Forum Discussion
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
- ssquires
Microsoft
Hi Paul Youngberg - thank you for sharing! There's actually some great investments happening across client, ODB, Outlook, and SharePoint products to make these saving/sharing scenarios more seamless and user-friendly. Adding a few colleagues - LincolnDeMaris and cfiessinger for notice and comment.
- It's been two years since your comment. The gripes in the original post are still valid. When can we expect saving/sharing scenarios to be more seamless and user-friendly?
This functionality has been improved greatly if you've been using Office 365 Groups in SharePoint Online. You can select the down arrow on the attachment and select "upload", you'll see all of your OneDrives, but you'll also see all of your Office 365 groups you are a part of. You can upload directly from there.
This is exactly why we ended up purchasing a third party tool for our users. (Harmon.ie)
Since we had lots of problems with mapped network drives and trusted site GPO's not always applying correctly. Which stopped them accessing the drives. Also sign on was a problem as users would go to there drives before signing on which doesn't work either.
- I didn't know this product, it seems useful but a bit pricey.
Hi Philip. Problems with mapped drives can be resolved using a free script like the one from Jos https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/OneDriveMapper-automaticall-d7d498b0
Zee Drive, a commercial drive mapping tool my company develops, also provides http://www.thinkscape.com/Map-Network-Drives-To-Office-365-OneDrive/ with additional features including mapping to shared with me files, sharing directly from Windows File Explorer and viewing version history.
Myles
- Thanks Myles.
We evaluated both those options.
Went for Harmonie as our users spend most of their time in outlook.
- Great contribution Paul. This real world view shows how difficult even basic tasks can be, particularly with a large scale migration. Users point this stuff out without filters. Thanks for sharing!
I agree 100%.
It would also be useful if you can browse all your team sites (linked to an O365 group) from within Office. I have a similar scenario for Word:
I often end up with a document in Word which I have to save to my desktop, open up a browser, navigate to the correct team site, drag the document onto the library in the browser.
After which I remember I have to add or change something, so I have to close the current document (because it links to one on the dekstop), and reopen the document from the browser.
This would not be necessary if I could browse all my groups from within Word.
Hi Bart, try the following:
- File menu
- Save as
- Browse
- Write or paste the document library URL
- Navigate to the desidered folder
- Click on Save
- Optionally, pin the folder to the recent list: from now on it will appear in Open and Save as, under Sites
Hi Bart,
This would be ok if Microsoft understood their own generated URLs. For instance, if a user is in a particular folder, and they copy the browser url, the office app does not understand the url and complains to the user.
How does MS expect all users to understand that they need to get the URL of the library and not the folder url. How difficult would it be for the Office Team to parse a url their own product generates?
