page.