Difference of OneDrive and OneDrive for Business

Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage service lets you access your files wherever you are. The company actually maintains two different but similarly named versions of OneDrive. Whether you use OneDrive or the separate OneDrive for Business depends on what you’ll be saving in the cloud and how you need to access it.

OneDrive

“OneDrive” is Microsoft’s consumer-focused cloud. You’ll find it in your personal Outlook account and linked automatically in Windows 10. OneDrive is meant to store the files, photos and music you accumulate on your own and with your friends and family.

OneDrive for Business

"OneDrive for Business" is a special OneDrive version available to users of Office 365 Business plans and SharePoint team sites. It’s managed by your organisation and stores your work files for collaboration with your colleagues. Practically, it has the same features as the consumer version of OneDrive, expanded with additional organisation and administration abilities to suit business environments.

If your organisation uses these SharePoint features, you’ll have to use the OneDrive for Business client to access them on your PC. Microsoft is gradually folding all the OneDrive for Business features into Windows 10’s OneDrive app but document libraries are currently still exclusive to the old Business client.

Summary

OneDrive is a good fit for storing your personal documents, pictures and videos in the cloud, so you can access them everywhere you go and also share them with friends, family and colleagues.

OneDrive for Business is used with SharePoint to sync data to user devices so they can access corporate files, co-author documents with colleagues, and keep working on them while at home or on the road.