How to Transfer OneDrive Ownership During Offboarding in OneDrive for Business

When an employee leaves your organization, you need to secure their OneDrive for Business files before the account is deleted. Without a proper transfer, critical business data may be lost, and external collaborators lose access immediately. Microsoft 365 provides a dedicated offboarding workflow through the admin center that moves file ownership to another user. This article explains how to transfer OneDrive ownership during offboarding, what prerequisites are required, and what happens to shared links and permissions after the transfer.

What Happens to OneDrive Files When an Employee Leaves

When you delete a user account in Microsoft 365, their OneDrive is retained for 30 days by default. The retention period is configurable up to 365 days, but after that period the files are permanently removed. During offboarding, you must transfer ownership of the OneDrive to another user before the account is deleted. This ensures the files remain accessible to the organization.

The transfer operation moves the root-level files and folders from the departing user’s OneDrive into a new folder in the destination user’s OneDrive. The folder is named OneDrive – [Former Employee Name]. All file permissions and sharing links are preserved. External users who had access to specific files continue to have access unless you revoke them separately.

Prerequisites for a Successful Transfer

Before you begin, verify the following conditions:

• You must be a Microsoft 365 Global admin or SharePoint admin.
• The departing user’s OneDrive must be accessible. If the account is already deleted, you have 30 days to restore it first.
• The destination user must have an active OneDrive for Business license and must have accessed their OneDrive at least once.
• The destination user must have sufficient storage quota in their OneDrive to accept the transferred files.

Steps to Transfer OneDrive Ownership in the Admin Center

Follow these instructions to transfer OneDrive ownership during offboarding. The entire process takes place in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center
   Go to admin.microsoft.com and sign in with a Global admin or SharePoint admin account.
2. Navigate to Active users
   In the left navigation, select Users then Active users.
3. Select the departing user
   Click the user’s display name to open the details pane.
4. Open the OneDrive tab
   In the user details pane, select the OneDrive tab. If the tab is not visible, click the three dots (More actions) and choose Manage OneDrive.
5. Click Transfer files to another user
   Under the OneDrive tab, locate the Transfer files section and click Transfer files to another user.
6. Select the destination user
   In the dialog that opens, type the name or email address of the user who will receive the files. Select the correct user from the search results.
7. Confirm the transfer
   Review the summary showing the source and destination users. Click Transfer files to start the operation. A progress indicator appears. The transfer may take several minutes depending on the total file size.
8. Notify the destination user
   After the transfer completes, inform the destination user that a new folder named OneDrive – [Former Employee Name] now appears in their OneDrive. They should verify the files are accessible.

What to Do After the Transfer

After the file transfer finishes, you still need to complete the offboarding process. The departing user’s account should be blocked from signing in and eventually deleted. However, the transferred files remain in the destination user’s OneDrive. Review the following post-transfer actions.

Block Sign-In and Delete the User

In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Users > Active users, select the departing user, and choose Block this user from signing in. Set a date for account deletion. The OneDrive retention period starts from the deletion date.

Revoke External Sharing If Needed

The transfer preserves all existing sharing links. If you need to revoke external access to the transferred files, the destination user can manage sharing from their OneDrive. They can use the Share menu to remove specific people or change link permissions.

Common Issues When Transferring OneDrive Ownership

The OneDrive Tab Does Not Appear for the User

This usually happens when the user has never accessed OneDrive. Have the user sign in to onedrive.com and open their OneDrive at least once. After that, the tab appears in the admin center within 24 hours.

Transfer Fails Because of Storage Quota

If the destination user’s OneDrive storage is full, the transfer fails. Check the destination user’s storage in the admin center under Users > Active users > [User] > OneDrive tab. Increase the storage limit if needed, or ask the user to free up space.

Files Are Missing After Transfer

Some files may not transfer if they are checked out or locked by another application. Ask the destination user to check the OneDrive – [Former Employee Name] folder. If files are missing, restore the departing user’s OneDrive from the admin center and check the version history of individual files.

Item	Admin Center Transfer	Manual Download and Upload
Description	Built-in admin tool that moves files to another user’s OneDrive	User downloads files from source and uploads to destination
Permissions preserved	Yes – sharing links and permissions remain intact	No – all permissions are lost and must be recreated
Time required	Minutes to hours depending on file size	Depends on download speed and upload bandwidth
Requires admin role	Yes – Global admin or SharePoint admin	No – any user with access can perform this
Retains folder structure	Yes – files are placed in a named folder	Yes – if the user manually replicates the structure

You can now transfer OneDrive ownership during offboarding using the Microsoft 365 admin center. After the transfer, block the departing user’s sign-in and set a deletion date to start the retention period. The destination user should verify that all files appear in the OneDrive – [Former Employee Name] folder. As an advanced tip, consider using PowerShell cmdlets such as Set-SPOUser -IsSiteCollectionAdmin to grant the destination user site collection admin access to the departing user’s OneDrive for more granular control before the transfer.