Early warning of OxFile retirement
The OxFile service will be closed on 19 June 2023 - please use OneDrive instead and remove links from websites and guidance
IT Services will be retiring the OxFile service permanently on Monday 19 June 2023.
What is the recommended way to transfer files?
For transferring files to other people, we recommend you switch to using OneDrive which has similar capabilities to OxFile and can be used in the same way. Guidance for using OneDrive to transfer files is available. We also recommend that you review the Information Security team’s guidance for classifying and sharing information securely at Oxford. OxFile will shortly be updated with a notice telling users about the retirement and available alternatives.
Anyone who currently:
- Uses OxFile: please start to use OneDrive instead.
- Recommends OxFile to others: please update your processes and links on your websites or other locations to refer to alternative services.
Why is OxFile being retired?
We appreciate that OxFile has been a very popular service, and this is why we are giving advance notice of its retirement. OxFile was introduced in May 2011, at a time when there were no central solutions for large file exchange. However, it now needs a complete rewrite to be compatible with changes in the programming language it uses, as well as to meet modern standards around security, web design and accessibility.
Over its 12 years of life, OxFile has been used by over 29,000 Oxford users, sharing 172TB of data (the equivalent of about 43,000 films) in 1.3 million files. Usage peaked in 2017 and has decreased since then - in 2022 usage was similar to 2013.
Finding help for using OneDrive
Guidance for using OneDrive to transfer files can be found on the IT Help website. But if you have problems using OneDrive instead of OxFile, please contact the central IT Service Desk who will be happy to help.
