OneDrive for Business is personal cloud storage for individual Microsoft 365 users — files stored there belong to one person and are private by default. SharePoint is team and organisational storage — files are stored in shared document libraries that multiple people can access, with permissions managed at the site, library, folder, or file level. Both are part of Microsoft 365, and both can be accessed from inside monday.com using the Microsoft 365 SharePoint integration.
The key differences at a glance
| OneDrive for Business | SharePoint | |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | Individual user | Team, department, or organisation |
| Default access | Private (only you) | Shared (controlled by permissions) |
| Best for | Personal working files, drafts | Shared project documents, templates, records |
| Syncs with | Windows Explorer / Mac Finder | Teams channels, SharePoint sites |
| Governance | Tied to individual's M365 account | Managed independently of individual users |
| What happens when someone leaves | Files can be lost when account is deleted | Files remain in the library |
When to use OneDrive for Business
OneDrive for Business is appropriate for files that are genuinely personal to a single user — early drafts, personal notes, files you're working on before sharing. Because files in OneDrive are tied to an individual's Microsoft 365 account, they can be difficult to access if that person leaves the organisation. For anything your team needs access to reliably over time, SharePoint is more appropriate.
When to use SharePoint
SharePoint is the right choice for any file that more than one person needs to access, that represents an official record, or that needs to persist beyond the tenure of a specific individual. This includes:
- Project documentation (contracts, plans, reports)
- Shared templates (document generation templates, company letterheads)
- Compliance records (audit trails, policy documents)
- Published deliverables
SharePoint's permission model — managed at site, library, folder, and file level through Microsoft Entra ID — makes it suitable for environments where different users need different levels of access to different content.
The relationship between OneDrive and SharePoint
OneDrive for Business is technically built on SharePoint under the hood — each user's OneDrive is a personal SharePoint site. When you sync a SharePoint document library to your desktop via OneDrive, it appears in File Explorer alongside your personal OneDrive folders, which is a common source of confusion. The two look similar in Windows Explorer but behave differently: synced SharePoint files still live in the team library and follow the library's permissions; personal OneDrive files do not.
In monday.com
The Microsoft 365 SharePoint integration for monday.com supports both OneDrive for Business and SharePoint document libraries. You can embed files from either location inside monday.com board views and item pages. For automation tasks — folder creation, document generation, file routing — the integration works with SharePoint document libraries specifically, since these are the appropriate location for shared, governed project documents.
→ Microsoft 365 SharePoint integration for monday.com
→ SharePoint permissions explained
→ What is SharePoint automation?
