Forum Discussion
Why isn't there a PowerShell module for OneDrive?
Hello robnicholsonmalt
My view on your question
- OneDrive is built on top of SharePoint Online → management is exposed mainly through SharePoint/Graph APIs, not directly through a “OneDrive module.”
- Microsoft’s stance is: administration of OneDrive = administration of the user’s personal SharePoint site, so they haven’t prioritized a dedicated OneDrive PowerShell module.
- Sync client status (your “is it still synchronizing?” use case) is a desktop app problem, not a cloud service API problem. Microsoft never exposed that cleanly in PowerShell.
For your sync status problem, you can query the sync client state using PowerShell. Here is the sample PS
$onedrive = Get-Process OneDrive -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if ($onedrive) {
$status = & "$($onedrive.Path)" /status
Write-Output $status
} else {
Write-Output "OneDrive is not running"
}
Please confirm if this resolves your question
robnicholsonmalt Can you please mark the solution as resolved if you are happy with the solution provided?
No, sorry that's not really a solution. It simply opens the OneDrive window in File Explorer. This post is under discussions/onedrivedeveloper, i.e. a discussion I assume of OneDrive developers? I wasn't looking for a solution because I know there isn't one.
As you say, there isn't a solution in PowerShell which is exactly the question I was asking - why isn't there? It's a massive hole in the toolkit. Plus the sheer number of posts on OneDrive and on-going problems would most likely be with some diagnostic API/modules. My example of waiting until OneDrive has finished synchronising is just one of many requirements.
A common question is "Why is OneDrive stuck processing changes". I'm not looking for a solution, I've banged my head against this one many, many, many times. I know it just does it and sometimes it'll sort itself out but sometimes restarting OneDrive is the only solution.
I suspect that OneDrive uses SQLite under the hood for it's local database of what's happening sync wise. Maybe that's not fit for purpose but some diagnostics in PowerShell might give some idea what OneDrive is actually doing. At the moment, the diagnostic tools open to support or developers is non-existent.
