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Saving files to SharePoint Online is HARD

Steel Contributor

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:

 

  1. 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)
  2. 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)
  3. 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! @Sean Squires?

50 Replies

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.

It sure has got better. Getting closer to cloud only storage.

The improvements in Office functionality with followed sites and the OneDrive sync client make this easier. Not to mention drag and drop in teams.

The OneDrive sync client known folder move and files on demand are also heading in the right direction
It sure has got better. Getting closer to cloud only storage.

The improvements in Office functionality with followed sites and the OneDrive sync client make this easier. Not to mention drag and drop in teams.

The OneDrive sync client known folder move and files on demand are also heading in the right direction

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.

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.

@Beau Cameron wrote:

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.


Are you referring to Outlook? Using version 16.23 on Mac, I am only able to select local files when adding an attachment, not OneDrive or Office 365 groups (aka. SharePoint Online sites). For the other Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), I am able to select SharePoint online sites when opening or saving, but only a subset of the sites I have access to.

best response confirmed by Paul Youngberg (Steel Contributor)
Solution

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 Demandhttps://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/use-group-policy#FilesOnDemandEnabled

 

AutoMount Team Siteshttps://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/use-group-policy#AutoMountTeamSites

 

Save to SharePoint sitehttps://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2015/11/09/attachments-in-outlook-2016-ready-for-... and much easier when using the two features mentioned above.

 

Bonus points: Live document collaberationhttps://support.office.com/en-us/article/document-collaboration-and-co-authoring-ee1509b4-1f6e-401e-...

 

Big thanks to @Sean Squires@Lincoln DeMaris@Christophe Fiessinger , 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

Nick

For 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.

Could you use power automate/Microsoft Graph to force all to 'follow' a Sharepoint site as its created?

In trying to answer my own question found this PowerShell script: https://www.cyberdrain.com/automating-with-powershell-automatically-following-all-sharepoint-sites-o...

So in theory, when users 'Save As' in any O365 programme, the site should appear in the 'following' list... what might the negative implications of this be other than a massive list?