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Add additional cloud storage systems to Teams to make files available that are not stored in OneDrive.
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Quick reference
Add Cloud Storage to Teams
Add additional cloud storage applications to Microsoft Teams.
When to use
We add additional cloud storage systems to Teams if we have files saved to storage applications outside of OneDrive, e.g. Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.
Instructions
Everything we do in Microsoft 365 is reliant on the fact that we are storing our files in OneDrive. When files are stored in the cloud, it makes them easy to open, work with and share from anywhere within Microsoft 365.
However, we might also use other cloud storage systems like Google Drive and Dropbox. We set these up inside teams to make it easier to access those files.
Add Cloud Storage to a Teams Channel (Google Drive)
- Open Teams from the App Launcher
- Go to a channel
- Click on the Files tab at the top
- Click the three dots and click Add Cloud Storage
- Choose Google Drive
In this example, I selected to add Google Drive.
- Navigate to the folder that contains the files you need access to
- Click Add folder
The files are now available as a linked folder within the file library in Teams.
Add Cloud Storage to a Teams Channel (SharePoint)
We can add our SharePoint files to a Teams channel using a similar method but also via a link.
- Open Teams from the App Launcher
- Go to a channel
- Click on the Files tab at the top
- Click the three dots and click Add Cloud Storage
- Choose SharePoint
- Click on Use a SharePoint link
- Click Go
- Click Next
- Select the folder to add
- Click Next
- Click Add folder
Hints & tips
- Check the list often as more file storage systems are being added regularly
- 00:04 Throughout this course, we've looked at many different aspects of Microsoft 365.
- 00:08 And in this section, it is time to pull everything together in Microsoft Teams,
- 00:14 because many organizations look at Teams as the centralized collaboration hub.
- 00:19 We can do so many different things in Teams.
- 00:22 We can chat with colleagues and have conversations.
- 00:26 We can start video and audio meetings.
- 00:28 We can share files and connect to other applications.
- 00:33 And we've seen how everything interacts with Microsoft 365 groups and
- 00:38 SharePoint sites.
- 00:39 And for most organizations, particularly these days since the pandemic,
- 00:44 a vast number of employees spend most of their day working somewhere within Teams.
- 00:50 So making sure we understand how to pull all of the knowledge that we've gained so
- 00:54 far together when we're working in Teams is imperative.
- 00:57 So in this section, we're going to delve a bit further and
- 01:00 take a look at file management from within Teams.
- 01:03 And I'm going to show you how to add additional cloud storage systems to make
- 01:07 it really easy for you to upload and
- 01:09 share files that aren't necessarily located on your PC or in OneDrive.
- 01:13 We're also going to take a look at how we can add other applications into
- 01:18 Teams to really extend its capabilities.
- 01:21 And we're also going to take a look at how we can make our channels a lot more useful
- 01:25 by adding different tabs to display different pieces of information.
- 01:29 And then finally, we're going to jump into a Teams meeting again, and I'm going to
- 01:34 showcase to you some of the newer features like PowerPoint and Excel Live.
- 01:39 Again, these are great features when it comes to collaborating with others.
- 01:43 We've seen already how easy it is to share files that are stored in
- 01:48 OneDrive cloud storage.
- 01:50 And just as a quick reminder, if I was to start a new conversation at the bottom
- 01:54 here, if I wanted to share a file that I have stored in OneDrive,
- 01:58 I can simply click on the paperclip icon, and I can access OneDrive from here.
- 02:03 But what if I have files stored in other cloud storage applications?
- 02:07 Maybe I have files stored in SharePoint that I want to share, or
- 02:12 maybe they're in Google Drive.
- 02:14 How can I access those?
- 02:16 Well, it might be that if you click on the paperclip icon and
- 02:20 choose Upload from my computer, if you have SharePoint libraries or
- 02:25 your Google Drive storage synchronized to your PC,
- 02:29 then you can easily pick up the files that way.
- 02:32 But what if you don't?
- 02:33 What if you only have these existing in the online sphere?
- 02:37 Well, this is where we can add additional cloud storage directly into channels
- 02:41 within Teams.
- 02:42 So I'm currently clicked on the Design channel in the Mark 8 Project Team team.
- 02:47 And currently, I am clicked on the Posts tab, so we have quite a lively
- 02:52 conversation going back and forth between myself and other channel members.
- 02:57 Now, if we click across to the Files tab at the top here,
- 03:01 I can see the three files that have been shared within this channel so far.
- 03:05 So we have a couple of PowerPoint presentations and a GIF image.
- 03:09 Now, if I wanted to upload a file, for example, and
- 03:12 share with this channel, I could go to Upload,
- 03:15 I could choose Files, and again, it's going to jump me across to File Explorer.
- 03:20 But as I said, we might not necessarily have Google Drive files synced to our PC.
- 03:25 Fortunately, there is an alternative.
- 03:28 If we go all the way across to where we have these three dots,
- 03:32 notice we have an Add Cloud Storage option.
- 03:35 So if we click on this, it's going to open up this little window, and
- 03:39 we can choose the cloud storage that we want to add.
- 03:43 Now, if you're looking at this list and thinking, well, my cloud storage isn't
- 03:47 listed here, the only thing I can say to you is check back frequently,
- 03:51 as this is being updated all the time with different cloud storage applications.
- 03:55 Now, just for the purpose of demonstration,
- 03:58 we're going to link to SharePoint.
- 03:59 So let's click this, and now it's showing me some of my SharePoint sites.
- 04:05 And you can see at the top there, we have Project Alpha,
- 04:08 we have Sales and Marketing, so on, and so forth.
- 04:11 Now, if you can't see the SharePoint site that you want to add,
- 04:15 then don't panic, because we can also use a SharePoint link.
- 04:19 For example, if we go back to SharePoint, and
- 04:22 I'm just going to access this from the app launcher.
- 04:26 Let's open it up.
- 04:27 If for example the Sales and Marketing team site wasn't listed there,
- 04:32 what I could do is jump into the site in SharePoint and simply grab the URL.
- 04:38 So I could go up to here, I could Ctrl+C to copy in, go back to Teams and
- 04:43 click on Use a SharePoint Link, and then Ctrl+V to paste it in.
- 04:48 So when I click on Go, it's going to recognize it.
- 04:51 I can click on Next.
- 04:52 I can see here that I have a Documents folder within the Sales and
- 04:55 Marketing SharePoint site, which is perfect.
- 04:58 So let's select that and click on Next again.
- 05:01 And I'm going to choose Add Folder.
- 05:03 So check out what we now have, we now have a link to our SharePoint team site.
- 05:08 I can click to expand it, and then I can see any folders and files stored within.
- 05:14 So that is a great way of linking to other cloud storage systems and
- 05:18 making those files available to members of your Teams' channel.
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