How-To

How to Add OneDrive to Favorites on Mac

By Adam Davidson

Published January 18, 2024

Do you want to quickly access your OneDrive files from within Finder? Here’s how to add OneDrive to Favorites on Mac.

OneDrive is a popular cloud storage service included as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription. OneDrive allows you to store files in the cloud, just as with any cloud storage service. However, there are additional benefits. You can access your Word, PowerPoint, or Excel files from anywhere and your changes save across your devices. You can also take advantage of collaboration features to work on documents with others in real time. OneDrive also lets you sync settings and customizations from your Microsoft apps across your devices.

If you’re a Mac user, you can install the OneDrive app on your computer. This creates a physical OneDrive folder on your Mac where you can quickly access all the files and folders in OneDrive, just as though they were saved locally. If you use this folder a lot, however, then you may want a way to access it a little more quickly. If this is the case, then here’s how to add OneDrive to your Favorites on Mac.

Install OneDrive on Your Mac

To add OneDrive to your Favorites on Mac, you’ll first need to have the OneDrive app installed and set up.

1. Download OneDrive from the Mac App Store, or directly from Microsoft’s website.
2. Once the app has been downloaded, launch it.
3. Sign in with the email address associated with your OneDrive account.
   
4. When prompted, select a location for your OneDrive folder.
   
5. Select the location you want and click Choose This Location.
   
6. Follow the on-screen instructions to grant OneDrive the relevant permissions.
7. Once completed, OneDrive will show up as a folder on your Mac.
   
8. You will also see OneDrive in the Locations section of the Finder sidebar; you can access your OneDrive files by clicking this icon.
   

How to Add OneDrive to Favorites on Mac

Once you’ve installed OneDrive, you can add the OneDrive folder to your Favorites in the Finder sidebar. This allows you to quickly open the OneDrive folder to access your files. You’ll no longer have to navigate to the exact location of the OneDrive folder.

1. Open Finder.
2. Navigate to the location of your OneDrive folder, but don’t open the folder.
3. Click and hold the OneDrive folder.
4. Drag the folder to the Favorites section in the Finder sidebar on the left.
   
5. You’ll see a line to indicate where in the list your folder will be inserted. You can drag up or down to change the folder’s position in the list.
   
6. When you’re happy with the position of the folder, release the mouse or trackpad and the folder will appear in your Favorites.
   
7. If you’re not happy with the position, click and hold the OneDrive folder in the sidebar and drag it up or down to change its position.
8. You can now access your OneDrive folder at any time by clicking the folder in Favorites.

Why to Add OneDrive to Favorites on Mac

When you install the OneDrive app, an icon is automatically added to the Finder sidebar in the Locations section. If you can already access OneDrive from the sidebar, what is the point of adding the folder to Favorites?

There are a few reasons why you might want to do so. First, Favorites are displayed at the top of the sidebar. If you have several folders in your Favorites, the Locations section of the sidebar may get pushed to the bottom of the window, meaning you can’t see it until you scroll down the Finder sidebar. Adding the OneDrive folder to Favorites means that you can make it always visible in the Finder window, saving yourself a click or two each time you open it.

Another reason is that if you open the OneDrive folder a lot, placing it in Favorites gives you the option to put it at the very top of the Finder sidebar so that you can find and access it as quickly as possible. By default, the Recents folder is shown at the top, but you can place the OneDrive folder above this, or simply remove the Recents folder altogether if you don’t use it.

In addition, it is possible to customize the Finder sidebar through the Finder settings to only show specific sections. If you never use the iCloud, Tags, or Locations sections, you may opt to turn these off to make things less cluttered. If this is the case, you won’t see the OneDrive folder in the sidebar by default. adding the OneDrive folder to your Favorites ensures that you can still access the OneDrive folder from the sidebar.

Customize Finder to Your Needs

Navigating through folder structures in any application can be a chore, especially if you have a lot of nested folders. Adding your most frequently used folders to the sidebar in Finder can let you access the folders you want with just a single click. Obviously, the more Favorites you add to the sidebar, the more cluttered things become. It’s always worth removing any sidebar items that you don’t need to free up space for those that you do. With a little work upfront, you can set up Finder to be much more efficient and save yourself a lot of time.