{
  "slug": "onedrive",
  "name": "OneDrive",
  "maker": "Microsoft",
  "category": "files",
  "verdict": "n",
  "answer": "No. Microsoft holds the keys to the files you keep in OneDrive, so it can read them. Personal Vault adds an extra sign-in step, not a key only you hold.",
  "title": "Is OneDrive encrypted? Files, photos and Personal Vault",
  "description": "Microsoft can read the files you keep in OneDrive. They're encrypted, but Microsoft holds the keys, even in Personal Vault. Checked at the source.",
  "parts": [
    {
      "key": "folder",
      "status": "n",
      "words": "Microsoft can read it",
      "note": "Each file is encrypted with its own key, and Microsoft keeps the master keys that protect those keys.",
      "sources": [
        1,
        5
      ],
      "label": "Your photos and files"
    },
    {
      "key": "share",
      "status": "n",
      "words": "Microsoft can read it",
      "note": "Shared files and links are stored the same way.",
      "sources": [
        1
      ],
      "label": "Shared links and albums"
    },
    {
      "key": "pq",
      "status": "x",
      "words": "Not yet",
      "note": "No post-quantum protection for stored files announced as of 25 October 2026; Microsoft says it aims to move its products to it by 2029.",
      "sources": [
        7
      ],
      "label": "Post-quantum"
    }
  ],
  "extra_parts": [
    {
      "key": "vault",
      "label": "Personal Vault",
      "icon": "folder",
      "status": "n",
      "words": "Microsoft can read it",
      "note": "It adds an extra sign-in step and locks itself when you stop using it, but Microsoft says it is just a place in OneDrive with an extra layer of security, and never calls it end-to-end encrypted.",
      "sources": [
        2,
        1
      ]
    }
  ],
  "keys": "Microsoft holds the keys to your files, including the ones in Personal Vault.",
  "can_see": "Your files and photos themselves, which Microsoft indexes so you can search them and, where face grouping is on, sorts by the faces in them.",
  "business": "On business plans, admins with Microsoft 365 E5 can add Double Key Encryption to labelled files, so Microsoft can't open them.",
  "fix": null,
  "fix_line": null,
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "can-microsoft-see-my-onedrive-files",
      "q": "Can Microsoft see my OneDrive files?",
      "a": "Yes. Microsoft says each file is encrypted at rest with its own key, and those keys are locked with master keys that Microsoft stores [1]. Its privacy statement says it collects the content you store, and indexes your OneDrive documents so you can search them later [3].\n\nMicrosoft also scans documents for known malware when they're downloaded [1]. It says its engineers have no standing access to the service, and must ask for time-limited access when they need it [1].\n\nOn some business plans, admins can add Double Key Encryption, which Microsoft says its online services can't open [6]."
    },
    {
      "id": "is-onedrive-personal-vault-encrypted",
      "q": "Is OneDrive Personal Vault end-to-end encrypted?",
      "a": "No. Personal Vault is a part of OneDrive that asks for a strong sign-in method or a second check each time you open it, and locks again after 20 minutes without use on the web, or 3 minutes on a phone [2]. On a Windows 10 PC, its files sit in an encrypted area of the drive [2].\n\nThat helps if someone gets into your account or your device. It doesn't keep Microsoft out: Microsoft calls Personal Vault \"just a place in OneDrive with an extra layer of security\", and doesn't describe it as end-to-end encrypted [2][1]. Without a paid plan, it holds up to three files [2]."
    },
    {
      "id": "does-onedrive-group-photos-by-face",
      "q": "Does OneDrive group my photos by face?",
      "a": "It can. Microsoft's help page says OneDrive groups faces into a People section, and that the feature is rolling out gradually [4]. You can turn it off in OneDrive's settings, and Microsoft says it then deletes the face data within 30 days [4]. Some regions need your consent first [4]."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "How OneDrive safeguards your data in the cloud (Microsoft Support)",
      "publisher": "Microsoft",
      "url": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/how-onedrive-safeguards-your-data-in-the-cloud",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Protect your OneDrive files in Personal Vault (Microsoft Support)",
      "publisher": "Microsoft",
      "url": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/protect-your-onedrive-files-in-personal-vault",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Microsoft Privacy Statement (updated September 2026)",
      "publisher": "Microsoft",
      "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/privacystatement",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Group photos by people in OneDrive Photos (Microsoft Support)",
      "publisher": "Microsoft",
      "url": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/group-photos-by-people-in-onedrive-photos",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Encryption in Microsoft 365 (Microsoft Learn)",
      "publisher": "Microsoft",
      "url": "https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/encryption",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Double Key Encryption (DKE) (Microsoft Learn)",
      "publisher": "Microsoft",
      "url": "https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/double-key-encryption",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "title": "Accelerating the quantum-safe timeline (Microsoft Security Blog, 30 June 2026)",
      "publisher": "Microsoft",
      "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2026/06/30/microsoft-advances-quantum-safe-security-as-the-risk-timeline-shifts/",
      "read": "2026-10-25"
    }
  ],
  "changes": [
    {
      "date": "2026-10-25",
      "text": "First published."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "icloud",
    "google-drive",
    "dropbox",
    "google-photos",
    "microsoft-word"
  ],
  "url": "https://isitencrypted.com/onedrive/",
  "checked": "2026-10-25"
}