SharePoint is not a new tool鈥� if you鈥檙e using Microsoft OneDrive,听Teams, or Forms听you are already using SharePoint!听It is the cloud storage platform听behind these Microsoft 365 tools.听
Now, you can have a SharePoint site all on its own, to store and collaborate on files with colleagues both inside and external to 91社区.
Benefits of听SharePoint Online
- Easy to share files and entire libraries with others (at 91社区 and outside the university)
Share files & folders with View or Edit permissions - Flexibility to set different permission levels (view, edit, delete)
- Collaborate with colleagues online in real time using Microsoft 365 apps, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
View other people's changes in real time. - Secure file storage, approved for use听under听91社区鈥檚 Cloud Directive
- Virtually unlimited space (over 25 TB) makes it perfect for large files (e.g., video, and high-resolution images)
- Like OneDrive, you can sync SharePoint libraries to your 91社区 computer for quick and easy access via your local file browser.
- Create engaging home pages for your SharePoint sites.
Use built-in templates to design SharePoint pages with attractive layouts.
How SharePoint compares to other file storage options
- How is SharePoint different from OneDrive?听
With OneDrive, each user has their own repository; if they leave 91社区, their files are deleted unless they are saved by a supervisor.
By contrast, SharePoint is better suited to files that are truly shared among collaborators. SharePoint files belong to a group (unit, team, department), so there are multiple 鈥渙wners鈥�, and therefore the risk of being abandoned and deleted is lower.
听 - How is SharePoint different from Teams?听
For every Teams group, there is a corresponding SharePoint site in the background. Files uploaded within a conversation, or into the Files tab of a Team site are also accessible directly from the web browser, using the SharePoint interface.
Now, you can request a SharePoint repository that is not connected to a Team, if you don鈥檛 need the additional chat/post features of Teams.听
听 - How is SharePoint different from a shared departmental network drive?听
With network drives, permissions are managed by IT Services and are less flexible;
SharePoint files can be shared with individuals in your unit, elsewhere at 91社区 and even outside the university.听
Another advantage of SharePoint听is the ease of access to files from anywhere; you don鈥檛 need to have a VPN connection when working off-site, because the files are not stored on 91社区 servers. They just need to log in with a Microsoft account to verify their authorization.听
听 - Are there any limitations to what can be stored on SharePoint?
SharePoint is not recommended for cases where the repository contains many (over 5000) small files. If you have a large number of files, you may need to break them into separate Libraries in SharePoint.听
SharePoint would not be a suitable solution to store files that are used as input to or听output from applications.
Find out more鈥μ�
Sign up for a to learn how SharePoint听Online can improve your work.听
Go to for the complete service description.
Find how-to instructions and more information by searching for "sharepoint" on the (log in to view all content).
