Where to keep your files when working from the terminal — use your OneDrive or SharePoint folder on Mac or Windows/WSL2 so work stays backed up.
Short answer: work in your OneDrive or SharePoint folder. Your files stay backed up, shareable, and in the same place they always were.
Mac
Your terminal accesses OneDrive folders directly at full speed. No special setup needed.
Navigate to your OneDrive folder in Finder, drag it onto Terminal, and you’re there.
Windows (WSL2)
Navigate to your OneDrive folder in Explorer like normal. When you need a terminal there, type wsl in the Explorer address bar and hit Enter.
File operations through WSL on OneDrive folders are slightly slower than the Linux filesystem, but for typical research tasks — analyzing a CSV, drafting a paper, writing a grant — you won’t notice. The backup and convenience are worth it.
WSL feels slow?
If you’re working with very large projects (thousands of files, big git repos), you can work in your Linux home folder instead. For everyday research tasks, OneDrive is fine.