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To download OneDrive files to an external hard drive, select the files or folders in OneDrive on the web, choose Download, and save the download to the connected drive. For multiple items, OneDrive creates a ZIP archive; extract it on the drive if you need ordinary files and folders. For large transfers, sync only the folders you need to your computer, make sure their files are fully downloaded, then copy them to the external drive.
Choose the right way to copy your files
| Situation | Best fit | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| A few files or one modest folder | OneDrive in a browser | Save the download directly to the external drive, or move it there after it finishes. |
| Many files or several folders | OneDrive desktop sync app | Sync the required folders, wait for their contents to download, then copy them from File Explorer or Finder. |
| Limited space on the computer | Browser download or selective sync | A browser may let you save directly to the external drive. With sync, choose only the folders you need; online-only placeholders are not complete local copies. |
| Shared or work/school files | Use the method allowed by the account and sharing permissions | Shared view may not offer direct download. For another person’s work or school OneDrive, Microsoft recommends the sync app for copying many items or files across folders. |
These methods create a copy on the drive. Saving a browser download to external storage is not the same as putting the active OneDrive sync folder there; Microsoft does not support removable USB drives as the OneDrive folder location.
Download from OneDrive in a browser
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Connect the external hard drive and confirm it appears in your computer’s file browser.
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Open OneDrive in a browser and navigate to the files or folder you want.
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Select the items. Select individual files, use Shift to select a range, or use Ctrl+A to select everything in the current folder. To download a folder as a folder, go up one level and select it.
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Choose Download in the top navigation, or right-click a selected item and choose Download.
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If the browser asks where to save the download, choose Save or Save As, browse to the external drive, and confirm. If the browser saves automatically to Downloads, wait for the download to finish and then move it to the drive.
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If OneDrive downloaded a ZIP and you need normal files and folders, extract the archive on the external drive.
If you open a folder and choose Download without selecting particular items, OneDrive may start downloading the folder’s contents. If the Download button disappears after a refresh, Microsoft’s suggested workaround is to navigate up and back into the folder or reopen the page. The Shared view does not allow direct downloading; open the file and save a copy to a chosen location instead. Microsoft’s download instructions describe these web options.
Copy many files with the OneDrive sync app
The desktop app places synced OneDrive files in File Explorer on Windows or Finder on macOS. This can be easier than downloading many separate folders in a browser, but first ensure that the files are stored on the computer, not just represented by online-only placeholders.
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Set up the OneDrive app and choose which cloud folders to sync. During setup, you can choose the OneDrive folder location.
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In File Explorer or Finder, open the synced OneDrive folder. For files marked as online-only, use the available download or offline-availability option and wait until the content is downloaded.
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Select the downloaded files and folders, choose Copy, then open the external drive and choose Paste.
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Check that the copied files are present on the external drive before disconnecting it.
Copy rather than move when you want to keep the cloud originals. Changes made in the synced OneDrive folder can sync back to OneDrive. Selective sync controls which existing OneDrive folders are synced; it does not make an external USB drive a supported OneDrive sync-folder location. See Microsoft’s guidance on syncing OneDrive files and choosing folders to sync.
Keep the download destination separate from the sync-folder location
You can choose an external drive as the destination for a one-time browser download. That does not mean the drive is suitable for hosting the active OneDrive folder. Microsoft says removable USB drives are not supported for the OneDrive folder location and notes that Folder Protection cannot be set up with OneDrive on external memory. Before changing an existing sync setup, consult Microsoft’s external-drive requirements.
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Check Microsoft’s published download limits
Microsoft lists these limits for OneDrive and SharePoint downloads. The figures are published limits, not a guarantee that a particular transfer will complete successfully, and Microsoft may revise them.
| Download case | Published limit or exception |
|---|---|
| Individual file | 250 GB per file |
| Total selected files | 10,000 files |
| Files in one folder | 10,000 files per folder |
| Compressed download | 10 GB per ZIP file and 20 GB overall for multiple compressed files |
| Some protected files in a ZIP | Files encrypted by sensitivity labels or IRM that exceed 4 MB may be omitted from a ZIP in specified scenarios; download them separately. |
| OneNote notebooks | Notebooks cannot be downloaded as notebooks. A ZIP of a folder containing a notebook includes an error text file. |
Internet Explorer cannot download folders or multiple files from OneDrive for work or school. Microsoft documents these details on its OneDrive and SharePoint restrictions page.
Do not confuse those download limits with separate guidance for copying and syncing. Microsoft says OneDrive on the web is limited to copying 2,500 files at a time and recommends syncing no more than 300,000 items across cloud storage for optimum performance. A public preview supports up to 1,000,000 synced items per instance on qualifying Windows devices with specific requirements. Those figures concern copying or syncing, not ZIP download limits. Microsoft’s restrictions guidance is the reference for these published figures.
If the files belong to someone else
Your access permissions determine whether you can download or sync shared content. If a file appears under Shared and direct download is unavailable, open it and save a copy to a location you can access. For many items or work across multiple folders in another person’s work or school OneDrive, Microsoft recommends using the sync app, provided your account has the required access. See Microsoft’s instructions for copying from another person’s work or school OneDrive.
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