How to Transfer OneDrive Storage to Another Account: Employee Turnover & Transitions Show
Employee turnover and internal transitions might be challenging for IT Admins when it comes to OneDrive account management. What to do when a worker leaves or gets a new role in your organization? The widespread practice is to transfer OneDrive storage to another account. However, it’s not the only option and, in many cases, not the best one. The present article will discuss the best practices for IT Admins to manage OneDrive accounts and data stored there. It will help you to solve four issues pertaining to turnovers and transitions:
When an employee leaves or transits to another role, the company has to do something with their OneDrive account and data. There are three approaches here:
Each method has its pros and cons. We’ll discuss them below and provide detailed instructions on how to implement them. We believe this article will be equally crucial to IT Admins, HR managers, and Heads of respective departments. Manage your data more efficiently with SpinOne Learn More
In some cases, it’s best to copy files from one OneDrive account or folder to another. It applies to both turnover and transition cases. Pros:
Cons:
How to transfer Onedrive to another account. Method 1
Keep in mind that Microsoft set the limitations for file downloads: Screenshot from Microsoft Support
How to transfer files from Onedrive to another Onedrive. Method 2Many Admins and companies find Method 1 too long and tiresome. Unzipping files might require the installation of a particular program. Many users would like to move files from the Onedrive account to another simply. Here’s how you can do it:
The benefit of this method is that you don’t get too many clicks. You don’t have to zip the file. On the other hand, you can’t send the data to the respective manager, but you can share the folder with them. This method is suitable when you need to move the data from the account urgently. For example, when a person starts in a new role and they will need their OneDrive clean. Let the manager copy OneDrive files to another OneDrive accountSometimes it might be wise not to copy all the files in bulk, especially if there are too many files. Instead, you can let the department decide what to do with the stored data. 1. Repeat steps 1-6 of Method 1. 2. Create a folder in the person’s OneDrive. Copy all his files and folders there 3. Right-click on this folder. Then click ‘Share.’ You’ll see the panel in the right corner. 4. Click on a plus and add the respective person. From now on, he or she will be in charge of the data. The advantage of this method is that you don’t get to deal with the data. It’s also proper in cases when you can’t move all the files in one place at once because there’s a significant volume of data stored on OneDrive. And managers need to decide which files they’re going to keep and which should be permanently deleted. The apparent drawback is in human nature. Few people love to bring order to the data. It might happen so that the department will postpone the implementation of this task. To overcome the postponement issue, you can do the following: 1. Repeat steps 1-4 of Method 1 to get to the user’s page in the Admin Console. 2. Click on Delete User in the left upper corner. 3. There’s an option that provides access to the user’s account 30 days after deletion. Tick it and select the user. Disclaimer: It might happen so that the department will still postpone the data revision process. So you’d better back it up. How Do I Transfer Files from OneDrive to Another Account in Just a Couple of Clicks?Microsoft’s file transfer options aren’t always convenient for accounts with large files and significant volumes of data. That’s why we suggest using third-party tools that can help you make it more efficient. You can quickly transfer OneDrive storage to another account with Spinbackup: Pros:
Cons:
Make your Office 365 administration effortless with SpinOne Request a Demo Change Ownership of a OneDrive AccountAt first glance, this method might seem just the wrong thing to do. Let’s take a look at a use case. An SDR is a role with a very short tenure (~18 months for middle-sized companies). Afterward, they get promoted or leave. It also has a high turnover rate. An average number of SDRs might range from 5 to 20, depending on many factors. It includes the size of the company and industry, the growth goals, etc. SDRs’ work revolves around their inbox and CRM. By the nature of sales, they continuously share their files with potential customers. The latter might revisit emails in the future. Often, their account will be connected to the CRM, where the record of all leads will be traced. So, it might be a better idea to keep an SDR account intact. You can simply change the name and add a new Alias. The benefits of changing the ownership of the OneDrive account:
Here’s how to change the OneDrive account Ownership: 1. Go to the Active User Section in your Admin Center and select the account for which you want to change the ownership (see steps 1-4 of Method 1 above for more details). You’ll need the Account Tab. 2. First, add the new email, Alias. Click on Manage username and email. 3. You’ll get to the respective section. Add a new alias by filling in the field, as shown below: Don’t forget to assign the new alias as the primary email. 4. Return to Account and click Manage contact information. 5. Change data in the respective fields. 6. Reset the password and provide the credentials to the new employee. Now your new user will get access to the OneDrive and mailbox of the former worker. They will also continue to receive all the emails sent to that employee. Managing OneDrive Accounts and Data: OverviewIn some cases, the IT Admin is solely responsible for the decision on which method to apply. However, in our opinion, it’s best to discuss it with HR and the heads of departments. You need to explain to them each approach and how it will impact the data. Together you can fill in the following table:
In each cell, write down the roles that you consider fit best for the approach. It would help if you considered the following aspects:
For example, Marketing jobs have the highest turnover rates (~17%). Meanwhile, SDRs spend 18 months in this role until they get promoted. This indicator will help you understand how many times a year you’ll have to deal with data and account of a particular role.
For example, data managers store hundreds of Excel spreadsheets with thousands of entries. Remember, OneDrive has limitations for data transfer. The more data there is, the more time you’ll spend copying it.
Let’s take Sales, for example. They virtually live in Outlook and Salesforce (their CRM). And they would seek to integrate them with the help of a special app. Deleting the old acc will result in the termination of a subscription. This parameter is about dealing with licenses. The more a role needs, the harder it is to set the account from scratch.
For example, the Head of HR might have corporate policy files that are shared across the company. Once you delete their account, nobody in the company will access those files until you download them to another OneDrive. This is also something you need to consider when you manage employees who deal with external entities (e.g., procurement, sales, accountants). The best way to tackle this particular problem is to have separate OneDrive storage for each department. However, the reality is that people prefer saving files on their OneDrive rather than shared ones.
For example, a plan of an ongoing project is something used on a daily basis by many people. It might be unnecessary once the project is over. A floor plan of a building your company built a year ago won’t be used on a daily basis, but that’s the information you’ll want to keep for at least 100 years.
Once you review all the above aspects, you can calculate the cost of moving the data between accounts and the final decision. FAQ about OneDrive account data transfer:
It is a popular request. Some people would want to merge their work or school acc with their personal one. At first glance, it might seem a great idea to individual users. Managing data stored in 2 different places is really hard at times. In reality, once you leave the respective organization, you won’t be able to access your account. It will most likely be deleted and the data archived. So, the common practice here is to create a shared folder and store most files there. Some companies would seek to merge two separate accounts into one when an employee leaves and a new person takes over the role. In this case, they can retain all the files necessary for work and avoid paying extra money for 2 accounts. Unfortunately, OneDrive doesn’t have such functionality.
No, you can’t. It’s a big issue. And IT Administrators have been discussing it for almost four years now: See the whole conversation here How do I move files from OneDrive to another without copying?If you want to select all the files in a given folder, press Ctrl + A (this will select ALL files & folders). Press the Alt key on your keyboard and you will see the Edit menu (see the screenshot below). Select 'Cut'. Now go to your destination folder and press the Alt key again.
Can I use OneDrive to transfer files from one computer to another?If you're making the move to a new PC, OneDrive can help you bring all your files, photos, and videos with you. Your files will be available on your new PC, and they'll also be protected in the cloud, so you can access them from anywhere, across all your devices.
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