Mac Mini doesn't have a consistent way to save different microsoft one drive file types

One Drive is a Microsoft service how it serves up files has nothing to do with the Mac.

If you receive a One Drive link an email, it likely would open the One Drive website.

The Mail App cannot directly download apps from One Drive so would never ever offer a copy or download option for the actual file. It may offer to copy the link address but not the file itself.

If you are in the One Drive website, file downloads are performed using the download icon on the toolbar in the Website. Safari is not responsible for offering a download option, and yes the File Menu will only ever save the web page you are viewing that may be displaying the file, but does not download the file itself since it has no real knowledge of the file directly.

To download a file from One Drive, you must click on the My Files folder or Shared on the side bar, then click on the bubble to the left of the file name to select it and a "Download" option will appear on the toolbar at the top.

If you are in the Home section it won't offer a way to download the files.

As mentioned this is entirely up to One Drive's website, not the Mac or its apps.

VikingOSX wrote:

Maybe this is mind warp from reading too many posts, but my perception of OneDrive is that one needs the free Microsoft OneDrive (or Word, Excel, or Powerpoint) to write or retrieve files from OneDrive. I may have read in the past that OneDrive automatically encrypts files written to it and unencrypts them when used with Microsoft applications on the Mac. Dragging a file from OneDrive back to the Mac and by-passing Microsoft applications may not unencrypt it, leaving it unreadable by other applications on the Mac.

There are Web-based versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that you can access for free.

Microsoft - Use Microsoft 365 apps for free on the web

I assume that this is Microsoft "keeping their toes in the water" – that if the Web-based service ever becomes really competitive with running desktop applications, that Microsoft will start charging for access to the Web-based service.

If you use the Web-based apps, where do you store your data? Why, in your 5 GB of OneDrive cloud storage!

Bicyclesnowplow wrote:

On top of that, even when you can open the file in Safari or in one of the 365 apps, Microsoft blocks saving the file unless you pay over $100 a year ransom and also blocks sending large data files like powerpoint, word etc so that Microsoft users can't share documents.

Microsoft offers 5 GB of free OneDrive storage with a Microsoft 365 account for a home user. If you want more that, you must pay. There is a $20/year plan that offers 100 GB of storage, but it doesn't include access to the desktop versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Plans with access to those cost $100/year and up.

Microsoft 365 – Cloud Storage Plans and Pricing

Microsoft 365 – Plans and Pricing

There is a free program called LibreOffice that can open many Microsoft 365/Office documents.

Maybe this is mind warp from reading too many posts, but my perception of OneDrive is that one needs the free Microsoft OneDrive (or Word, Excel, or Powerpoint) to write or retrieve files from OneDrive. I may have read in the past that OneDrive automatically encrypts files written to it and unencrypts them when used with Microsoft applications on the Mac. Dragging a file from OneDrive back to the Mac and by-passing Microsoft applications may not unencrypt it, leaving it unreadable by other applications on the Mac.

I purposely do not use OneDrive, the application, or the service, so cannot test the preceding paragraph for accuracy.