Can I upload large files to OneDrive?

How do I upload large files to OneDrive? 4 ways here

Some users who are not familiar with OneDrive may be confused about how OneDrive upload large files. In fact, the method of uploading large files is the same as the method of uploading ordinary files. You only need to figure out the file size limitations of different upload methods and choose the appropriate method to upload your large files.

As we all know, OneDrive provides users with different ways to upload files to OneDrive. Generally, you are allowed to upload files through its official web app, desktop app, mobile app as well as OneDrive folder on your PC. However, there are some limitations on file size. And the file size limitation is various from different uploading ways.

Please read on and check the upload methods below, we will explain the file size limit of each method and show you how to upload files on OneDrive in 4 different ways. You can choose the fastest way to upload large files to OneDrive.

• Way 1. Upload large files to OneDrive via OneDrive web app
• Way 2. Upload large files to OneDrive via OneDrive desktop app
• Way 3. Upload large files to OneDrive by OneDrive mobile app
• Way 4. Auto upload large files to OneDrive via free cloud sync service
• How to get more OneDrive storage space for free

Way 1. Upload large files to OneDrive via OneDrive web app

Generally, depending on the web browser you use, you can upload files to OneDrive that are up to 100GB in size (This limit is per file, not total). If you use the latest version of Microsoft Edge or other popular web browsers, you can upload files up to 100GB in size. If you use an older web browser, the maximum file size is 300 MB. Let's upload large files to OneDrive for business and OneDrive.

1. On the OneDrive website, sign in with your Microsoft account.

2. On the main page of OneDrive, click the "Upload" option to select the files you want to upload to OneDrive and then click on “Open”.

3. The upload will start. When complete you will see your uploaded folder in your OneDrive.

How to upload large files on OneDrive using the web app has been shown above. This way is feasible but is also very unreliable. The OneDrive web app will stop working more often than not. Besides, if it stops, the upload has to start from the beginning. Therefore, to upload large number of files to OneDrive, you are recommended to add the files to the OneDrive via the desktop app rather than the website.

Way 2. Upload large files to OneDrive via OneDrive desktop app

If you have Windows 7, Windows Vista, or a Mac, you can install the free OneDrive desktop app to add files and folders to OneDrive automatically from your PC without having to go to the OneDrive website. You can upload files up to 100GB in size if you use the OneDrive app. If you sign in with a work or school account, the maximum file size is 15GB. It’s also worth noting that OneNote notebooks saved in OneDrive are limited to 2GB.

1. Download the OneDrive desktop application and install it.

2. Open the OneDrive program on your computer and sign in to your OneDrive account.

3. Select a location for your OneDrive folder and then select the folders that you want to sync across the local PC and the cloud.

4. After setting, an OneDrive folder will be created on your computer. You find this folder in Windows File Explorer or Mac Finder and drag files or folder to into this OneDrive folder to let OneDrive sync large files to the cloud automatically.

• In Windows File Explorer

• In Mac Finder

Way 3. Upload large files to OneDrive by OneDrive mobile app

You can also upload large files to OneDrive using the OneDrive mobile app for Android, iOS, or Windows Phone. However, because of the limitation of mobile phone memory, it is relatively rare to upload large files from mobile devices. If needed, you can follow the steps to upload large files to OneDrive by OneDrive mobile app. You can also upload files up to 100GB in this way. 

1. Install the OneDrive app on your mobile device from Google Play or App Store.

2. After installing, log-in to your OneDrive Account.

3. In the OneDrive app, tap OneDrive add icon at the top of the screen.

4. Tap the "Upload" option and then select the files you want to upload to OneDrive.

Way 4. Auto upload large files to OneDrive via free cloud sync service

Actually, as you can see, all of the official tools above have a OneDrive max file size limitation. If you want to avoid the OneDrive file size limit, you can rely on some professional and powerful cloud sync and backup tools. You are recommended to use CBackup, which is a free cloud transfer service for Windows PCs. It has advantages as below:

CBackup allows you to upload (sync and backup) large files from your local computer to OneDrive quickly without file size limitations. And CBackup does not impose any restrictions on your transmission speed, it depends totally on your internet speed. You can even backup your PC to OneDrive with CBackup.

CBackup also allows you to backup and sync files automatically with its scheduler. You can set up a scheduled upload task at one time only, daily, weekly, or monthly mode to backup and sync your files to OneDrive regularly and automatically.

CBackup is quite easy to use. You can figure it out quickly even for the first time.

Please refer to the steps below with the best way to upload large files to OneDrive:

1. Download CBackup and follow the wizard to finish the installation. Run CBackup, sign up for a CBackup account, and sign in. 

2. Click "Storage" on the left side, choose OneDrive, and hit "Authorize Now". Then follow the on-screen guide to allow CBackup to access your OneDrive files.

3. Select the "Sync" tab, and then press the "Sync PC to Public Cloud" button to create a OneDrive large file upload task.

4. Specify the "Task Name", and choose the large files you want to upload to OneDrive. And choose a OneDrive folder as the target location. And click Settings and set the frequency at which the task will be automatically performed under the Scheduler tab.

5. Then, press the "Start Sync" button to upload large files to OneDrive automatically.

You could backup large files to OneDrive as well by clicking Backup > Backup PC to Public Cloud and enjoy OneDrive auto backup under Scheduler in Settings.

Bonus tips: What if OneDrive storage space is insufficient?

As mentioned above, OneDrive offers only 5GB of free storage space, which may be not enough for you to upload files to OneDrive regularly. If you need more cloud space for Windows PC files, you can get more cloud storage space in 2 ways. Please read on.

Way 1. Turn to another cloud

If you focus on backup instead of other aspects, you can turn to a cloud backup service that offers more professional backup methods and more reasonable backup space. CBackup can meet the requirement.  It also has its own cloud server called CBackup Cloud. 

As long as you sign up for a CBackup account, you can enjoy 10GB of free storage of CBackup Cloud, and you could enjoy 1TB or more at a good price. If your OneDrive backup space is not enough, you can also backup files to CBackup Cloud. Therefore, if you need a OneDrive alternative, it is a great choice.

Way 2. Combine OneDrive storage space

Although you could upgrade your OneDrive account to advanced plans to get more OneDrive cloud storage space, it's expensive. Besides PC cloud backup, CBackup also offers a feature to manage and combine multiple cloud storage. On CBackup, you can add and merge OneDrive accounts and combine the cloud space of several OneDrive accounts into a huge, even unlimited cloud backup space for free.

1. Add your OneDrive accounts on CBackup as many as you have.

2. After adding, all your OneDrive accounts are listed under the Storage tab. Click the "+ Add Combined Cloud".

3. Tick the box next to the cloud storage account that you want to combine. After checking, click on "Next" > "Combine" to combine OneDrive accounts.

Now, you will have a "Combined Cloud" in your clouds list under Storage tab. And you could choose the combined cloud as the destination to store more files by clicking Backup > Backup PC to Combined Cloud.

Besides, CBackup allows you to backup one cloud data to another to avoid data loss, which means you could migrate OneDrive to Google Drive, migrate Google Drive to Dropbox, etc. Meanwhile, you could sync one cloud to another directly without downloading and re-uploading, especially useful to switch cloud accounts.

Verdict

Uploading large files to OneDrive can be an easy way if you choose the most suitable way according to your needs. All of the ways above can help you upload large files from your local storage to OneDrive efficiently, but if you want to backup files automatically without any OneDrive upload limit, you’d better rely on the CBackup. And this way may be the easiest way to backup any folder to OneDrive among the 4 ways.