Scan to SharePoint vs Scan to OneDrive: Which Should You Use?

For the full picture on scan documents to SharePoint workflows, see our complete guide. This article covers the specific question of SharePoint vs OneDrive as a scan destination — they're both part of Microsoft 365 but serve very different purposes.

SharePoint vs OneDrive — The Fundamental Difference

OneDrive for Business is personal cloud storage. Each Microsoft 365 user gets 1TB of OneDrive storage that belongs to them. It's designed for individual files — your own work documents, personal reference material, drafts in progress. When you leave the organisation, your OneDrive goes with the off-boarding process.

SharePoint is organisational document storage. Document libraries in SharePoint belong to the organisation, not an individual. Multiple users can access, collaborate on, and manage the same documents. When someone leaves, the documents stay.

Both are accessible from anywhere, both integrate with Teams and Outlook, and both appear in the same Microsoft 365 interface. The difference is ownership and access scope.

When to Scan to OneDrive

OneDrive makes sense as a scan destination in limited circumstances:

• Personal receipts and expenses: A home worker scanning their own expense receipts before submitting them. The document only needs to be accessible to one person.
• Personal reference material: Research documents, personal notes, reference PDFs that only one person uses.
• Draft documents: Working copies of documents that will eventually be moved to SharePoint when ready for team access.
• Solo traders: A one-person business where all documents belong to one individual anyway.

When to Scan to SharePoint

SharePoint should be the default for almost all business document scanning:

• Any document that multiple people need: Invoices, contracts, quality records, delivery notes, HR documents — anything that's a business record rather than a personal file.
• Documents with metadata requirements: SharePoint has full column metadata (supplier name, job number, document type); OneDrive has very limited tagging capability.
• Compliance documents: SharePoint supports retention labels, legal holds, and audit trails required for GDPR and sector-specific compliance. OneDrive has limited compliance features.
• Documents that need access controls: SharePoint allows granular permissions at the library, folder, and document level. OneDrive permissions are primarily designed for personal use.
• Searchable across the organisation: SharePoint documents appear in organisation-wide search. OneDrive documents appear only in personal search.

Key Differences for Scanning Workflows

Can the eScan Scan to Both?

Yes. The Plustek eScan supports both SharePoint and OneDrive for Business as separate destinations. You can create different job buttons for each — one button that sends to the team SharePoint library, another that sends to the operator's personal OneDrive. Users select the appropriate button for each document type.

The authentication works the same way for both — the user signs in with their Microsoft 365 credentials via OAuth 2.0, and the scanner gains access to both SharePoint sites and OneDrive that the user has permission to access.

The Practical Rule

Default to SharePoint for all business document scanning. Use OneDrive only for documents that genuinely belong to one person and don't need to be part of the organisational record. If in doubt — use SharePoint. The metadata, retention, and audit capabilities are worth the slightly more complex setup.