University IT

Sign into the OneDrive online page.

1. Sign in with your work account on the M365 Portal.
2. Click on the App Launcher in the upper left side of the screen.
3. Select OneDrive.

Empty the Recycle Bin

It is good practice to clear the Recycle bin each month and just before you do any housekeeping. If you accidentally delete anything, you have 30 days in which to retrieve it, and it will be easier to find it if the Recycle bin is otherwise empty.

Click on Recycle bin on the left-hand menu and then select Empty recycle bin above the list of files.

There is a second-stage recycle bin from which you can retrieve files for a short period of time, but the second-stage recycle bin does not count towards your limit.

Remove Out-of-Date Files

Before you start deleting, briefly review the UR Retention Policy for a firm grounding on the University’s expectations for document management.

Look through the files and folders and decide what can be deleted. If the decision is made to delete it, you will need to do so either from My Files within OneDrive online, or from Windows Explorer deleting the local copy which will result in the online copy also being deleted.

Move Personal Files to a Personal Location

While it is convenient to have a mix of private files and work files in the same place, OneDrive for Business is provided for University business.  It is better to store private files in an entirely different place, where they are not taking up part of the space allocation and where they will not be lost if you leave the University.

If you do store semi-private files on OneDrive for Business (e.g. CV and payslips), then you may wish to create a top-level folder called Personal for these files. This will make it much easier to take a copy of them when you leave and it also means that you know how much space they are occupying.

Empty the Recycle Bin Again

When you have finished tidying up your files, remember to empty the recycle bin again so that the freed-up disk space is reflected in your storage metrics.

Repeat at Least Once a Year

Housekeeping should not be a one-off exercise.  Schedule it in as a regular exercise at least once a year.  Remember to delete all old drafts and versions you no longer need.