Digital training and support
OneDrive for Business
OneDrive for Business is the best place to store and work on essays.
When using Microsoft programs on campus shared computers, you will automatically be logged into York St John's OneDrive for Business and can access work from any PC or Mac.
If you are using a copy of Office on your own computer, you may need to log in on the File menu.
What is OneDrive for Business?
OneDrive for Business is different to OneDrive.
OneDrive for Business is cloud storage intended for University purposes to use while you are a student or member of staff at York St John. It allows you to access your files on and off campus and to share and collaborate with other York St John students and staff. Your OneDrive for Business account can only be accessed using your York St John email address and password.
OneDrive is personal cloud storage that often comes free with a personal Microsoft account (for example, with Hotmail or Outlook live accounts). This is completely separate to your York St John OneDrive for Business account and cannot link to it.
If you are having trouble logging into your York St John OneDrive for Business account because you've got a personal OneDrive account please contact support@yorksj.ac.uk for advice.
How to use OneDrive for Business
Sharing, storing and syncing files
The file storage area is hosted on Microsoft servers as part of the Microsoft 365 service. It is administered by York St John University staff.
You can share your files but files or folders containing personal data should only be shared with York St John users. This means users with an '@yorksj.ac.uk' email address.
Sharing, along with all other use of OneDrive for Business is governed by the University's Acceptable Use for University ICT Systems, Data Protection and Research Data Management policies.
It is technically possible to sync your files to another device. However, University files containing personal, sensitive, or confidential data should not be synced to personal devices.
Storing research data
The storage of research data should be considered within the framework of the University's Research Data Management Policy and the requirements of any funders of the research.
Where there is a requirement by a research funder for research data to be physically stored within the University, OneDrive for Business (or any other cloud storage) will not meet that requirement.
It is strongly recommended that any research data held on OneDrive for Business is a copy of data held securely elsewhere.
Storage space and deleting files
Each OneDrive for Business account has an overall limit of 1 TB of storage space.
There is a maximum file size of 15 GB.
Synchronisation of files is limited to an overall limit of 20,000 items.
When you delete a file, each user can recover their own deleted items for up to 90 days from the OneDrive for Business recycle bin. After 90 days any files in the OneDrive for Business recycle bin are permanently deleted.
Data security
OneDrive for Business (as part of Microsoft 365) is as secure as systems hosted on campus. It is hosted by Microsoft in a secure Microsoft 365 tenancy.
York St John University has signed up to use Microsoft 365 under Janet's terms and conditions. This provides Europe-wide security and data protection. Under the agreement, Microsoft have agreed to meet Janet's more restrictive conditions. This helps to meet UK Data Protection requirements. In addition, Microsoft 365 is verified to meet the requirements specified in ISO 27001, European Union (EU) Model Clauses, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Business Associate Agreement (HIPAA BAA), and the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).
Your OneDrive for Business account, and any files stored there, is deleted when you leave the University. Your access to the free Office applications will also stop.
