How do I download existing Mircosoft Edge account to an external hard drive

David4345 0 Reputation points
2026-11-08T18:56:08.45+00:00

I work sometimes offline and need to access my documents that are saved on OneDrive. How do I do this?

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Windows
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John Jefferson Doyon 90,560 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-11-08T19:38:10.6633333+00:00

Hi, @David4345

If your goal is to access your existing OneDrive documents while working offline, you can download them directly to an external hard drive.

Follow these steps:

  • Connect your external hard drive to your PC.
  • Open OneDrive Web https://onedrive.live.com and sign in with your Microsoft account.
  • Select the files or folders you want to save.
  • Click "Download". If you select multiple files, OneDrive may download them as a ZIP file.
  • Once downloaded, extract the ZIP file if necessary and copy the documents to your external hard drive.

You can then connect the external hard drive whenever you work offline and open your documents directly from it.

For more information:

https://support.microsoft.com/onedrive/download-files-and-folders-from-onedrive-or-sharepoint

Important: Changes made to these external copies will not automatically sync back to OneDrive. You will need to upload the updated files manually when you're back online.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please let me know.

Click "Add comment" to let me know.

Thanks!

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  1. AI answer

    2026-11-08T18:56:22.6233333+00:00

    To access OneDrive documents while offline, the files must be downloaded to the computer first. There are two supported ways to do that on Windows:

    1. In File Explorer, open the OneDrive folder.
    2. Right-click the file or folder needed offline.
    3. Select Always keep on this device.
    4. Wait for the green circle with the white check mark. That means the file is stored locally and can be opened without Internet access.

    If many files are needed offline:

    1. Select the OneDrive cloud icon in the notification area.
    2. Open Help and Settings > Settings.
    3. Go to Sync and back up > Advanced settings.
    4. Use the option to download files so they are stored locally.

    Important details:

    • A blue cloud icon means the file is online-only and cannot be opened offline.
    • A green circle with a white check mark means the file is always available offline.
    • If using Word for the web, a copy can also be downloaded with File > Create a Copy > Download a copy. The copy is saved to the Downloads folder.

    If the goal is to keep the OneDrive sync location on an external hard drive instead of the internal drive, OneDrive can be moved there if the external drive is non-ejectable and uses NTFS:

    1. Connect the external drive.
    2. In File Explorer, right-click the drive and select Properties.
    3. On the General tab, confirm the file system is NTFS.
    4. Select the OneDrive cloud icon > Help and Settings > Settings.
    5. Go to the Account tab.
    6. Select Unlink this PC > Unlink account.
    7. Run the Welcome to OneDrive wizard again and choose the new folder location on the external drive.

    Warning: removable USB drives are not supported for OneDrive sync location, and Folder Protection cannot be set up with OneDrive on external memory.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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  2. Craig Long 19,015 Reputation points
    2026-11-08T22:13:54.8566667+00:00

    To automatically save changes to your files, you must keep them in OneDrive.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzIA9uykIhE&t=43s

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