OneDrive: Copying or Downloading Personal Files/Folders before Leaving the University

This article provides instructions on how to create a personal OneDrive account and moving files/folders from your USNH OneDrive account to a personal OneDrive account.

Summary

This article provides instructions for transferring personal, non-institutional files from your USNH OneDrive account by copying them to a personal OneDrive or downloading them to a location on your computer. If you’re leaving the university or transitioning roles, it’s important to separate personal content from university-owned data.

• Creating a personal OneDrive account
• Copying personal files/folders from your USNH account to your personal OneDrive account
• Downloading your personally owned contents from OneDrive 

Note: For USNH owned/shared data, see OneDrive: Moving Institutional Files to SharePoint before leaving USNH

Important! Your USNH OneDrive for work or school account is not intended as the primary source for storing large amounts of department owned data (like SharePoint). It does NOT retain permanency and is subject to deletion when your employment or student status expires. If you are a collaborator in a OneDrive file that belongs to a departing individual, you will also lose access to that data unless it is moved or copied into a folder you own. See FAQ's for Graduating Students and Moving Institutional Files to SharePoint before leaving USNH for more information. 

 

Context

When leaving USNH, your M365 applications will no longer be accessible and OneDrive account data will be deleted.  The date when that happens depends on the individual's status:

• Typically, the files/folders for all departing students are retained for 30 days after the start of the next semester directly after the semester they graduated in.
  • For example, if a student graduates in May: Files/folders are accessible until early October.
  • If a student graduates in December your files/folders are accessible until mid-February.
  • Once that date passes, you will lose access to all M365 applications and OneDrive account data will be deleted.
     
• Faculty access is removed anywhere between 30 and 270 days after the end of the last appointment, and depending upon institutional needs as guided by their respective collective bargaining agreements. Contact HR for details about a specific person(s).
   
• Staff access is usually removed on the job termination date, and depending upon institutional needs as guided by their respective collective bargaining agreements. Contact HR for details about a specific person(s).

 

How-To

To avoid loss of data, create a personal OneDrive account and move USNH files/folders to that account. Microsoft OneDrive offers a free OneDrive account with 5 GB of cloud storage.

Alternatively, download the files to a computer or external hard-drive or save them to another cloud service.

Important: Copy or move any files you want to keep out of OneDrive while you still have access. 

Notes: 

• Files you move from OneDrive for work or school to your personal OneDrive are considered new, so these files don't retain metadata details such as "Date created" or "Modified By". 

• If you copy files you shared, you will need to re-share.

 

Note: Be sure to use a different email address than your school email address when signing up for a personal Microsoft account.

 

Instructions

Create a Personal OneDrive account directly through Microsoft by following Microsoft's onscreen instructions . 

 

Outcome

A personal OneDrive account is created. An email message is sent to the email address used to create the account.

To open your Microsoft account from the email message, click VIEW YOUR ACCOUNT.

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If your USNH OneDrive account files are synchronized with a folder on your computer, open File Explorer or Finder to see both of your accounts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: If your USNH OneDrive files are not synchronized with a folder on your computer, then follow the download instructions included in this article to download your files for storing or uploading to a location of your choice.

 

Instructions

Step 1 - Open File Explorer or Finder and navigate to the folder that contains the synchronized USNH OneDrive files.

Step 2 - Select any files and folders to keep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3 - Right-click and select Copy from the context menu.

Step 4 - Hover over the Documents folder of the personal OneDrive account, right-click and select Paste from the context menu.

 

Outcome

Your articles and folders have been copied to your personal OneDrive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Instructions

Important Note: Before downloading any content from your university-provided OneDrive, please ensure you are downloading only files that you personally own or created. Do not download files containing institutional data, student information, or shared departmental documents unless you have been explicitly authorized to do so. This guidance helps protect university records and comply with data privacy and retention policies.

OneDrive is intended for individual work files, not for storing long-term or shared institutional data. University-owned content should remain within approved SharePoint sites or be transitioned to another institutional storage location.  Moving Institutional Files to SharePoint before leaving USNH

 

How to Download Personal Files from OneDrive

Step 1 - Sign in to your USNH Microsoft 365 account at https://portal.office.com/onedrive  

Step 2 - Navigate to the folders or files you wish to download.

Step 3 - Select the files and folders:

• Click the circle next to each file/folder name, or use Ctrl (Windows) / Command (Mac) to select multiple items.

Step 4 - Click the Download button in the top menu.

• Your files will be downloaded as a ZIP file if you selected multiple items.

Step 5 - Locate the downloaded files in your Downloads folder or wherever your browser saves files.

Step 6 - Unzip the files if necessary and store them securely on your personal device or backup storage.

Outcome

Selected OneDrive contents are downloaded. 

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Further Readings

OneDrive: Moving Institutional Files to SharePoint before leaving USNH - for USNH owned/shared data

FAQs for Graduating and Departing Students

OneDrive: Uploading/Saving your Files/Folders to OneDrive

OneDrive: Synchronizing Files/Folders

OneDrive: Introducing Sync

How to add an account in OneDrive  

Sync files with OneDrive in Windows  

Sync files with OneDrive on Mac OS X  

 

Need additional help?

For assistance concerning site creation, content sharing, file synchronization, or other common SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, or Office app activities, we recommend our Microsoft 365 Learning sites:

• USNH M365 Learning Pathways: On-Demand Online Walk-throughs, Tutorials, & Guides for M365 Products
  https://universitysystemnh.sharepoint.com/sites/M365LP/
• SharePoint Success Site: Learn How to Plan, Build, Launch, Share, & Manage Your Sites
  https://universitysystemnh.sharepoint.com/sites/SharePointSuccessSite/

Learn more about the great tools our Microsoft 365 Learning sites offer!

Visit the Technology Help Desk Support page to locate your local campus contact information or to submit an online technology support request.  For password issues you must call or visit the Help Desk in person.