Why Can't I Download Files from OneDrive?

OneDrive keeps your files safe and secure online, and synchronizes files to different devices so that you can access data anytime, anywhere and download files to your device.

Not everyone knows how to download files from OneDrive. If you fall into this category, don’t worry! here we will discuss how to download OneDrive files to phones and computers. Before that, we notice that many users have encountered the problem of OneDrive download not working or being unable to download files from OneDrive. To avoid "cannot download folder from OneDrive," we summarize the following points:

• Make sure you have a stable internet connection.
• Ensure that there is enough space on your hard drive or phone to accommodate the downloaded OneDrive files.
• Check if you have download permissions for the files.
• Make sure the downloaded file is not corrupted or opened by another application.

How to Download Files from OneDrive to PC

First of all, let’s begin with how to download all files from OneDrive to PC as it is the most common demand. Downloading files from OneDrive to PC, for most people, is for backup purposes. It may also be that you need a local copy of your OneDrive files.

Whatever the reason, you can backup OneDrive to external hard drive or local hard drive by downloading files from OneDrive to a specific location. In this chapter, you will learn 2 ways to download OneDrive files to computer - using the OneDrive desktop app and from the OneDrive web.

Way 1. Download OneDrive Files from Desktop App

Step 1. Download and run the OneDrive desktop program. If you are running on Windows 10/11, the app is preinstalled on the systems, and you can search for “OneDrive” in the Windows search box to launch it.

Step 2. Then, log in with your account to add OneDrive to File Explorer/Finder.

Step 3. Open the OneDrive sync folder on your computer and you can see all OneDrive files are available locally.

Step 4. If you want to save OneDrive files to another local drive or external drive, just copy and paste files from the OneDrive folder to the target disk to get that.

Way 2. Download Files from OneDrive from Web

Files and folders downloaded from the OneDrive web are usually saved to the Download folder. If you select multiple files, the download will be saved to a zipped file, and you need to unzip it before using downloads. You can't download a file or folder from the Shared page on the OneDrive website, but you can open the file and save a copy.

It is worth mentioning that file downloads on the web should be smaller than 250GB, the total number of files should be less than 10,000, and a folder should not contain more than 10000 files. Now, please follow the steps below to download OneDrive files to PC:

Step 1. Go to the OneDrive web and sign in.

Step 2. On the My files screen, select a file or folder by ticking the small circle. If you want to let OneDrive download all files, press Ctrl + A (Windows)/Command + A (Mac) on the keyboard.

Step 3. Select Download on the top toolbar.

How to Download Files from OneDrive to Android Phone

The OneDrive mobile app makes it simple to download files from OneDrive to Android. You could proceed with the instructions below to figure out how to download a file from OneDrive on an Android mobile phone:

Step 1. Open the OneDrive app on your Android. Go to the folder that has the photo, video or file you want to download.

Step 2. Tap on the three vertical dots button and choose Save.

Step 3. Click the arrow at Save to this location to choose a folder and hit Save.

How to Download Files from OneDrive to iPhone

If you need to download files from OneDrive on iPhone, you can follow the detailed steps beneath.

Step 1. In the OneDrive mobile app, open the folder that has the pictures or files you need to download.

Step 2. Click on the three vertical dots button and tap Share.

Step 3. Select Save Photo for pictures and Save to Files for documents.

Tip: How to Backup OneDrive Files without Taking up Local Storage

If you want to download all the OneDrive files to your computer for backup, but there is not enough local space for all files, then you can choose another way to back up your OneDrive files, such as backing up OneDrive to another cloud. A free cloud backup service like CBackup can help you backup certain OneDrive folders/files or the entire OneDrive cloud with ease.

This CBackup backup software allows you to backup OneDrive to Dropbox, Google Drive, FTP/SFTP, and more clouds with one click. It has no limitations on file backup speed and file size limitations. Here we take backing up OneDrive to Google Drive as an example to show you the detailed guides.

Step 1. Create an account on CBackup if you don’t already have one. Download and run the CBackup desktop app on your Windows computer and log in.

Step 2. Click on the Storage pane on the left. Choose OneDrive and then Authorize Now to authorize CBackup access to the cloud storage. Then, add your Google Drive account in the same way.

Step 3. Go to Backup and tap on Backup Public Cloud to Public Cloud.

Step 4. Select the files/folders you want to backup from OneDrive and pick added Google Drive cloud as the backup destination. Then, press Start Backup to begin the backup process now.

Except for backing up OneDrive files, you can use CBackup for:
☛ File backup: Its Backup feature is capable of backing up files to CBackup Cloud, giving 10GB of free backup space, and other public clouds. And you can restore backups quickly and easily.
☛ File sync: Its Sync function allows you to sync files from external hard drives and local drives to OneDrive and other public clouds seamlessly.
☛ Scheduled backup/sync: It offers four scheduled modes for you to backup/sync files to clouds automatically - For one time, Daily, Weekly, and Monthly.
☛ Combine clouds: You can combine multiple cloud accounts, such as merging OneDrive accounts, to expand your cloud storage without paying anything.

Conclusion

Now you know how to download files from OneDrive on different devices. If you download OneDrive files for backup, we introduce another method for you to back up OneDrive files safely and easily - using CBackup to back up OneDrive to another cloud. With this tool, you can save a copy for OneDrive files without downloading data from the cloud to take up local space.