Force sync in OneDrive

Anonymous
2024-02-13T08:24:30+00:00

Is there any way of forcing OneDrive to sync? Let's say a user uploads a document on one client, and user 2 wants to access that document immediately on his client, but onedrive haven't synced that folder yet.

Is there a way to force a manual sync? Ideally with like a .bat file or something that i can pin to the taskbar that the user can just click to run just to speed up the process

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | Other | Windows

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-02-25T00:43:14+00:00

    Hi Gene, being rude is not the best way to ask for assistance - just saying.

    Anyway, if you need to manually force synchronization for your OneDrive files, you can use the following batch file

    cd %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive

    OneDrive.exe /shutdown

    OneDrive.exe /background

    Store the batch file somewhere on your computer, then save the shortcut to it on your desktop - and you will be able to force-sync files with just one click.

    Hope this helps.

    Best regards,

    Andre Yat (retired software engineer, former Microsoft employee)

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-03-05T22:40:34+00:00

    I cannot find a onedrive.exe (presumably in Windows System folders. I can only find OneDriveSetup.exe.

    C:\Windows\WinSxS\wow64_microsoft-windows-onedrive-setup_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.19041.1_none_e585f901f9ce93e6

    Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.5247]

    I would prefer a CLI command, if a GUI option was FFS not made available, however that suggestion has to be valid. If there are caveats to its presence, then the one offering the info should know if and offer up such advise in their position as "expert".

    Looking for other methods, as I have already share files and feel disconnecting from the drive may break those links.

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-03-05T23:50:12+00:00

    OneDrive.exe located in %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive - not in Windows system folders.

    (%userprofile% variable points to C:\Users"your_username" - for example, on my computer it would expand to

    C:\Users\andre\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive)

    To force synchronization manually for your OneDrive files you can use the following batch file -

    cd %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive

    OneDrive.exe /shutdown

    OneDrive.exe /background

    Store the batch file somewhere on your computer, then save the shortcut to it on your desktop - and you will be able to force-sync files with just one double-click on this shortcut.

    Hope this helps, best regards,

    Andre

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  5. Anonymous
    2025-03-06T08:17:36+00:00

    Unfortunately OneDrive.exe does not exist in that folder on my machine. (I have hidden files shown, so that's not the issue I believe)

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