We need to preserve departing employees' OneDrive files before removing their licenses or accounts. Is there a straightforward way to transfer the files, or does this need a script or manual work?
How do you keep OneDrive files when an employee leaves?
Asked by
re-check!before-exit
Answers
Check Microsoft's simplified file transfer for departing employees. When an account is deleted, the assigned manager can be notified and given an option to transfer the files. Make sure the manager field is populated and test the process before relying on it.
Reply to this answer
Delegated access is another option. Give the manager or person taking over the work access to the departing user's OneDrive, then have them move the files the team needs into a SharePoint document library.
Set a clear deadline based on your retention and deletion settings. Also consider whether the drive contains HR or other restricted material before granting broad access.
Reply to this answer
A retention policy can give you more time to sort through the data instead of making every decision on the employee's last day. Check the policy settings and licensing requirements for your tenant, and don't assume retention by itself transfers files or grants someone access.
Reply to this answer
For a repeatable archive, Power Automate is another route. A flow can be designed to copy departing users' OneDrive files into a SharePoint library when accounts are soft deleted. Test the trigger, permissions, failures and destination access before making it part of offboarding.
Reply to this answer
Add your answer
Answers are reviewed before publication.
unplug-replug-repeat:
It may also be worth keeping the files available for a while after the manager makes a decision. Someone could realize later that a file was still needed.