SharePoint Sync:
How to synchronize SharePoint libraries

From local folders to the servers on which enterprise apps operate, we explain how to synchronize the data collected in your SharePoint Online sites.

We will look together at the steps to follow, the products to use, and the benefits and issues behind this delicate operation.

Enjoy your reading!

Synchronizing SharePoint:
What does it mean?

SharePoint is the Microsoft 365 platform designed to manage corporate communications, services and archives.

Therefore, it represents a state-of-the-art system for producing and disseminating news, initiatives and events on the one hand, and for organizing the documents, information and data underlying the activities of a company and its people on the other.

This is possible thanks to web parts, the components that host useful content and functionality for users, and lists and libraries, which are nothing more than the receptacles where work files are collected, stored, shared and even created.

If you are curious about what web parts are and how they work, this is not the article for you.

Here, we will be exploring SharePoint libraries and sites, but from a very particular perspective.

We will look at one of the key features of this platform-not just its own, actually-that makes it one of the best content and document management tools.

We're talking about synchronization.

Follow us to learn the details.

Let's start with the basics.

Synchronizing data stored in a SharePoint list or library means creating a copy capable of updating automatically.

In other words, the data is cloned to a specific location, such as a OneDrive folder, so that it can be edited from any device and without the need for an Internet connection.

In fact, once you have entered information offline, the system will bring the changes back to SharePoint as soon as you are connected again.

So it seems that the benefits are already substantial, but wait until you know the rest.

By synchronizing your documents, you will be able to collaborate on them with your team members in real time.

This is because the files are collected in a SharePoint site's library, thus becoming accessible to its audience of users.

However, the platform allows you to customize access to individual content or entire libraries with a multi-level permission system.

In this way, you can decide which of the users on your team, site, or even outside the corporate network will have the right to view and/or edit the shared information.

Of course, privacy configurations will be carried over to all synchronized locations.

You may now wonder what is the mechanism on which this feature, so beneficial to individual professionals as well as entire organizations, is based.

The answer is OneDrive.

And no, it is not a paradox.

SharePoint and OneDrive, though they represent two distinct platforms, share common ground. The same one that unites the products of the Microsoft universe, enabling them to communicate and interact uniquely and profoundly.

This common denominator is OneDrive's synchronization functionality.

SharePoint and OneDrive sync functionality

When you synchronize a folder on your computer with SharePoint, you are synchronizing it with Microsoft OneDrive.

The reason lies in the very essence of OneDrive, which is that it is the connecting bridge between a data source and a cloud platform such as SharePoint Online.

This means that synchronization between a SharePoint library and your local folder or an enterprise server must go through OneDrive to take place.

However, OneDrive-based synchronization is not equivalent to SharePoint synchronization with OneDrive.

But we will elaborate on this topic in the next chapter.

The important point to make is that it is impossible to synchronize SharePoint with any data source without OneDrive, since OneDrive is what makes the transfer of information to Microsoft's cloud possible.

It is no coincidence that these two products are often found together in Microsoft 365 licenses, although there are exceptions (Business Basic, for example, does not include SharePoint).

The two platforms are designed to interact with each other, allowing users to exchange private information to and from any device with maximum security.

In fact, they share not only the same authorization system, but also and especially the cyber-security protocols that have always characterized the parent company's offerings.

We wanted to mention these details to be able to draw a line of demarcation with third-party products, which aspire to replace OneDrive in its relationship with SharePoint.

Among the main competitors, we could mention SharePoint Workspace, Syncplicity, and SkySync.

Although they are still cloud synchronization solutions, these independent products lack the compatibility that binds products belonging to the Microsoft universe together.

This compatibility translates both into a guarantee of security, as we mentioned a few lines ago, and into the opportunities that result from their integration.

In our case, OneDrive allows you to manage the synchronization of data stored in SharePoint in five different ways:

1. Two-way synchronization.

Data between SharePoint and a location are updated in both directions.

Therefore, it does not matter the origin of the changes-they will be transferred automatically to the linked environment.

2. One-way synchronization.

Changes are transferred only from a specific source point, such as a SharePoint library, to another location, such as a server or folder.

The user can decide whether to synchronize new or updated data, or to completely overwrite existing data.

3. Selective synchronization.

This mode makes it possible for the user to choose individual lists or libraries to be synchronized, avoiding cloning the entire range of content present in a SharePoint site.

4. Synchronization on demand.

Synchronization occurs only when necessary.

For example, the system might initiate synchronization the moment a certain file is accessed or when a certain application is opened.

5. Offline synchronization.

This option makes synchronized data available even without an internet connection.

Finally, we would like to close this topic by dwelling on an important issue for businesses or professionals who have moved their operations to a Microsoft-centric digital work environment.

Using OneDrive to bring their data to the cloud not only brings some natural benefits such as:

• real-time sharing, on any device and asynchronous;
• encrypted storage accessible only to authorized users, both internal and external to the organization;
• the customization of how data can be synchronized;
• the selection of content to be cloned and updated automatically;

but also opportunities particular to the Microsoft environment itself.

As mentioned earlier, OneDrive allows for improved integration between products in the 365 suite precisely by synchronizing their data, thus creating a flow of information capable of connecting them.

Let's take the example of Microsoft Teams.

When you create a group on Teams, you will notice that a library is automatically created in SharePoint dedicated to the files and media content shared by the team.

By now it is clear: data synchronization between the two platforms is based on OneDrive.

So, if you are using a third-party product, you now know what you are missing.

How to synchronize SharePoint with OneDrive

After delving into what it means to synchronize data, what the benefits of doing so are, and why it pays to use OneDrive to accomplish it, let's see how you can establish a connection between this platform and one of your sites, repositories, or SharePoint content.

So let's start with the steps to follow:

1. Enter the SharePoint site that contains the documents you are interested in.
2. Enter the library that houses those documents.
3. Click on "Synchronize," on the top navigation bar. If you have already installed the OneDrive app, the window to configure synchronization will open. Otherwise, you will be redirected to the page from which you can download the app.
4. Indicate the OneDrive folder to synchronize in the window that will have opened. Obviously, the folder can be one of those already in your account or a new one, created on the spot.
5. Click on "Synchronize" again to confirm the settings.

The operation will then be started, at the end of which the OneDrive folder you indicate will contain a complete clone of your SharePoint library.

Any changes you make to one will be automatically transferred to the other if you have chosen the bidirectional synchronization option-and you can safely work, share and collaborate on your department or project files anywhere and in any condition.

In other words, goodbye office desk.

There is, however, a "but" in this landscape.

Synchronization is not always a hitch-free process.

Here are some of the problems you may face:

• Partial synchronization.

If your pc memory or your chosen OneDrive folder is full (or both are, unfortunately), synchronization may stop before you have cloned your entire library.

The same may happen in case your connection is unstable.

• Errors in data cloning.

Some titles, perhaps containing special characters, may cause errors when synchronizing the files they name.

It is therefore advisable to check the documents in the library before starting the operation, possibly changing their names, to avoid having to repair damage at the end.

We suggest that you pay equal attention to the format, as excessive document size could also lead to suboptimal results.

With proper care, you will have no difficulty.

However, if not, you can always contact Microsoft for technical assistance.

Our team is among those at your disposal.

Although we know you won't need it: OneDrive is quite reliable.