The new social distancing/work from home mandate is a perfect reason to learn more about our file Sharing options available through Microsoft Office 365 and OneDrive for Business.
For example, by now you have probably noticed that when you attach a Microsoft Office file in an Outlook email, you receive a prompt asking if you want to share a link to that file which is actually stored in your OneDrive for Business, or if you would rather attach a physical copy.
What you might not have noticed is that when you share a link to your file, the default is that the shared link allows your recipient(s) to edit your file.
And when you are sharing things like templates with students, or department documents that may only require review or approval, you may not necessarily want someone to slip and edit your original.
You can easily change this default.
To the right of the attached file click the down-arrow and mouse over Change permissions.
You can give your recipient(s) View permission instead.
Now you might think that it's just easier to send as attachment instead of sharing a link, but there are some very good and useful reasons to send a share link to a file:
For one, your recipient doesn't have to look through their email for the most current copy if you send multiple updates. There will always be just the one copy that is kept nice and current.
You're also not filling up your recipient(s) mailbox with lots of attached copies. Considerate is what that is.
Now for the good part - have you ever sent a document out to a co-worker, your department, or committee asking for feedback? Each person dutifully emails you their feedback through email comments, or by saving and editing their own copy, then all of the suggested edits and comments are sent back to you. And it's you who has to merge all of that feedback into one tidy, cohesive document. Don't do that. Just - don't. If you're working from home it's not like you can simply walk down to their office and ask for clarification anymore. Cut down on back and forth email and let them make their own edits. Use Track Changes to easily see what's been changed. Everyone will be happier.
Extra tip - Set a deadline for when feedback/edits will be accepted. A short deadline. The longer the deadline the longer it may get put off.
If you think this was a good and useful tip, wait until you see what else Office 365 and OneDrive for Business can do to help you easily share and manage your shared files.
Visit Information Technology's Office 365/OneDrive for Business FAQs page to learn more about file sharing including finding all files which are shared with you, and how to identify which files you may have shared. We'll show you how to remove sharing too. And just in case you've shared a file and your collaborators suddenly decide to include "everything but the kitchen sink" in what was originally supposed to be a one-page document, we'll show you how to get back the lovely version that was in the works a few weeks ago. We'll even show you where your file's version history is - and how to use it.
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