Five tips for finding files in Office

Alex Ingles

Wednesday 20 July 2022

File management is something we all have to think about now a majority of work is carried out digitally. This blog will run through a few top tips on how best to find files and navigate your file systems.

1. Search in Copilot

The search button in Copilot, located just above the chat button, is a quick way to find files you’ve worked on or need to access. Simply click the search icon, type in your keyword, and filter by ‘Files’ to narrow down your results. This feature is especially useful when you’re looking for documents shared during conversations or stored in your workspace.

2. Search in Teams 

Firstly, the search bar in Teams is a great way to find your recently opened files, as well as the ones stored in Teams and chats. Enter your keyword into the search bar, and filter by ‘files.’

To quickly jump to the search bar you can use the shortcut ‘Windows+E’.

Often, we share files with colleagues in chat, or during a meeting. To find files you’ve shared with a particular colleague in chat, you can navigate to the ‘files’ tab in chat with them. Similarly, you can go to a meeting chat where you have shared files and see the ‘files’ tab there.

3. Create a shortcut to your OneDrive 

When navigating the files tab in Teams, you may have noticed a new button. This ‘Add shortcut to OneDrive’ button grants quick access to files within a channel in your own files section of OneDrive. 

1. When in the files tab of a team, an ‘Add shortcut to OneDrive’ option will appear in the top ribbon. 
2. Once clicked, a confirmation message will show. 
3. Navigate to your OneDrive ‘My Files’ section. Your shortcut will be available. 

Or create a shortcut to shared folders, see more on the Microsoft Support page.

4. Creates tasks and appointments from files

If you need to remind yourself to fill out a document or follow up on a report with colleagues, you may wish to use the ‘Add to’ feature in Office.com. Find the file you want to remind yourself about, click the three dots menu, and select ‘Add to’. You can then either select ‘To Do’ or ‘Calendar’.

5. Pin files to Quick Access in File Explorer

When working with files in your File Explorer, you can get around more quickly by using the ‘Quick Access’ section. To add OneDrive folders to your quick access, open your OneDrive within File Explorer, click more options, then ‘add to Quick Access.’

Customise your quick access with this guide from Microsoft.