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Saving files to SharePoint Online is HARD
I migrate companies to SharePoint Online for a living. The biggest hangup my users have after their migration is adopting a new workflow for getting files INTO SharePoint. It's unnecisarily complex. Let me ilustrate my point: (Edit - reposting since my original post disappeared)
User A gets an email with multiple attachments in Outlook 2016. They want to place the attachments in their team's SharePoint library (https://contoso.sharepoint.com/teamdocs). Their options for this are as follows:
- Download the attachments to their desktop, drag all the attachments onto their browser which is signed into their Team Docs library, then delete all the attachments from their desktop
(OR) - Open each attachment, select Save As, hope and pray that their Team Docs library is listed under the "Recent" section. (Unlikely if they're working with multiple doc libraies every day) If it's not listed there, then select browse > paste the url for the Team Docs Library into the nav bar at the top of the Save As dialog > select save > repeat for every attachment
(OR) - Manually setup a Network Location for the site root (can't be setup via GPO) by going to Windows Explorer > My Computer > Add a Network Location (Repeat for all 300+ users in the company) Finally, have User A user select the option in Outlook to Save All Attachments > select the Network Location you just setup called "Team Docs" and save.
See how hard that is? Users coming from mapped drives through on-premises SharePoint and file servers hate that new level of complexity. Below is some basic functionality that would go miles toward improving user adoption:
- Work with the Outlook team to enable the ability to save Outlook attachments directly to a specific SharePoint library (like you can with OneDrive) - this flyout list of SharePoint libraries should be able to be populated via GPO and/or reg keys.
- Enable the ability for admins to add specific SharePoint document libraries as PINNED save as locations in Office apps (via GPO) - none of this "recent" junk or links to the site root. My dream would be to have all the Accountants with links to the Finance doc library, all the HR reps to have links to their HR library, and all of this from right within their Office apps under the Save As menu.
This was a little general to include in User Voice, but if I can condense it all into a quick blurb I'll throw links down below. Thanks for listening, hopefully the right folks find this feedback helpful! ssquires?
It's been a while since I made this post and I'd only think it fair to follow up with it as Microsoft has delivered some real positive improvements in this space.
Files on Demand - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/use-group-policy#FilesOnDemandEnabled
AutoMount Team Sites - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/use-group-policy#AutoMountTeamSites
Save to SharePoint site - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2015/11/09/attachments-in-outlook-2016-ready-for-collaboration/ and much easier when using the two features mentioned above.
Bonus points: Live document collaberation - https://support.office.com/en-us/article/document-collaboration-and-co-authoring-ee1509b4-1f6e-401e-b04a-782d26f564a4
Big thanks to ssquires , LincolnDeMaris , cfiessinger , and anybody else involved with these changes. They were a game changer when they launched and they've been much appreciated by consultants and end-users alike!!
50 Replies
It's been a while since I made this post and I'd only think it fair to follow up with it as Microsoft has delivered some real positive improvements in this space.
Files on Demand - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/use-group-policy#FilesOnDemandEnabled
AutoMount Team Sites - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/use-group-policy#AutoMountTeamSites
Save to SharePoint site - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2015/11/09/attachments-in-outlook-2016-ready-for-collaboration/ and much easier when using the two features mentioned above.
Bonus points: Live document collaberation - https://support.office.com/en-us/article/document-collaboration-and-co-authoring-ee1509b4-1f6e-401e-b04a-782d26f564a4
Big thanks to ssquires , LincolnDeMaris , cfiessinger , and anybody else involved with these changes. They were a game changer when they launched and they've been much appreciated by consultants and end-users alike!!
- Hi Paul,
Issues previously experience have all been resolved and saving to SharePoint is seamless.
The only concern is the default setting turning 'Auto Save' on, as this can lead to unintended over-writing. Other than that MS have done a brady job.
Regards
NickFor me personally, I can't see any improvements here.
- How do I save an Excel, Word or Powerpoint document to a SharePoint site that I have access to but am not following?
- How do I save to a SharePoint site from Outlook for Mac?
I don't want to map any sites to my local computer.
- So...I posted my comment, updated my computer, and now am on the latest build for Office 365 click to run.
The new save interface is snazzy and streamlined.
Microsoft is trying to give me the warm and fuzzies today, and I'm not used to it. I agree with this 100%.
I work in IT and I STILL bang my head up against the wall when I forget to "start" a document in the right place so that it is easy to move to 365. For full disclosure, yes, I have my SharePoint and Teams document libraries synced with OneDrive, but there are still situations where even with the files being "local" having a mapped drive would still be easier to deal with.
End user Ease of Use/Usability, I believe, should be Microsoft's focus for the next year or so. I love new features, really, I do. I see a new app and I'm like, "OMG! I WANT THAT!" but when once I start digging into it, I realize exactly how hard it would be for an end user to just pick up that new application and start working on it. I love new capablities also, but at the end of the day, what I care about the most is this: How much are my end users going to love this technology that we are rolling out? Are they going to use it? Is it going to make their lives better?
If an application makes life much more complicated, your adoption rates are going to be dismal. Yes, you can "force" them to use a technology, but people are going to hate you for it.
Why was the iPhone so popular? It was stupid easy to use. A baby could pick it up and play a video. I know that Enterprise class systems will always have some degree of complexity to them, but when it comes to end users, they have enough to deal with, give them the easiest way possible to get their job done, and we can go from being the meanies in the IT department to, "Hey, you are my bestest friend!"
I just posted a discussion on the 365 techcommunity regarding a similar situation with the integration of calendaring and tasks; nothing in 365 or Azure is seamlessly integrated, which if it was, would make end users very, very, very, happy, and my teams job that much easier.
- I agree too!
We find the best way with Outlook attachments is to use OnePlace mail - It's a Microsoft preferred soultion and you can push it out to all local copies of Outlook and Outlook webmail easily. If you need some advise on this let us know.
We also find it hard for people to tag documents when using managed metadata. The upgraded version of OnePlaceMail can help with this but I prefer still to tag via the web browser. Paul, I totally agree! This is one of my main frustrations with SharePoint. The sooner this feature is enabled the better.
I have tried to add my SharePoint address as a Network Location and this doesn't seem to work? Is there something I need to know?
Regards
Nick
Adding SharePoint doclibs as Network Locations has never worked reliably.
You could try third-party tools, like Zee Drive (http://www.thinkscape.com/Map-Network-Drives-To-Office-365-OneDrive/).
I disagree, its never been easier to use it. If you follow the proper patterns. (I know change is tough)
1. Author, or save attachments to onedrive as a default.
- If desired, users can save to the sync folder 1st, and then open the Onedrive site to perform step 2 when ready.
2. When ready, copy the file directly from onedrive to any site or group you have access to. (using the copy or move to options in the tool bar) SUPER easy. File may be synced locally, but user never worked with it locally unless they opened the client, rather than the browser.
At that point the user should/could delete the version in their onedrive. This should be made a point for users know how to determine where they are opening a file from. That's why its just better to tell them to delete the OG file on OneDrive, or use the move option, rather than copy.
I never save anything locally. You can pretend like you are by saving to the local onedrive sync folder. (If you set that up)All it takes is a little open minded-ness. And the acceptance that network drives are dead. Aside from a few niche applications, users should not be using local storage, or network file shares.
- +1 That's clearly one of the pain for users when migrating to SharePoint Online and OneDrive.
I'm not sure why they improved the experience for attaching files, but not for saving.
Maybe that will come in the next few months with Office 2019.Totally agree, this has been an challenge as long as SharePoint has existed, and that's also why most enterprises still prefer "file shares" as their main document storage. Everything else is painful, not to mention if there is a bunch of "metadata" that needs to be added to the files also.
That said, now with SharePoint Online, latest Windows 10 updates and OneDrive file on-demand, you can solve part of this challenge as follows:
- Structure documents in different libraries or team sites dependent on your information architecture and permisions requirements.
- Use OneDrive "file on demand" to synch all files in the libraries you need,
- You can now save by directly drag and drop attachment, emails ect. to the OneDrive synch folders without the need of temporary save to desktop. You can also use save as and in file explorer navigate to the OneDrive folder.
Challenges that we still need solved:
- How to tag documents with correct metadata directly in OneDrive Synch? currently you still have to log into the SharePoint Library, a bit easier with mass data tagging recently released but still need improvement.
- How to automatically Synch Libraries for Users, pr. now each end user have to manually initiate the first Synch.
On the other side, local sync of shared items should be used carefully...
For an example of the problems that could result from local sync, see http://blog.ciaops.com/2018/02/offline-file-conflicts-with-sharepoint.html
That's a good use case where the "old way" wins.
I've had some success "selling" those folks on the enhanced collaboration features of Office 365, including document coauthoring, version history, doc check out/check in.
Totally agree, this process is completely unfriendly to common users. It's not reasonable to think they would remember sites URL, or go to check and copy-paste them every time.
They should also copy the right path, another possible issue to process (see there).
The new sync client works really good, and it could be a solution; bu there are a lot of use cases in which syncing a library is not the best option.
A GPO solution would be amazing, but even just the possibility to see all the sites in the tenant (or the sites you are following, or those you see at the SharePoint online home page - tenantname.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/sharepoint.aspx) would be great.
Still no news from Microsoft?
EDIT: I've found similar questions on the same topic:
- https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Teams/Any-plans-to-save-directly-to-Teams-sites-in-Office-2016-apps/td-p/53198
- https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_officeinsider-mso_win10-msoinsider_excel/please-tell-me-the-groupsharepoint-listing-is/ba61791e-146a-4b3f-8322-ba417a580174
- https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Office-365-Groups/Saving-to-Groups-from-Office-Desktop-Applications/m-p/30877
- https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_o365admin-mso_dep365/save-directly-to-an-office-365-outlook-group-files/906f5b02-4b67-41fc-8750-930abfa9dc55
I might be irrelevant, but in that case why not use a Flow ? Your user could set up a folder where emails attachments will be saved to a SP docs lib, and Flow will do the job.
One of the things with flow is that it is a giant security hole.
If a user has the skills to use it they can easily send data off to other consumer services and no way of monitoring it other than DLP.
The other thing is to set up flows for users but then you are left to maintain those. Which would include
having some access to their email id's.
The other way that is open is using the OneDrive for business sync client.
Still requires config to sync libraries people use frequently, but for bulk upload you just save to the local location. It at least cuts out the go find and navigate to the Sharepoint library part.
