Request that someone sends a file to me
I (and my users) often need to request large files from a contact outside my organization, but Office 365 and OneDrive do not provide this functionality in a simple way. Microsoft support tells me to “either create a shared Sharepoint site or ask the other party to upload files to their own OneDrive and share the file”. Both of these “solutions” require the other party to have a Microsoft ID and force me into the awkward position of being a Microsoft evangelist (as I tell them how to get a Microsoft ID, upload the file, and then share it with me).
It would be so much better if I could request files with a true “drop box” link; a reverse-sharing link that allows outsiders to drop files into my OneDrive storage similar to the key drop box at vehicle repair shops. I believe this would require Write-Only permissions for an external user.
For example, an auto insurance agent needs pictures of an accident from a customer using a secure method. They can email a ‘file request link’ to the customer, who can easily upload files to a folder in the insurance companies OneDrive storage.
I apologize in advance if posting a link to competitor’s functionality is considered bad etiquette, but I have experience with other file sharing services who have provided this functionality for a while. This video by ShareFile explains the functionality in better detail: http://support.citrixonline.com/ShareFile/help_files/SF040027
Thank you!
Abiel
shared this idea
We are rolling out Request Files to OneDrive for Business this month (November 2019). Anyone with the file request link will be able to upload files without having to sign in, no OneDrive account required. Best of all, uploaders will only be able to upload files. They can’t view, edit, or even see who else may have uploaded to the request.
There are multiple use cases where this feature can be extremely valuable – consider “Request for Proposal” (RFP) scenario where you need to collect bids from others, or a marketing professional accumulating quotes from various vendors for a campaign, a teacher collecting assignments , a manager reaching out for feedback from his team members or a financial rep or recruiter gathering documents from their clients- just to name a few.
176 comments
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Tommy
commented
This does seem to be (almost) ready - not yet available on my onedrive client but if you check out the keynote at the sharepoint virtual summit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/spvs at approx. 16mins in, there is a demonstration of just this functionality - request files. It looks like a good implementation in fairness. (the keynote is the first video on the page linked).
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f144
commented
TLDR: upvote the thread again
I first posted to this thread in February 2018 (when it was just over 3 years old and had around 1500 upvotes) and (i hope like many of you) have continued to follow it.
Recently while using Onedrive i got an in-app feedback request.
So I complained about this issue and forwarded a link to this thread.Amazingly, i received this reply from a real person at microsoft. (at the end of this post between the /********/ )
Ok i will confess to some cynicism about the "pipeline" explanation.
*BUT* I think Bikash's suggestion might be worth taking seriously.
We have 2700+ votes now - if they're mostly unique users and each upvotes again we'll be in first place in the uservoice feature request list(whatever that means)
/********/
Bikash S (OneDrive) (Microsoft)
Aug 10, 01:03 BSTHi there,
We're sorry that it is taking time however this is into pipeline. I would request you to vote on the link again.
Let me tell you why I am suggesting you to up-vote. UserVoice is a forum where OneDrive user can vote on ideas that have been suggested. Once a User voice topic has been up-voted enough times, it will get the attention of the OneDrive Product Engineers and they will try to implement the idea. Many of the top up-voted suggestions have become OneDrive features and Improvements. Please invest a minute of you and up-vote the idea.
Thanks,
Bikash
OneDrive Support
/********/ -
Anonymous
commented
Anything? I don't think they listen to us.
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Anonymous
commented
In the plans still? Another important business feature where Box.com outshines OneDrive for business.
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Bryan Green
commented
As and educator trying to go paperless - this is the one thing that matters most about One Drive. Teachers need an INBOX that students can only upload to, but is private and viewable only by the teacher.
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Anonymous
commented
We users really need the Upload/Download availability to securely transfer information between our business and our customers/clients - All advancements in this area will be appreciated.
I'm hopeful that as of August 8th this project has move forward considerably. I would much prefer to use One Drive than to sign up with another service for an additional year. Please help. -
Chip
commented
Why is this so hard for MS to address ?
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Jonathan
commented
This is a MUST HAVE. Shame it has taken from 2015 to 2019 to THINK ABOUT IT and then eventually WORK ON IT ... what is the ETA Microsoft?
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Paul
commented
We currently use Sharefile and Onedrive. Would love to switch completely to Onedrive. Please consider this feature.
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Anonymous
commented
BIG need for this feature.
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Bruce Herman
commented
Regarding patent, AnyTask has this feature also. Unfortunate that MS has been SO slow to adapt to cloud computing. More missed opportunities.
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Kyle Hannan
commented
Seriously? No 'file request' feature? How can OneDrive put itself out there as a competitive service without this? Dropbox? Check. Box? Check. Google Drive? Check. OneDrive? Hello? OneDrive?
How can this NOT be part of your service?
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Anonymous
commented
What ? This feature does not exist with OneDrive ?
I dont believe you guys !
Common MS. This is file sharing 101 ! -
Anonymous
commented
NEEDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Laura
commented
As a teacher, this would be a huge lifesaver! My students could just click the Hand-In link in our Class OneNote, and I know all of their assignments are going into one place that I can access from anywhere. Having them just add their assignments to their OneNote sections has been a nightmare (plus it does not work if I need specific file tpyes). Thank you.
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Laura
commented
As a teacher using Office 365, this would be a LIFE SAVER. Having my students upload their assignments to OneNote only works if they all hand it in on time (if they hand it in late, I need to be manually checking their sections since there is no notification). I have used Dropbox's File Requests in the past, and it works very well, but I have far more space in Office 365 than DB. Would love to see this feature added. Thank you.
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Davy
commented
When is this gonna happen?
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Christian B.
commented
Please, please, please do this! ShareFile does this. Dropbox does this. Microsoft needs to do this.
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Katrina Currie
commented
Any update on this feature? We really need it!
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Zach
commented
I am an extensive OneDrive user. Unfortunately, it has not been able to keep up with my demand. As a result, before giving up on it, I reset everything and turned on Files On-Demand. Other than the fact that it has been processing this request now for over 24 hours, my very serious issue is that the files which I selected to "Always keep on this device" still aren't there. Can you please modify your algorithm to push these files to the top of the queue? As a distant second request, if it's going to take multiple days to synchronize a few GB, can you give a more detailed status? When I check, all I see is a random number of changes being processed. Thank you
