SharePoint Online User Photo Sync

Hello Everyone,

There are several obstacles to setting the SharePoint Online user photo. We acknowledge that this is a scenario that stands to be improved, but there is no planned work in this space at this time. Please see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3185286 for the official documentation on the process.

At present, to update a user’s profile in SharePoint one of the following flows must happen:

1) The user has an Exchange license/mailbox. In this case the picture can be set in Exchange. From there it will sync from Exchange Online to SharePoint Online. The user must navigate to their Delve Profile Page to trigger the sync from Exchange Online to SharePoint Online. This can only happen every 72 hours.

2) The user doesn’t have an Exchange mailbox. In this case the picture needs to be uploaded to SharePoint directly. The only way to do this is via the UI.

The script refenced at the start of this thread effectively simulates what happens during the Exchange-to-SharePoint sync operation. There is no other way to achieve this at present. We will continue to evaluate this area and appreciate how complex the scenario can be.

Call to action! Please upvote the following topics on the UserVoice Customer Feedback site related to this. This feedback helps us prioritize.

https://office365.uservoice.com/forums/273493-office-365-admin/suggestions/10078710-need-a-way-to-force-sync-all-my-users-photos-from

https://office365.uservoice.com/forums/264636-general/suggestions/15826552-show-pictures-without-exchange-license

Thanks,
Roberto Taboada