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OneDrive and external ssd

I use a 2015 MacBook Air with the 128gb local drive. I find myself short of space as I use OneDrive for cloud storage and to use this with the MacBook I have to download the files I want to access onto the local drive, which takes up much of the available space.

I am wondering whether adding an external ssd would solve this problem. Could I download the files from OneDrive to the external drive and would the MacBook see that as a local drive, or does it expect them to be on the internal drive?

I hope I’ve explained that adequately as I’m not a very technical person.

Thank you.

Posted on Jul 22, 2021 3:11 AM

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Posted on Jul 22, 2021 6:12 AM

Sure. One Drive is a Microsoft cloud Storage Drive much like the External Drive. File are stored there. In order for you to work on the files, you need to download the file to your computer ( another Storage device ). That is what you want to avoid as per original question. So, when downloading the files From OneDrive - choose to save the file to the External Drive (yet another storage device )

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 22, 2021 6:12 AM in response to Peterlg

Sure. One Drive is a Microsoft cloud Storage Drive much like the External Drive. File are stored there. In order for you to work on the files, you need to download the file to your computer ( another Storage device ). That is what you want to avoid as per original question. So, when downloading the files From OneDrive - choose to save the file to the External Drive (yet another storage device )

Jul 22, 2021 5:01 AM in response to Peterlg

An External SSD drive would resolve the One Drive to Internal Drive issue. Yes, the Apple Computer would be able to see the external drive and yes one could edit the files and save them on the Eternal Drive as if the files was actually on the Internal Drive.


Jus be sure to shop around for a Reliable drive and it has the required USB connections available that match the USB Connector os this computer. If I am correct the MBA 2015 has Female USB-A connectors to the external drive would need USB-A Male connectors

OneDrive and external ssd

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