--- title: "Where Your Files Actually Live in Microsoft 365 | StartCloud" url: https://startcloud.au/learn/where-your-stuff-actually-lives description: "Module 1 of our free Microsoft 365 Everyday Skills pathway: OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams explained once and properly. Why every Teams file is really a SharePoint file, and the one question that tells you where anything belongs." lang: en --- Module 1 of StartCloud's Microsoft 365 Everyday Skills learning pathway, in five short units with a knowledge check: why there are really only two storage places (OneDrive for your own work, SharePoint for shared work), how Teams is a front door onto SharePoint rather than a third location, the difference between posting a file in a channel and attaching it in a chat, the single question that decides where any file belongs, and the four places work files should never end up. # Where your stuff actually lives Module 1 · Start here Unit 1 of 5 · about 2 min ## There are really only two places Almost everyone using Microsoft 365 has wondered the same thing and never asked, because it feels like something you should already know: **where is this file supposed to go?** It is a completely fair question, because there appear to be about five options and nobody explains the difference. The good news is that there are really only two, and once you see it you cannot unsee it. OneDrive is yours Your own work files. Drafts, notes, the thing you are still thinking about. Nothing in here is shared with anyone until you deliberately share it. Think of it as your desk drawer at work: it belongs to the business, but it is yours to organise and nobody else is rummaging through it. SharePoint is everyone's Work the business owns. Client folders, project files, templates, policies, the quote somebody will need when you are on leave. Everyone with access to the site can reach the files in it, which is the entire point rather than a problem. So where does Teams fit into this? It does not add a third place. Teams is a front door, and the next unit is about what is behind it. Once you understand that, the whole thing stops being confusing and starts being obvious. StartCloud assistant Online G'day! 👋 I'm the StartCloud assistant. 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