The OneDrive app lets you upload your pictures and download any files you have at OneDrive.com.

Important: 

  • The OneDrive app does not sync files automatically, but you can upload updated files and edited pictures.

  • If you exceed your Microsoft storage, you won’t be able to upload, edit, or sync new files (such as Camera Roll) to your OneDrive. Learn more

Here are the basics about using the OneDrive app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Download the app for iOS.

To add a personal account, enter your Microsoft account on the sign-in page. To add a OneDrive for work or school account, enter the email address you use for your company, school, or other organization.

Notes: 

  • If you have a problem signing in with your work or school account, try signing in at OneDrive.com or contact your IT department.

  • To change or reset your OneDrive password, sign in to your account online at account.microsoft.com/security.

You can have both personal accounts and OneDrive accounts. To add an additional account:

  1. Open the OneDrive app and tap the circle with your image or initials in the upper left of the screen.

  2. Tap Add account.

  3. On the sign-in screen, enter the email address and password you use for your company, school, or other organization.

    When your organization uses SharePoint 2013, SharePoint Server 2016, or SharePoint Server 2019, the sign-in process is different from Microsoft 365. On the sign-in screen, tap Have a SharePoint Server URL? Then, enter the web address of your SharePoint server to continue the sign-in process. The web address, also known as a URL, may look like http://portal.

Notes: 

  • For you to sign in to OneDrive for work or school, your organization needs to have a qualifying SharePoint in Microsoft 365 or Microsoft 365 business subscription plan, or its own SharePoint Server deployment.

  • You can't sign in with multiple work or school accounts from the same organization.

To switch between a personal OneDrive account and a OneDrive for work or school account, or between multiple OneDrive for work or school accounts, open the app, tap the circle with your image or initials in the upper left of the screen, then tap the account name you want to use.

Screenshot of switching between accounts in the OneDrive app on iOS

You can add only one personal account to the OneDrive app. To open a different personal account, tap the circle with your image or initials in the upper left of the screen, tap the account you want to sign out of, then tap Sign Out of This Account. Then, sign in with the account you want to use.

  1. In the OneDrive app, tap Add Blue plus sign against a white circle with a blue background.  at the top of the screen.

  2. Then tap to take a photo or video, or upload an existing one.

    Screenshot of the Add menu in OneDrive app for iOS

    • If you choose Take a photo or video, your device's camera app opens. You might be asked if you want OneDrive to access your camera - tap OK to allow your pictures to be saved in OneDrive.

    • If you tap Upload, links appear to the Photos app on your device. Browse to the pictures you want to upload, select them, then on the top bar, tap Done.

Apple recommends that customers leave the OneDrive app running in the background. Automatic uploading cannot work if the app has been force-closed.

Note: Camera upload can only be used on one account at a time.

Photos uploaded with the camera upload feature will be automatically sorted by year and month into nested folders in the camera roll folder. This folder can be managed in the camera upload settings page. Please note that moving, renaming, or deleting these folders is not recommended at this time.

For personal OneDrive accounts:

  1. In the OneDrive app, tap the circle with your image or initials in the upper left of the screen, then tap Settings OneDrive settings .

  2. In the Settings box, tap Camera Upload, then slide the toggle next to your email address to turn  the camera upload feature on.

  3. To make sure videos automatically upload, turn on Include Videos.

    Notes: 

    • All photos and videos will upload at their original sizes when you're on a Wi-Fi network. If you want to use your mobile network, tap Settings, tap Camera upload, and then turn on Use Mobile Network.

    • The camera roll on your device uploads to OneDrive, rather than syncs. That means you can delete uploaded photos and videos from your device, and the copies in OneDrive won't be affected.

    • OneDrive cannot upload photos optimized for iCloud. To disable optimization, tap Settings > iCloud > Photos and uncheck Optimize Storage.

For OneDrive for work or school accounts:

  1. Make sure you're signed in to the app with the account that you want to upload photos to.

  2. Select the circle with your image or initials > Photos.

  3. In the Photos view, from the Camera upload status pop-up, select Turn on. (If you already have the camera upload feature enabled on another account, select Change instead.)

  4. Confirm that you want to Turn on Camera upload. (If you selected Change in the previous step, confirm that you want to Change the Camera Upload account.)

  5. Confirm again that you have the right account selected.

  1. In the OneDrive app, tap Scan Icon for Scan in OneDrive mobile apps (you can also tap Add Blue plus sign against a white circle with a blue background.  at the top of the screen, then tap Scan). (To exit out of Scan mode without scanning anything, just tap the left arrow icon in the upper left corner of your screen.)

  2. Select the appropriate flash setting (on, off, automatic, or torch) by tapping the Flash icon in the upper right corner.

  3. Select either Whiteboard, Document, Business Card, or Photo, then tap the white circle icon to scan the item. (On smaller screens, you may need to swipe left to see the Photo option.)

    Options when scanning via OneDrive for Android

    Tips: 

    • Office 365 subscribers have the option for multi-page scanning, allowing you to combine multiple scans into a single PDF. To utilize that option, tap Add, then scan your next document.

    • The maximum number of pages/images that can be multi-page scanned is 10.

  4. Once you've scanned your item, you can crop it, rotate it, add text, or highlight part of it. (If you don't like the image, tap the left arrow icon in the upper left to delete the scan and try again.)

    Options for editing scans in OneDrive mobile app for iOS

    You can also modify the filter you selected earlier (Whiteboard, Document, Business Card, or Photo), or change the mode (lighting adjustments and grayscale), by tapping Filters at the bottom.

    Filter options for image scans in OneDrive for iOS

    Mode options for image scans in OneDrive for iOS

  5. Once you're done editing your item, tap Done, enter a file name, then tap Save.

    Note: Files are automatically saved as PDFs.

See Video: Scan, sign, and share documents.

Note: The video shows the Scan feature on an Android device, but it works similarly for iOS devices.

You can search for text within files and even photos. At the top of any file view, tap the Search box, then type your search phrase.

Tips: 

  • If you're working in a OneDrive personal account, a search includes only the contents of the folder you have open. For example, if a folder called Work Documents is open, search will look only at files in the Work Documents folder. To search all of your OneDrive files, use search in the Files view.

  • If you are working in work or school account, a search always searches the entire OneDrive.

If you don't see a file you're looking for in the app, see Find lost or missing files in OneDrive.

You can add folders in the Files view, or in any other folder in OneDrive.

  1. In the view or folder where you want a new folder, tap Add Blue plus sign against a white circle with a blue background.  at the top of the screen, and then tap Create a folder.

  2. Tap Folder name and type the name you want for the folder, then tap Create.

  1. Select the files you want to move, and then tap Move Outline of a file folder with an arrow pointing to the right  (You may have to tap More first to see the Move icon).

    Tip: You can move folders into another folder, as well as individual files.

  2. Your Files list appears. Tap the folder you want the files moved to, then tap Move.

Tip: To create a new folder for these moved files, at the bottom of the Files list, tap New folder. Enter a name for the new folder, then tap Create.

If you're using OneDrive, you can access your SharePoint files in the mobile app without leaving OneDrive. SharePoint sites you've recently interacted with or that you follow appear in a list located under the name of your organization. You'll also be able to see your Microsoft 365 groups in the list, as each group will have its own team site.

To learn more, see Find your SharePoint files in OneDrive.

  1. In the OneDrive app, open the folder you want to sort, and then tap the arrow next to the current sort order, for example Sort by name (A-Z).

  2. Pick how you want the files sorted. You can sort by name, date, size, or extension.

Files deleted from OneDrive are kept in the OneDrive Recycle Bin for 30 days for personal accounts. The files can be restored to OneDrive before then, or you can permanently delete them from your OneDrive.

  1. Tap the tap the circle with your image or initials in the upper left of the screen, select the account, and then tap Recycle Bin.

  2. In the Recycle Bin view, select the files you want to restore.

  3. To restore the files back to your OneDrive, tap Restore OneDrive restore file.

Note: If your recycle bin is full, the oldest items will be automatically deleted after three days. If you're signed in with a work or school account, items in the recycle bin are automatically deleted after 93 days, unless the administrator has changed the setting. See more information about how long deleted items are kept for work or school accounts.

Files deleted from OneDrive are kept in the OneDrive Recycle Bin for 30 days for personal accounts. The files can be restored to OneDrive before then, or you can permanently delete them from your OneDrive.

  1. Tap the circle with your image or initials in the upper left of the screen, tap the account you're using, then tap Recycle Bin.

  2. In the Recycle Bin view, select the files you want to delete.

  3. Tap Delete OneDrive delete file to remove the files permanently.

Note: If your recycle bin is full, the oldest items will be automatically deleted after three days. If you're signed in with a work or school account, items in the recycle bin are automatically deleted after 93 days, unless the administrator has changed the setting. See more information about how long deleted items are kept for work or school accounts.

  1. In the OneDrive app, open the folder that has the photos or videos you want to download. Make sure the folder contents appear in List view, not as thumbnails.

  2. Select a photo or video. (You can also select multiple files by pressing and holding one photo or video, then tapping the circle next to additional file names to check them.)

  3. Tap Share OneDrive share > Save Photo.

    Share menu with apps along the top and a list of share options below those.

  4. Find your downloaded photos or videos in your device's Camera Roll folder.

You can share files, photos, and folders in OneDrive on your iOS device, just as you can on a PC or Mac. To stop sharing, go to the OneDrive website and sign in with your Microsoft account, or with your work or school account.

When someone shares a OneDrive file or folder with you, you typically get an email message or a notification on your iOS device. To find the files shared with you in the OneDrive app, tap the Shared view icon Shared view button in OneDrive app for Android at the bottom of the app.

Shared files view in OneDrive app for Android

The Shared view includes files shared with you, and files you've shared with others. When signed in with a personal OneDrive account, tap a sharer's name to find the files shared by that person.

Note: The Shared view looks different when you're signed in with a work or school account.

Mark files or folders "offline" to read them anytime, even when you aren't connected to the internet. Online edits made to the files sync the next time your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch connects to the internet, so you get the latest version of the file.

Notes: 

  • Office files and folders you've marked for offline use can be edited in the associated Office apps. Reconnect to the internet, and they'll update with the changes you made offline.

  • Taking folders offline is only available for Premium OneDrive with an Office 365 subscription.

  1. In the OneDrive app, select the file or folder that you want available for offline reading, then tap Make Available Offline Keep Offline..

  2. Files or folders marked for offline reading have the Available Offline Icon indicating a file is locally available in OneDrive icon in the List view. Tap the file listing anytime to open the file for reading.

Tip: Once you mark a file or folder offline, OneDrive also lists it in an Offline Files view. Tap the circle with your image or initials in the upper left of the screen, then tap Offline Files to instantly find all your offline files and folders.

To stop keeping a file or folder offline, select the offline file or folder and tap Remove from Offline Online only..

In the OneDrive app, tap the circle with your image or initials in the upper left of the screen, and then look at the Storage Space line to see your total storage and space available or to purchase additional storage.

You can set a four-digit passcode to prevent other users of your device from accessing your OneDrive account. To do this, open the app, tap the circle with your image or initials in the upper left of the screen, tap Settings OneDrive settings > Passcode, and then tap the Passcode toggle to turn it on and to enter your passcode.

To sign out of a personal OneDrive account or a OneDrive for work or school account, open the app, tap the circle with your image or initials in the upper left of the screen, and select the account you want to sign out of. Once you've selected the account, tap Settings OneDrive settings > Personal or the OneDrive for work or school account name > Sign Out.

First, update iOS on your device. Then, make sure you've installed any available updates to the app. They'll be downloaded and installed automatically when you're on Wi-Fi. To see available updates that haven't downloaded:

  1. Open the App Store, and then tap Updates.

  2. If updates are available, tap Update All. You might be asked to enter your Apple ID password.

If you still have problems with the app, try deleting it and then going to the App Store to download it again.

If you don't see a file you're looking for in the app, see Find lost or missing files in OneDrive.

For more help, read how to Troubleshoot OneDrive for iOS app problems.

You can rate the OneDrive app when you view it on an iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, or get help, by shaking your device.

Need more help?

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Contact Support For help with your Microsoft account and subscriptions, visit Account & Billing Help.

For technical support, go to Contact Microsoft Support, enter your problem, and select Get Help. If you still need help, shake your mobile device and select Report a problem.

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