Information ServicesSharing folders with students & external users

**Strathcloud was decommissioned on 31 August 2023.

Alternative data storage services:

For a quick and easy guide to choosing between the above systems, please use our File Storage Selector tool.

The Strathcloud service for accessing your H: and i: drives when off-campus is no longer available. Please see the Connect remotely to your H: or i: network drive page to view alternative services.

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If you wish to retain data currently stored on Strathcloud, you must migrate the data to an alternative storage service by 31/08/2022. Data remaining on Strathcloud after this date will be deleted automatically.

We recommend using Microsoft 365 storage (OneDrive, Teams, SharePoint).

Note: the Strathcloud service for accessing your H: and i: drives when off-campus, will be retained after 31/08/2023.

For more information on how to migrate, visit the M365 Training and Support page.

Sharing folders with students & external users

Strathclyde staff and postgraduate research students are listed in Strathcloud's shared address book. However, external collaborators, undergraduates and postgraduate-taught students are not included in the shared address book, and you must take extra steps if you want to share folders with them.

Before following the instructions below, please note that all sharing from Strathcloud will cease on 31st August 2023.  For long-term sharing, we recommend using Microsoft 365 storage (Teams or SharePoint).

If you want to share a folder with an external collaborator or an undergraduate student:

  1. Login to the Strathcloud web interface
  2. Navigate to the folder you want to share, and click on the folder
  3. In the right-hand pane, click on the "People on this Folder" tab
  4. Click on the "Add People to Folder" button
  5. Click the "Create New User" button
  6. Type the user's email address
  7. Click or tab into the First Name textbox underneath
  8. The system should now fill in the user's first name and last name.  If these boxes do not get filled in after a few seconds, it means that the user does not have an account on Strathcloud.  Remember that, for external users, we recommend you request a limited access account for them first.
  9. Configure the relevant permissions and other options that you want, then click "Add" to add the user.
  10. Finally, you may notice that there is a bug in Strathcloud, where the user's company/department field does not get automatically filled in straight away. Do not worry about this.  Once you're finished adding them to the folder, if you then click on another folder, then back onto the folder you shared, then you will see that this field has been filled in.

If your external collaborator does not yet have a DS account, then contact your departmental/Faculty IT about getting a limited access account created. 

The external collaborator will automatically get an account on Strathcloud once their account has been created.