My parents are luddites, so when it comes to keeping their photos organised and backed up, it's easier if I just do it for them.
About a month ago Microsoft introduced the ability to use shared OneDrive folders from the desktop (Info Here). Therefore, it's crossed my mind whether I could just get them to put all their photos in a shared photos folder on my OneDrive, which will obviously be visible on their desktop, however does anyone know the following:
1) If I have a 1TB plan with 300GB of files stored in a folder, can I share it with someone who has only say 40GB of OneDrive storage on their account?
2) Are there any protection mechanisms built-in to prevent accidental overwriting/deletion of files by someone that a folder's shared with? Otherwise, it's obviously pretty risky if someone can accidently delete/overwrite something, then that syncs to everyone else that it's shared with.
The OneDrive capacity of those users you share with has nothing to do with this. If you share 300 GB with someone who has a 40 GB OneDrive, they will see their own 40 GB plus your 300 GB. When they save on your shared folders (if you have allowed it, see #2 below) the space used is taken from your available OneDrive capacity leaving their free space on that 40 GB intact.1) If I have a 1TB plan with 300GB of files stored in a folder, can I share it with someone who has only say 40GB of OneDrive storage on their account?The simplest protection in this case is to let them only view the shared content. This naturally also allows download but they cannot edit, rename or remove the content, not even reorganize the folder structure.2) Are there any protection mechanisms built-in to prevent accidental overwriting/deletion of files by someone that a folder's shared with? Otherwise, it's obviously pretty risky if someone can accidently delete/overwrite something, then that syncs to everyone else that it's shared with.
Kari
Thanks for clarifying the first one. I thought that would be the case, but wanted to check.
With the second question, if I set it to 'Recipients can only view', presumably that would mean they wouldn't be able to add new files either? I.E. Drag and drop photos from a camera memory card to a folder in the shared OneDrive storage.
Although, reading your answer I think the best solution would actually be two separate shared folders. One set to 'Recipients can edit' where they can just drag & drop new files to, and one set to 'Recipients can only view', which will be the master folder where all the photos will end up (they will never edit the photos anyway).
If the folder is set to View only, they cannot add new files to it. Your idea about two separate folders sounds good, one for them to add new files for you to sort out and add to the view folder, and the view folder for them to see.
Reading more I'm not sure it will work anyway. It seems folders won't sync with desktop when set to 'Recipients can only view'. I don't have any Windows 10 machines to try it on, but according to the Microsoft article it says:"When someone shares a folder and gives you edit permissions to it, add the shared folder to your own OneDrive to make it easier to edit and work with the folder and its contents."
And according to Windows Central:"One nifty feature when you share a folder is the ability for the recipient to click Add to my OneDrive to make the folder available on any device. This means that the folder and its content can be accessed not only on the web but also using File Explorer in Windows and recipients can also make the folder available offline. (Keep in mind that this feature only works when you set the edit permission, not with view only permission.)"
OK, I hadn't noticed that.
Anyway, how difficult it is to them to view the shared OneDrive folder using a browser? Share the folder with rights to edit where they are supposed to add the new files adding that folder to their desktop, share the view folder without edit rights and explain how to access it from a browser.
Yeah, viewing in a browser would be possible, but a bit of a messy solution. All the old originals are saved in folders there as well, so uncut AVI's and high-res 16-bit TIFF's. These are perfectly fine on a local machine, but not so great over the internet.
I think Microsoft are set to launch their new 'Unified Sync Engine' for OneDrive sometime towards the end of this year, so I think I'll hold off for now and wait to see how that all works. Another thing I'm going to have to figure out is if they replace the computer, whether there's a way to locally copy the files back into their OneDrive folder without having to download the whole lot from Microsoft again.
Thanks for your help anyway.
