Windows 8 Five Minutes at a Time

Setting Up the SkyDrive for Windows App

You can set up your SkyDrive account through the web, as described in the task “Adding Files to Your SkyDrive Page.” You can access and view your SkyDrive files using the Windows 8 SkyDrive app, as described in the task “Setting Up the Windows 8 SkyDrive App.” In addition, you can download and install a desktop SkyDrive application for Windows that lets you set up and synchronize specific folders for SkyDrive. This application gives you the ability to access your SkyDrive files directly from File Explorer, add new files to SkyDrive from your desktop, and organize your SkyDrive folders and files as if they were local to your PC. This task explains how to set up and use the SkyDrive for Windows application.

1 Log in: Log in to Windows with a Microsoft account.

2 Open SkyDrive website: Open Internet Explorer by clicking its Start screen tile. In the address field for IE, open the SkyDrive website by typing www.skydrive.com. Log in with your Microsoft account if needed. On your SkyDrive page, click the Get SkyDrive apps link in the lower left corner.

3 Get the SkyDrive app: On the SkyDrive apps page, click the Download the app button for SkyDrive ...