Microsoft 365 Files (OneDrive & SharePoint)

Overview

Microsoft 365 provides two file storage surfaces: OneDrive (personal, per-user) and SharePoint (team/department libraries). Both are accessible through the same Microsoft Graph /drives endpoint. MSP support tasks include investigating access issues, checking storage quotas, managing sharing permissions, and transferring file access during offboarding.

Core Concepts

Graph API Patterns

Get a User's OneDrive Info (Quota)

GET /v1.0/users/{userId}/drive?$select=id,name,quota

Response:

{
  "id": "drive-guid",
  "name": "OneDrive",
  "quota": {
    "used": 5368709120,
    "remaining": 1127428915200,
    "total": 1132797624320,
    "state": "normal"
  }
}

state values: normal, nearing, critical, exceeded

List Files in Root

GET /v1.0/users/{userId}/drive/root/children?$select=id,name,size,lastModifiedDateTime,webUrl,folder,file

List Files in a Specific Folder

GET /v1.0/users/{userId}/drive/items/{folderId}/children?$select=id,name,size,lastModifiedDateTime,webUrl

Search for Files Across OneDrive

GET /v1.0/users/{userId}/drive/root/search(q='budget 2024')?$select=id,name,parentReference,lastModifiedDateTime,webUrl

Get File Sharing Permissions

GET /v1.0/drives/{driveId}/items/{itemId}/permissions

Response includes:

{
  "value": [
    {
      "id": "perm-id",
      "roles": ["write"],
      "grantedToV2": {
        "user": { "displayName": "Bob Manager", "email": "[email protected]" }
      },
      "link": null
    },
    {
      "id": "link-id",
      "roles": ["read"],
      "link": {
        "type": "view",
        "scope": "anonymous",
        "webUrl": "https://contoso-my.sharepoint.com/..."
      }
    }
  ]
}

Share a File (Create Sharing Link)

POST /v1.0/drives/{driveId}/items/{itemId}/createLink
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "type": "view",
  "scope": "organization"
}

type: view, edit, embed scope: anonymous, organization, users

Grant Direct Access to a File/Folder

POST /v1.0/drives/{driveId}/items/{itemId}/invite
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "requireSignIn": true,
  "sendInvitation": false,
  "roles": ["read"],
  "recipients": [
    { "email": "[email protected]" }
  ],
  "message": "Shared as part of employee transition"
}

Remove a Permission

DELETE /v1.0/drives/{driveId}/items/{itemId}/permissions/{permissionId}

Transfer OneDrive Access (Offboarding)

Grant another user access to the departing employee's entire OneDrive:

POST /v1.0/users/{departingUserId}/drive/root/invite
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "requireSignIn": true,
  "sendInvitation": false,
  "roles": ["write"],
  "recipients": [{ "email": "[email protected]" }]
}

Full ownership transfer (changing site admin) requires SharePoint admin PowerShell: Set-SPOSite -Identity <url> -Owner <email>

SharePoint Document Libraries

List SharePoint Sites

GET /v1.0/sites?search=*&$select=id,displayName,webUrl,createdDateTime

List Drives (Document Libraries) in a Site

GET /v1.0/sites/{siteId}/drives?$select=id,name,driveType,quota

Get Files from a SharePoint Library

GET /v1.0/drives/{driveId}/root/children?$select=id,name,size,lastModifiedDateTime,webUrl

Common MSP Workflows

User Can't Access a File

1. Get the file's current permissions: GET /items/{id}/permissions
2. Check if user has direct access or if it's link-based
3. Check if user is in a group that has access: GET /users/{id}/memberOf
4. If sharing link expired: create new sharing link
5. If direct access missing: add via /invite

Pre-Offboarding Data Review

Before offboarding, identify files the user owns that are widely shared:

GET /v1.0/users/{userId}/drive/root/search(q='*')?$select=id,name,permissions,parentReference

Look for items with scope: anonymous sharing links — these should be cleaned up or ownership transferred.

OneDrive Quota Alert

Check users approaching quota limits:

GET /v1.0/users/{userId}/drive?$select=quota

If quota.state is nearing (>80%) or critical (>90%), alert for cleanup or quota increase.

Error Handling

Permissions Required

Related Skills

• M365 Users - User offboarding, OneDrive transfer
• M365 Security - Audit external sharing
• M365 API Patterns - Search syntax, pagination