Overview
IMPORTANT: The University ended its enterprise license with Box in August 2022. Microsoft OneDrive is the preferred cloud storage and collaboration solution.
With cloud storage, you can store, access, edit, comment, and share files in real time, from any device, including your smartphone. Microsoft OneDrive is configured as the default save destination for all of your Office 365 applications and provides online storage as well as web-based collaboration. Cloud storage is a more secure way to store your valuable files when compared to using flash drives or depending on the hard drive of a dedicated laptop or PC.
Note: After you leave the University, you will you will no longer have access to your cloud account at Pitt. Please see instructions for transferring ownership of your files.
OneDrive Overview
Microsoft OneDrive for Business is a cloud storage solution where you can update, store, share, and sync your files from anywhere. These files are backed up regularly to the Microsoft cloud and your file space is conveniently configured as the default save destination for all of your Office 365 applications, including Word and Excel. You can delegate access to other users for seemless collaboration. All students, faculty, and staff have a quota of 5 terabytes of online storage available through OneDrive, for files up to 250 gigabytes.
There is no cost for student, faculty, and staff to use OneDrive. However, you need an Office 365 subscription to use any web-based Office 365 applications with the OneDrive space. By default, all students have access to the standard "Office" suite of web applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) via their Office 365 subscription. These applications are available for download and installation to all teaching faculty free of charge. Non-teaching faculty and staff can download these applications if they are members of a department that has purchased the Microsoft Campus Agreement.
Note: Sponsored accounts do have access to OneDrive by default. Alumni are not eligible for Pitt OneDrive accounts
> Take a quick tour to see how OneDrive works ...
Detail
Easy Steps to Get Started with OneDrive
You can access OneDrive from a smartphone or tablet using a web browser. The OneDrive app is available for iOS, Android, and Windows devices.
- Use a web browser to log into my.pitt.edu with your Pitt Email address and password.
- Open for the OneDrive task.
Other Cloud Options (Box, Dropbox, Google Drive)
Box and Dropbox
Box and Dropbox are other cloud collaboration solutions used by some students, faculty, and staff. Before considering the use of Dropbox or Box, please keep in mind that they are not an enterprise service offered through or supported by the University of Pittsburgh. Box and Dropbox offer similar features to OneDrive, but OneDrive offers several advantages for University use.
|
Feature
|
OneDrive
|
Box Managed |
Box Unmanaged |
Dropbox
|
|
Anytime, anywhere access to cloud files
|
Yes
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes
|
|
Simple sharing and collaboration features
|
Yes
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes
|
|
File versioning
|
Yes
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes
|
|
Integrates seamlessly with other Office 365
collaboration tools like Teams and SharePoint
|
Yes
|
No |
No |
Yes
|
|
Automatically integrates with the University’s Multifactor Authentication (Duo) service for enhanced security
|
Yes
|
Yes |
No |
No
|
| Can be used as a storage solution for public (i.e., non-restricted) University data |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Can be approved as storage solution for certain
classes of restricted data after consultation with Pitt Digital
|
Yes
|
Yes |
No |
No
|
|
Fully supported by Pitt Digital
|
Yes
|
No |
No |
No
|
| Cost |
Included in Microsoft Campus Agreement |
Purchased separately
by users/departments |
Purchased separately
by users/departments |
Purchased separately
by users/departments |
Because Dropbox is not supported by Pitt Digital, data stored on Dropbox is not eligible for a managed migration to OneDrive. If you would like to move data from Dropbox to OneDrive, you can do so by completing the following steps:
- Log in to your Dropbox account and download individual folders and files to your local device.
- Upload individual folders and files from your local device to your Pitt OneDrive account.
Google Drive
Pitt Digital strongly discourages the use of Google Drive for several reasons:
- It is not permissible to store Protected Health Information (see the University's Data Risk Classification and Compliance matrix).
- Google is making changes that will eliminate options for storing flexible, large volumes of data.
- Free Google Drive accounts include only 15 GB of free storage.
Due to these and other limitations, we do not believe Google Drive is a viable, long-term solution for most University users.
View Google Drive Security Guide ...
More ways to get the most from Cloud Storage:
Best Practices for Storing Data in the Cloud
OneDrive uses state-of-the-art technology and industry best practices for data encryption during transit to and from the cloud, as well as while stored within each app. However, some types of data should not be stored on OneDrive at all; refer to information specific to permissible data by type. For this reason, we recommend you use only the web interface or the official app to transfer data securely. If you use an app for OneDrive that has been developed by a third party, you should take steps to ensure that the app transfers data using a secure method.
OneDrive provides robust security for the data you store. However, due to federal ,state, and local laws and university policies and standards, please consult the University’s data classification and compliance site to determine the appropriate storage locations for different data types.
Moving Files
To and From OneDrive
If you are working from a PC or laptop, then you can use the Upload and Download links to move files to and from your computer. The Add new button appears at the top of the OneDrive webpage that displays your cloud file directory and allows you to upload files, upload or create new folders, and create new Office files. In order to download a file that is on the shared drive, click once on the file name, Then right click to bring up a secondary menu. For macOS clients, this may require you to hold down the Command key first if you only have one button on your mouse. Select the Download option that should appear.
If you will be moving files to and from OneDrive and have admin rights on your system, consider downloading and installing the OneDrive for Business application. This application will create a local copy of your OneDrive cloud folder and then sync the files with the cloud when the system is connected to the network. You can work directly with these local copies of the files and the OneDrive for Business application will make sure that they are stored on the cloud. Macintosh and Windows versions of the OneDrive for Business application are available for download at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/onedrive/download.
To and From Shared Folders, SharePoint or Teams Sites
To move data across different sites, you must have Editor or Member permissions to the data in question. Data can be moved using the OneDrive web interface or the desktop app. Please note that moving data will remove any sharing permissions currently applied to the data, and depending on the new location, new sharing permissions may be added or inherited.
Web interface
- Log into OneDrive using your Pitt Passport credentials.
- Find the data that needs to be moved.
- Right-click the data and select Move to to open a popup window that shows the different locations you have access to.
- Use the navigation menu on the left to select the location. If you do not see the location that you have access to, you may need to click More places...
- Select Move here to initiate the transfer. Large data may take some time to transfer, and it is not recommended to close the browser window while the transfer is taking place.
OneDrive application
- It is recommended to use the Add shortcut feature for easier access to shared locations.
- Click and drag the data you want to move to the appropriate location.
- Allow the OneDrive application to complete the data transfer. Large data may take some time to transfer, and it is not recommended to shutoff your device or allow it to enter sleep mode.
Enterprise Data Transfer (Globus)
The Enterprise Data Transfer service (powered by Globus) allows for multiple to connections to different cloud services such as OneDrive and SharePoint and can be used to transfer data between these services. This includes data from other institutions. Details and instructions can be found here.
Between OneDrive and other Cloud Services
The easiest way to move files between the cloud services is to use a PC or laptop that has both the OneDrive for Business and the other cloud service's client applications installed. Open both from the system tray to create windows for both. From the windows you can move files using cut/copy and paste. If you are on a system where both utilities are not available, you will have to open up the web interfaces for both OneDrive and the other cloud service and use the upload/download functions using the PC's local storage drive as an intermediary.
Moving files back and forth from a mobile/tablet platform is possible. It requires that both mobile app versions of the cloud service app and OneDrive for Business are installed and running and configured to save files locally, in a location that both apps can access. In a case like this, it may be more efficient to use a PC system instead. Student Computing Lab PCs are accessible to anyone with a Pitt student, faculty, or staff account and have both apps installed.
More OneDrive Resources
General
Add and Manage Files
Share and Collaborate
Sync
Mobile Devices
Related Information
Log in to OneDrive:
Download the OneDrive App: