Most businesses using Microsoft 365 have their files spread across OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, email attachments, and local desktops. No one planned it that way. That is just what happens when there is no structure.
The core distinction is simple but most teams miss it:
OneDrive = personal storage. Your drafts, your notes, your temporary files.
SharePoint = shared business storage. Team projects, company policies, department libraries, client folders.
When people use them interchangeably, you get duplicated files, permissions no one can untangle, and business-critical documents sitting in someone's personal OneDrive that disappears when they leave.
Speaking of leavers: when you delete a user's M365 account, their OneDrive is retained for 30 days by default. After that, it is gone. If important files were in SharePoint instead, they would be completely unaffected.
The permission side is just as messy. Sharing links that never expire, everyone with edit access to everything, former employees still in access lists months after leaving. All common, all fixable.
We put together a practical guide covering the five steps to getting it organised properly.
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c-2it.co.uk/insights/sharepo…
