Information Services Strathcloud FAQs

Yes. If you just want to share a few files on a one-off basis, you can use the “Share” link within the web interface. Or use the Outlook plug-in and send a link to the external user’s email address. Search the Citrix website if you’re not sure how to do this.

If you want to give an external user ongoing permissions on one of your existing folders, contact your local/departmental IT support to get a DS account created for them. 

There are two types of DS account that can be created for external users: “Limited Access Accounts” (LAA’s) and “Temporary IT Access accounts” (TIAA's). 

Usually, LAA’s are most appropriate, if all the user requires is access to Strathcloud, and perhaps Wi-Fi when visiting the University. In a few cases, a TIAA account may more appropriate. For example, if they need a wider range of services or have a closer relationship with the University. You should discuss this with your local/departmental IT support.

Once the account has been created, you can add the user to your folder’s permissions list, just like any other University user. If you encounter problems with adding the account to the permissions list for a folder, see the FAQ here.

Finally, if you're sharing the data for the long term, and want the other users to be able to access your shared folder even after you leave the University, you should ask your local/departmental IT to set up your folder inside a “hosting account”. See the section "Long-Term File-Sharing on Strathcloud" for details.

Yes. But as an ​undergraduate (UG) or postgraduate-taught (PGT) student, you do not have the same level of access to Strathcloud as staff and postgraduate research (PGR) students, by default. 

When you log into Strathcloud as a UG or PGT student, you will see a simplified interface with limited functionality. This means you can only use Strathcloud if someone first shares a folder with you. Or if they send you documents through the system.

If you believe that you require the same level of access to Strathcloud as a staff member (e.g. if your lecturer has told you that it's required for your course), your lecturer can make a request to the Helpdesk on your behalf. They can ask for your Strathcloud account to be promoted to an "employee account".

In general, undergraduates and postgraduate-taught students are advised to use OneDrive for their own storage and/or backup.

Yes. If a staff member or PGR student shares a folder with an UG or PGT student, this folder appears under their 'Shared with Me' menu. If UG or PGT students are working with staff or PGR students and would like access to increased functionality, such as the ability to create their own files and folders, and the ability to download apps like 'Sync for Windows', they should contact help@strath.ac.uk for assistance.

If you encounter problems with adding the account to the permissions-list for a folder, then see the FAQ here.

Windows XP is the issue. XP is no longer supported by Microsoft, and you should upgrade to a newer operating system.

Assuming the email address and password is correct, go to internet explorer (it doesn't matter if this is not the default browser)​ and try to access Strathcloud. If this is also not accessible via internet explorer, it is likely that there is something blocking the site in the browser settings. To fix this, select 'Tools', 'Internet options', 'Advanced', 'Reset'. Close the browser and restart the StrathCloud sync tool set up process (make sure you close the sync tool set up window and then re-open it).

Linux users can make use of the web application. At the moment there is no client that can be installed on a Linux machine. This means that you cannot sync your files onto your local Linux PC.

There is an AP. We are hoping that a client for Linux could be built from that. If you would like to be involved in that project, please let us know.

If you have Strathcloud on your phone then you can set it so that it doesn't use your mobile data to sync (so it would only sync when connected to wifi). For further information, see our step-by-step guide on mobile sync settings.

In order to make a file available when you don't have internet access you need to download it to your phone and mark it as 'offline'.  This means that a copy will be saved to your phone.  Should you make changes to the offline version these will be uploaded to Strathcloud the next time that your device connects to the Internet and completes a sync.

Instructions for iOS users:

1. Swipe the file or folder that you want to make available for offline access to the right.
2. A small green dot will appear to the left to indicate it is selected.
3. Hold your finger in the circle to the centre of the right edge of the screen and select 'make available offline' by dragging the circle to the left.
4. To delete the file or folder from your device, select the circle to the right of the screen again and choose, 'clear from device'.

Instructions for Android users:

1. Hold your finger on the file or folder you want to download.
2. Select the download icon ( a small downwards pointing arrow)
3. A green bar will appear to the left of the file or folder to let you know that it is downloaded to the device.
4. To delete from the device (but retain the online copy in Strathcloud), hold your finger on the file or folder.
5. Select the small (i) icon.
6. Scroll to the bottom and select 'Remove from device'.

The above instructions are accurate for Sharefile Mobile version 3.8.1.

Yes, this can be done in the same way as files. Note that any new files uploaded to that folder by anyone will also download to your mobile device if you have marked that folder for offline access/synchronisation.

By default, staff and PGRs can store up to 20 GB in their “My Files and Folders” area.

If you need more, it's possible to contact the helpdesk, Contact Information Services, and request an increase. However, the University is now recommending OneDrive for Business instead of Strathcloud. 

At some future point, Strathcloud may be withdrawn. You should consider carefully whether it's a good idea to put more data onto Strathcloud, which you might then need to move to OneDrive at a later date.

Since May 2020, only small increases can be granted on Strathcloud (maximum 50GB).  Whereas, on OneDrive everyone has 1 TB by default, and much larger quota increases can be granted on OneDrive. Please contact the Helpdesk to request this.

Strathcloud has been set to hold unlimited versions of files and there is no limit. Each version only saves changes so this will not have a large impact on the amount of storage used. You can delete versions yourself, or set a maximum number of versions by selecting 'edit folder options' if you wish to do so.

When you move an item from one folder to another, the versions move with it.

Strathcloud does not currently notify users of folder access but this is something we have suggested for a future improvement.

Users are only asked to log in when accessing a file sent to them, if you have specified that recipients log in when they receive the file.

This is not possible. You can share a link for a file directly from Windows Explorer but not for a folder. To share a folder you must use a web browser.

When you send a link to a group of files to another person, Sharefile will present them with the list of files and they can select which ones they would like to download. If the person selects more than one file then Strathcloud will zip the files to make the download more efficient. The files can be extracted once the download completes.

Information on how to workaround this problem can be found on sharing folders with students and external users.

"Sync for Windows" is the right tool for the great majority of staff and postgraduate-research users.

You may also see a link to the "Sharefile Desktop App". This causes some confusion. It has some good features and allows you to carry out most of the functions of the web interface without using a browser.

However, the main purpose of installing an app on your PC is to allow you to sync your files between the central storage and your PC's local hard drive. Citrix recommend "Sync for Windows", as the best tool for this purpose.

If you use Outlook, you should also look at the Outlook plug-in.

Yes. Go into the Preferences on the “sync tool” on your PC, expand “My Files and Folders”, select which folders you want to sync, and deselect the folders you don’t want to sync.

Unfortunately, you can only do this “selective sync” for folders directly below “My Files and Folders”.  You cannot selectively-sync deeper down in your folder-hierarchy.  We have reported this to the suppliers, and hope that this will be fixed soon.

This is the normal default behaviour.  If you want to sync your shared folders, you can do this by adjusting the preferences on "Sync for Windows". See our step-by-step guide here: Strathcloud - "Sync for Windows" preferences guide (pdf).

Your Microsoft .NET framework is either out of date or corrupt. Install a new version/fix by typing “.NET framework download latest version” into your search engine, then download and install it.

Quickedit isn't an official Sharefile App. It's not provided by Citrix, it is by a 3rd party company (Byte2). The Sharefile app allows you to edit common formats on your device so there is no need to download this additional app.