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Export Data out of OneDrive

Export Data out of OneDrive

Users can download all of their data out of OneDrive and store it on their computer or an external drive.

Ensure that you have either: 1) enough storage available on your computer to hold this data or 2) You have an external hard drive that is large enough to hold this data.

Long term storage on an external drive is not safe for your data.

Your OneDrive data is deleted forever once you transition to an “inactive” status at the University, e.g. you are no longer a student or cease employment. You will receive emails warning of deactivation. If other people have saved, or access, data in your OneDrive, they will also lose access to it when your account is deleted.

Reach out to techsupport@uconn.edu for support in exporting your data before your account is close to its closure date.

ITS cannot alter account timelines. Account activations and deactivations are automated based on feeds ITS receives from HR, StudentAdmin, etc.; 11 feeds in total.

1) Remove SharePoint Shortcuts

Remove all “Shortcuts to OneDrive” from SharePoint that you have created in your OneDrive, these will interfere with the download process.

Learn how to remove the shortcuts here: https://uconn.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/IKB/pages/26297925645

2) Connect your computer to OneDrive

The recommended method of bulk downloading OneDrive data is using the OneDrive app.

Scenario 1) I wish to download the data to my computer

Scenario 2) I wish to download the data to an external storage drive

In both scenarios, you need the OneDrive app installed on your computer. In Scenario 2, if you already have OneDrive installed, you will need to unlink the app and reconnect it with certain settings. Please expand the instructions below to properly prepare your OneDrive app to use an external storage drive.

First, you must unlink the OneDrive App if it’s currently installed on your computer. Doing so removes your OneDrive information from your computer. This is different than closing the app.

If you are on a macOS computer, the external drive must have a case-sensitive format. If your external drive is not correctly formatted, you will need to wipe the drive (erase all data) and then set the correct format. “Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)” is appropriate.

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  1. Plug in your external drive and create a folder on it named “OneDrive Export” or something similar.

  2. Open the OneDrive menu.

    1. In Windows, click on the cloud icon in the taskbar to open the popup menu.

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    2. In macOS, click on the cloud icon in the top menu bar to open the popup menu.

  3. Click on the settings gear and then click on Settings.

  4. In the Account tab, click on Unlink this PC.
    The unlinking process may take upwards of 15 minutes as the app removes traces of your account from your computer. This is necessary because you wish to remove the OneDrive directory in order to create a new directory on the external drive.

  5. When the unlinking process is finished, a window will appear asking you to sign in. Sign in.

  6. In the “Your OneDrive folder” step, you must click on Change location.

    1. In the popup window, click once on your new folder on your external drive. Click Select Folder to use this folder.

    2. If you receive a “A OneDrive folder already exists on this PC” message, double check that you have chosen your external drive as your location.

    3. If you are asked to “Back up folders on this PC”, skip this step.

  7. Continue through the installation normally.

  8. Follow the steps below in this guide to create local copies of your files.

3) Create local copies of your files

Faculty and staff need to consider the regulations and policies that may apply to data when making data transfer decisions. Bulk transfer of data for which the university has responsibility under policy, law, regulation, or contractual obligation must be handled appropriately. Examples include, FERPA data, research data, business operations data, financial aid data, and personally identifiable data.

Faculty and staff should consult with their department head or supervisor regarding any data they wish to take with them upon separation.

Now that your OneDrive is connected to your computer,

  1. Open up File Explorer, or “Finder” in macOS, and navigate to your OneDrive folder.

  2. There should be a shortcut to your OneDrive in the left hand menu.

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  3. Select the folders you wish to download, or:
    On your keyboard, press Ctrl + A (or Command + A on macOS) to select all of your OneDrive items.
    Alternatively, you can select the first item in the list, hold the Shift key, and then select the last item to select all of the items.

  4. Optional: While holding Ctrl on your keyboard, click on folders to deselect them if you do not want to download them.

    1. If you have any remaining shortcuts to SharePoint sites, deselect them at this time.

    2. Alternatively, if available, you can uncheck the boxes next to these items to deselect them.

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  5. Right click on any of the highlighted files and choose Always keep on this device.

  6. OneDrive will now start to download all selected files and folders onto your computer.
    If your computer goes to sleep or is shutdown, this download task will resume automatically once your computer is running again.

  7. Click on the OneDrive cloud icon to view the progress of your download.

    1. In Windows, find the blue OneDrive icon in your taskbar near your system clock.

    2. In macOS, the cloud icon will be in your top menu toolbar.

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    3. When a folder/file is done downloading, it will have a solid green (in Windows) checkmark instead of a cloud icon or a hollow checkmark.

  8. Once the files have finished downloading, disconnect OneDrive.

    1. Click on the OneDrive cloud icon and then click on the Settings gear. Click on the Account tab and then Unlink this PC. Be sure to click on “Unlink” and not “Quit OneDrive”. Simply quitting the app may result in data loss when the app is opened again.

    2. This will disconnect your computer from the cloud. Now, changes made to your account (such as account deletion) will not affect your local files.

    3. Note: the sign out process may take upwards of 15 minutes as the app cleans up your OneDrive folder, removing all files that have not had the “Always keep on this device” label applied and files that have not been opened in the last 30 days. The time needed to sign out is heavily dependent on the number of files in your account.

    4. Wait for the sign out process to finish. When it finishes, you will receive a popup window asking you to sign in to OneDrive. Do not sign in.

  9. You may now move the files to another location on your computer or upload them into another cloud storage service.

If you followed these instructions for an external drive:

  • Before your OneDrive account is deleted by automated processes at the university, plug this drive into a different computer and ensure that you can access your files.

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