The modern workplace may as well be digital for all the time we spend in it. Even if some firms are rallying against remote working, even people in the office now spend most of their days online, using a variety of cloud-based tools. Chief among these is Microsoft 365, and the platform that supports online collaboration throughout the Microsoft ecosystem: Microsoft SharePoint.

Despite its widespread use across almost every industry, SharePoint remains one of the most frequently misunderstood tools in the business world. Many people use it daily without fully grasping how it works, creating a digital mess that only multiplies over time. Our guide below answers the most common questions about SharePoint from a user perspective, stripping away the complex technical jargon to help you navigate your digital workspace with complete confidence.

What is SharePoint?

Microsoft SharePoint is a cloud-based platform designed to help teams store, organise, share, and manage information securely from any device. While many people think of it as just a place to save Word documents and spreadsheets, it’s actually a highly versatile ecosystem with two primary purposes: document management and internal communication.

As a document management system, SharePoint works as an advanced form of digital storage and organisation. Rather than having to maintain secure servers on your own premises to store and share files, employees can use SharePoint to access their files via a standard web browser or desktop app, without needing a VPN or tunnel. Beyond basic storage, SharePoint benefits from comprehensive version control, meaning it automatically saves records of every file change, allowing users to track edits and restore earlier versions of documents.

As well as being a central repository of files, SharePoint also acts as an internal portal. Its built-in features allow businesses to build bespoke internal websites, commonly known as intranets. These sites can serve as a central portal for company news, HR policies, training materials, announcements, and more. We often work with businesses to set up these portals, ensuring that critical information is both well-organised and easily accessible to every employee, keeping teams unified regardless of where they’re working.

Is SharePoint the same as OneDrive?

The most common source of confusion for many Windows users is the difference between Microsoft’s own cloud platforms. Because both platforms are built by Microsoft, look very similar, and handle files, it’s easy to assume they’re different interfaces for the same function: storing and accessing files in the cloud. This is made even more complicated by the fact that there are personal and business versions of OneDrive.

The simple answer is that OneDrive is for files that you control access to, while SharePoint is for files accessible to your wider organisation. This doesn’t mean you can’t share OneDrive files with other people, or that everyone has access to your files in SharePoint. However, one is intended for personal storage, while the other is built for file sharing and collaboration.

The data in OneDrive fundamentally belongs to your individual account. If you leave the company and your account is closed, your OneDrive storage is typically decommissioned alongside it. SharePoint, on the other hand, is built from the ground up for collective ownership and group collaboration, with files shared between multiple people.

Files stored in SharePoint belong to the project, the department, or the organisation as a whole, rather than any single individual. If a team member leaves the business, the documents in the SharePoint site remain perfectly intact, ensuring that project continuity is never disrupted. As a general rule of thumb, if a document is relevant to more than one person, it should live in SharePoint rather than OneDrive.

What is a SharePoint site?

A SharePoint site is a distinct area within SharePoint that holds its own collection of web pages, document libraries, lists, and menus. Rather than dumping every one of your organisation’s files into one giant bucket, organisations tend to use multiple sites to segment and segregate information in a logical way.

Typically, a business will have two primary categories of sites. The first is a Team Site, which is built for active, daily collaboration among a specific group of people, such as your finance department or marketing team. These sites are usually private, with access limited to approved team members. They also tend to be highly interactive, allowing everyone to read, write, and edit files simultaneously.

The second category is a Communication Site. These are designed to broadcast information to a wider audience, often encompassing the whole company. A typical example would be an HR or IT support portal, where a small group of content authors maintain resources like official templates, handbooks, or company announcements for the rest of the business to access. These sites are generally read-only for the majority of users, ensuring that official documentation stays secure and unaltered.

How to create folders in SharePoint

Creating a folder in SharePoint is similar to creating one in Windows, or other desktop environments. To begin, open your web browser, navigate to the relevant SharePoint site, and click on the Documents tab in the left-hand navigation menu.

Once you are inside the correct document library or subdirectory where you want the new folder to live, locate the toolbar across the top of the screen. Click on the New button, which sits on the far-left side of the menu, and select Folder from the drop-down list.

A small window will appear prompting you to type a clear, descriptive name for your folder. Once you have typed the name, click Create, and your new folder will instantly appear in the library, ready for use.

Alongside folders, SharePoint also offers an alternative method known as metadata. By tagging documents with specific labels (e.g. a project name, status, or client ID), you can filter, sort, and find files instantly without having to dig through multiple layers of nested subfolders.

When we help businesses migrate to the cloud, this is an area our consultancy team often provides guidance on. Learning to blend traditional folders with modern metadata helps to create a more efficient file structure that cuts down on wasted time locating files and folders.

How to upload a file on SharePoint

The quickest method to upload a file on SharePoint is to drag and drop. Open your SharePoint document library in your web browser, and then open the File Explorer or Finder on your computer.

Locate the file or folder you wish to transfer, click and hold it with your mouse, drag it across into the web browser window, and release the button. You will see a small notification in the top corner of the screen confirming that the file is uploading, and it will appear in the library within a few seconds.

Alternatively, you can use the built-in command menu. Click the Upload button situated on the top toolbar of your document library. A small drop-down will ask whether you want to upload individual Files or an entire Folder. Selecting either option will open a standard browser window allowing you to navigate your computer’s local hard drive, select the desired items, and click Open.

Once uploaded, the file is instantly accessible to everyone who has permission to view that library. This feature allows multiple colleagues to open and edit the document at the same time, tracking and registering each user’s changes without creating duplicate versions.

How to unsync SharePoint folders

Many users prefer to interact with SharePoint using the familiar interface of File Explorer or Finder rather than a web browser. To do this, they use the Sync button, which links the cloud library to their local machine using the OneDrive desktop app. However, over time, syncing too many large folders can clutter your File Explorer sidebar, consume local system resources, and lead to sync conflicts. Unsyncing a folder helps to keep things organised, removing the local shortcut without harming the master files in the cloud.

To stop syncing a SharePoint folder, do not highlight the folder in your File Explorer and press delete, as this action will delete the files for everyone across the entire business. Instead, locate the small OneDrive cloud icon in your computer’s system tray, which sits next to the clock in the bottom-right corner of your Windows taskbar, or the top right on Mac. Click the icon to open the activity panel, select the gear icon to open the menu, and click on Settings.

In the settings window, look for the Account or Manage Backup section, where you should see a detailed list of all the SharePoint document libraries currently syncing to your device. Locate the specific library or folder you want to disconnect and click the Stop sync link next to it. Click confirm on the confirmation message to remove the folder from your local File Explorer sidebar,and keep the master files completely safe and accessible within the cloud.

How to manage sharing and permissions

One of the biggest benefits of SharePoint is the ease with which you can share files with colleagues and external partners. However, this flexibility needs to be managed carefully to protect sensitive data. Permissions in SharePoint are built on a hierarchy that keeps your information secure by default, only sharing files when permissions are explicitly changed.

When a SharePoint site is created, it automatically establishes three main access groups: Owners, Members, and Visitors. Owners have full control over the site, allowing them to alter the design, install new features, and manage who else has access. Members can actively read, edit, and delete documents within the libraries, while visitors have read-only access, meaning they can view and download files but can’t alter or delete anything.

If you need to share a specific document with someone outside these main groups, you can generate a tailored sharing link. By selecting a file and clicking the Share button, you can choose precisely who can use the link. This allows you to restrict access to specific people, set an expiration date for the link, or block the recipient from downloading a local copy.

How does SharePoint integrate with Microsoft Teams?

If your organisation uses Microsoft Teams for daily communication, video calls, and group chats, you’re already using SharePoint every day without realising it. Teams and SharePoint are now closely integrated, with Teams fulfilling the communication aspects of daily work, and SharePoint acting as the storage engine.

Whenever a new team is created within Microsoft Teams, a corresponding SharePoint Team Site is automatically built behind the scenes. When you navigate to a specific channel in Teams and click on the Files tab at the top of the screen, what you’re seeing is a SharePoint document library linked to that channel. Any document you upload into a Teams chat will be securely saved into that SharePoint repository.

This tight integration can offer significant efficiency benefits, letting you informally chat about a project while also benefiting from SharePoint features like automatic version control, secure permission settings, and advanced search functionality. All of that is available without ever leaving the Teams interface, offering the best of both worlds.

Optimising your digital workspace

Microsoft SharePoint is often used for generic, ‘dumb’ storage, but at its best it can be a highly sophisticated framework. When understood and structured correctly, SharePoint can transform how your business collaborates, communicates, and protects its knowledge. By mastering the core concepts of sites, libraries, and synchronisation, you can eliminate daily digital clutter, and build a faster, more agile working environment for your team.

At Sota, we combine 35 years of technical heritage with a rich expertise of Microsoft cloud apps, building SharePoint environments that work for businesses. Visit our SharePoint page to learn more, or get in touch with us today to see how we can help you transition to SharePoint, or improve your installation.