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12 Jun 2011 By ABradney-George

Sharing SkyDrive Files In Windows Live Messenger

12 Jun

This Tutorial Will Outline The Steps You Can Take To Easily Share SkyDrive Files Through Windows Live Messenger.

From family photos to music and professional files, sharing data through the internet is convenient for everyone. In fact, services like YouSendIt and Dropbox have made a name for themselves when it comes to online file sharing outside of email attachments.

Signing up and setting these services up, however, does take time and that can seem like a lot of effort when you just want to share some photos with a few friends while chatting online. While Google users do have options like Google Docs, if you prefer Hotmail over Gmail it may seem unfair to sign up simply for file sharing. Furtunately now Windows Live users do have an option that is easy to set up and use, even in Messenger.

Designed for file storage and sharing, Windows Live SkyDrive offers 25GB free storage as well as easy sharing options. That means if you are chatting in Windows Live Messenger, you can share files quickly and continue the conversation virtually uninterrupted.

Once signed in with a Windows Live account, you can upload your files to SkyDrive in a number of ways. From there, you can share SkyDrive files in Windows Live Messenger using the following steps:

Open Windows Live SkyDrive
Navigate to the file or folder you want to share
Click "Share", and a dropdown menu will come up
From the menu, select "Get a link"
Copy the link and paste it into Messenger

There are also options in SkyDrive to allow you to share folders with friends, which means other Windows Live users can access the folders directly if you give them permission. That way they do not even need to get a link through Windows Live Messenger to be in the loop, and can chat about it via Messenger, email, phone or in person at any time. Making file sharing easier is something that is worthwhile for everyone, and online backup services like Windows Live are definitely working towards more convenient sharing options.