Microsoft today announced the third generation of OneDrive cloud storage, including the company's artificial intelligence-powered Copilot system, Fluent design and major improvements to the way businesses share and use cloud documents.
OneDrive hosts trillions of files for consumers and businesses, with 2 billion new files added every day. Microsoft is now revolutionizing the enterprise work experience in OneDrive with a host of quality-of-life improvements that will make files better managed and used across the web, Windows, and Microsoft's various Office apps.
Microsoft is overhauling its main OneDrive Web app with a new Fluent design. It more closely matches recent changes to the Windows 11 interface and Office apps, and also fits the latest File Explorer design updates. There's now an AI-powered file recommendation "Foryou" section at the top, just like File Explorer.
Files that are important to your workday appear here instantly and can appear here whether they're in your OneDrive, Teams, or elsewhere.
This updated web view also includes a refreshed shared view, which now includes all files shared via Teams, via email, and other ways you share Office documents. The main sharing user interface has also been improved, and management of file permissions has been simplified.
If you work with colleagues on large files, the new people view also makes the job easier. Simply find a colleague's face or name and you can focus on the document you're working on with your colleague. You can also filter this view by name, or pin colleagues you work closely with to the top.
You can now also choose the color of your folders, and when you share them with colleagues, they'll see the color selection too.
Perhaps the most useful addition is the ability to collect OneDrive files that will roam in Windows 11, OneDrive on the web, and elsewhere. So, if you have favorited OneDrive folders in File Explorer on Windows 11, you will
The search experience in OneDrive has also been overhauled with artificial intelligence capabilities, making it easier to find friends and family in pictures stored on Microsoft's cloud storage service. The products will be available for consumer testing in limited preview starting this month, with public preview in early 2024.
Microsoft has also improved file creation in OneDrive. Coming next summer, a new "Add New" button will feature a list of template suggestions for presentations and other documents that you can hover over to preview, or start directly from a blank document.
OneDrive is also faster to use and has improved offline support. Microsoft says OneDrive web launches twice as fast, has instant sorting, improved scrolling and improved offline support. You'll soon be able to launch OneDrive in your browser without an internet connection. File On Demand also has a browser version, so you can mark files as available offline. Offline mode and Files on Demand are both great features that were previously limited to the main OneDrive desktop app but will be available in early 2024.
One thing that many OneDrive business users have been asking for is the ability to open any document from OneDrive on the web into the native desktop app. Microsoft will add this feature in December, with the ability to open files such as CAD files or PDFs. Microsoft has also added a new media view that contains all your photo and video assets in one place.
This new OneDrive experience will also soon be available in the files section of Microsoft Teams and the file navigation section of Outlook. Microsoft expects the new OneDrive in Outlook view to launch in December.
Microsoft also plans to integrate its Copilot AI system into OneDrive in December, making it available to everyone with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Copilot will provide daily document summaries that act like a catch-up feature on the documents you and your colleagues are working on. This will include a list of important changes to the file and a summary of new comments. Microsoft says it will intelligently organize these summaries based on context and relevance.
You can try most of OneDrive's interface changes today at onedrive.com, with more coming in early 2024.