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OneDrive Personal Vault

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OneDrive Personal Vault

What OneDrive Personal Vault is, why it exists only in consumer OneDrive, and the equivalent protections for sensitive files in a work or school tenant.

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/onedrive-personal-vault

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01

What Personal Vault is

A consumer OneDrive folder that needs a second verification step to open, even when already signed in — Windows Hello, a PIN, a fingerprint, or a code.

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/onedrive-personal-vault

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02

The mechanics

Relocks after a short idle period, files can't be shared, mobile scans documents straight in, and the Windows copy sits in a BitLocker-encrypted area.

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/onedrive-personal-vault

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03

Why business OneDrive doesn't have it

A folder only one person can open cuts across everything IT needs: eDiscovery, legal hold, retention, DLP, and offboarding. That's a liability, not a feature.

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/onedrive-personal-vault

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04

If it's a privacy worry

Business OneDrive is already private by default. Nothing in it is visible to a colleague unless it's shared.

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/onedrive-personal-vault

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If it's a stolen-laptop worry

That's a device-encryption question. BitLocker or FileVault, enforced and reported through Intune, protects the whole disk.

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/onedrive-personal-vault

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06

If it's genuinely sensitive

Apply a Highly Confidential sensitivity label. It encrypts the file itself, wherever it goes — stronger than Personal Vault in every respect but convenience.

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/onedrive-personal-vault

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