We asked, and finally, Microsoft delivered.
This past week, Microsoft revealed that finally, it will allow you to automatically integrate and upload Xbox gameplay clips directly to your OneDrive storage. I feel like we’ve been asking Microsoft to do this for almost a decade, back in the Xbox One generation, and back when OneDrive was even called SkyDrive. Better late than never, eh?!
Anyway, I decided to fight through COVID-19 and take a pause from recovering from my massive Starfield review to give you a quick look at how OneDrive integration works on Xbox, and what you can get out of it.
Xbox has technically had OneDrive integration since the early days of the Xbox One, but it wasn’t automatic. Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S consoles have game DVR recording functions, complete with a small pool of cloud storage for uploading and transferring clips to other devices or platforms, such as Twitter. Much like Starfield’s inventory space, this cloud storage facility gets filled up quite quickly, leaving you to laboriously manage dozens of clips while figuring out which epic 360 no-scopes are worth keeping. With this update, you can finally set the Xbox DVR to automatically select OneDrive as a storage and upload location, much like the Camera Roll on any phone you have OneDrive installed on.
You can compare OneDrive plans here. OneDrive comes with 5GB of storage for free, and if you have an Xbox you technically already have it. All Microsoft accounts come with OneDrive attached as standard. However, if you subscribe, you can get boatloads more. You can pay $20 per year for 100GB of storage (which also removes ads from Outlook.com), or you can pay $70 per year and get full Microsoft Office tools, and 1TB of storage. There’s also a family plan for $100 per year for up to 6 people.
It would be cool if the OneDrive implementation allowed you to manage Xbox DVR clips you had already uploaded to the Xbox DVR folders, while also viewing how much storage you have left. It’s early days yet, though. I suspect Microsoft will add more features to this integration over time.
Automatic OneDrive uploads are available now in the Xbox Insider Program as part of the Alpha Ring, and will roll out to more users in the coming weeks and months ahead.
