Syncing Teams/SharePoint Files

Microsoft Teams is like a virtual office where you can chat, have meetings, and work together with your team. It’s a place to keep everything organized, whether you’re talking about projects, sharing ideas, or planning stuff.

SharePoint is the behind-the-scenes storage room for Teams. When you add files (like documents, spreadsheets, or presentations) to a channel in Teams, they’re actually saved in SharePoint. Think of it as a big filing cabinet online where all your team’s files live safely and can be accessed anytime.

In Teams, every group (or "team") has its own set of files tied to its channels. For example, if you’re in a team called “Marketing” with a channel called “Campaigns,” the files you upload there go into a special folder in SharePoint tied to that channel. You can open, edit, or share them right from Teams, but SharePoint keeps them organized.

How to Sync Files

Syncing Files means making those SharePoint files available on your computer, so you don’t always have to go online to Teams or SharePoint to find them.

Find the Files in Teams: Go to the team and channel where the files are (like “Town of Plainville” > “General”).
Click the Files Tab: At the top of the channel, you’ll see a “Files” section with all the documents.
Hit Sync: Look for a button that says “Sync” (it’s usually near the top). Click it, and a program called OneDrive (Microsoft’s file-syncing tool) will pop up. OneDrive is like a bridge that connects SharePoint to your computer.
OneDrive Syncing: On town computers OneDrive should automatically sign-in and be a seamless process. If you need to though, sign-in using your town account. Once ready, click “Close” on the “We're syncing your files” prompt.
Files Appear on Your Computer: Once synced, those files show up in the Windows File Explorer menu under a folder called "Town of Plainville". Note that the available “OneDrive - Town of Plainville” folder is where you can keep your own files that aren't shared with others. Synced folders will be labeled the team - channel name.
Work Like Normal: Now you can open and edit those files from your computer. Any changes you make will automatically update in Teams and SharePoint, and vice versa, as long as you’re online.

File Status Icons

OneDrive uses a set of status icons in the file explorer to show the sync status of your files and folders. OneDrive's On-Demand feature seamlessly downloads your files when you open them and syncs changes in the background. Here’s an explanation of the most common ones:

Blue cloud icon: A blue cloud icon next to your OneDrive files or folders indicates that the file is only available online. Online-only files don't take up space on your computer. You can't open online-only files when your device isn't connected to the Internet.
Green checkmark on a white background: When you open an online-only file, it downloads to your device and becomes a locally available file. You can open a locally available file anytime, even without Internet access. If you need more space, you can change the file back to online only. Just right-click the file and select "Free up space."
Green checkmark in a circle: Files that you mark as "Always keep on this device" have the green circle with the white check mark. These always available files download to your device and take up space, but they're always there for you even when you're offline.