If you’re anything like me, you spend an inordinate amount of time attaching files to emails and sending them to yourself. In my day job as a teacher, I am often shooting through a variety of documents, images, PDFs and more from my phone to my PC (and vice versa). Thankfully, Microsoft Drop eliminates this (admittedly) first-world problem. But anything that saves a bit of time and makes me more efficient is worthy of praise.
Content
- What Is Microsoft Drop?
- How Does Drop Work?
- Advantages of Drop
- How to Use Microsoft Drop on PC
- How to Use Microsoft Drop on Mobile
- Delete Files and Notes from Drop
- Limitations of Microsoft Drop
What Is Microsoft Drop?
Microsoft Drop, also known as simply “Drop,” is a file sharing tool that is built in to the Microsoft Edge browser. If you’re not already using Edge, Drop may change your mind.
Drop allows you to instantly share files – like Word docs, PDFs, and other content, like images – across all of your devices, from your computer to your phone to your tablet. In addition, as you use Microsoft Edge, you can even write notes to yourself that are synced across your devices, assisting with productivity.
Furthermore, Drop can be used across all operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. As long as you can install the Microsoft Edge browser, you have access to Drop.
How Does Drop Work?
The Drop interface is pretty intuitive and easy to use. On a PC, drag and drop files between your computer and the Edge browser window. On mobile, hit the More button (…) to open a menu that allows you to manually select which files to share with Drop. Once your files are uploaded, they are available on all your devices.
Drop uses OneDrive to store files, so you will need to set up a Microsoft account if you don’t have one already. Everyone with a Microsoft account has 5GB of free OneDrive storage. If you need more, there are various paid plans to consider. Once you have a Microsoft account, make sure that you’re signed in to the same account across all of your devices.
Advantages of Drop
Why is Microsoft Drop better than cloud storage, like DropBox? While cloud storage works, it can be a hassle. In addition, if you’re using a third-party service, you’ll need to sign up and hand over personal info, like your email address.
What’s wrong with transferring data back and forth via a transfer cable? Additionally, if I can stream 4K content from the Internet, why can’t I transfer a few piddly files without having to fumble around with cables? Thankfully, because Drop is integrated directly into your browser, the files will always be there, ready to be downloaded at the click of a button.
How to Use Microsoft Drop on PC
As mentioned earlier, Microsoft Drop is integrated into the Edge browser. If you’re a Windows user, the Edge browser is already installed on your machine. If you use a Mac, you’ll need to grab the Edge browser from the App Store. With the Edge browser installed, you’re ready to start using Drop. However, you’ll need to do a bit of setup first.
Launch the Edge browser, and click on the three dots in the top-right corner to open a drop-down menu. Click on Settings to open it in a new tab, then click on Sidebar on the left. On the right side of the window, underneath Customize Sidebar, hit the toggle switch next to Always show sidebar. Feel free to close the settings tab, as the sidebar will be there every time you launch Edge.
The sidebar is home to various icons, like Microsoft 365 and Outlook. The Drop icon is the one that looks like a paper airplane. Clicking on it will open the Drop panel within the Edge browser.
To add a file, drag it from your computer to the Drop panel. Alternatively, click on the blue + button to upload a file from File Explorer. The file will be available on all of your devices with Microsoft Edge. You can also write notes to yourself using the text box at the bottom of the screen. These notes will be synced across your devices.
How to Use Microsoft Drop on Mobile
Using Drop on your Android or iPhone is very simple. First, download and install the Microsoft Edge browser on your mobile device. Launch Edge, and tap on the three stacked lines at the top right of the screen to open the Edge menu. Tap on the Drop icon (paper plane) to open the Drop pane on the right side of the browser.
If you are signed in to your Microsoft account and have used Drop on your PC, you will find any files or notes that you have already uploaded to Drop. To add files from your phone, tap on the blue + button, showing icons for various file types.
Tap on the icon you want, and Drop will navigate to where those files are stored on your device. Gap on the files you want to upload to Drop, then tap the Send button. In addition, you’ll be able to compose notes to yourself by using the text box.
Delete Files and Notes from Drop
Files and notes uploaded to Drop will be arranged like a stream of text messages in chronological order. If you no longer need the files or notes, you can easily delete them. Click or tap on the three dots in the top-right corner of each file or note to open a menu with an option to Delete the file.
Deleting files will also reclaim storage space, so if you don’t plan on upgrading your OneDrive storage allotment, it’s probably good practice to go in to Drop periodically, and clear it out.
Limitations of Microsoft Drop
As mentioned earlier, Drop uses OneDrive for storage. However, the free tier only has 5GB of storage. For folks looking to share smaller files, like Word documents or images, this should be fine. But if you need to work with larger files, 5GB can be limiting. As described earlier, you can easily delete files that you’ve uploaded to Drop to reclaim storage space.
Furthermore, at the time of writing, it isn’t possible to upload entire folders to Drop. This may change in a future version of the tool, but currently you have to manually select multiple files if you want to upload more than one at a time.
You would think that in this day and age, sending files between all your devices would be a breeze, yet it can still be a hassle. Fortunately, Microsoft has developed an elegant solution in Drop. Eliminate more irritations on Microsoft Edge by using one of these free ad blockers. But if you find the browser isn’t for you, learn how to uninstall Microsoft Edge.
Image credit: Pexels. All screenshots by Ryan Lynch.
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Ryan Lynch –
Staff Writer
Ryan is an English & Film Studies teacher. He splits his time between Australia and the United States. He passes the time on long haul flights by playing retro video games from his youth.
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