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Globally disable OneDrive sync?

Copper Contributor
Hi, Is it possible to globally disable OneDrive sync for all users, and then enable it only for select users? We are a BYOD organization and would like to force users to use web-only applications (Word, Excel primarily) and keep our data in the cloud. I have not found this feature in any of the Office 365 Business plans, and it's not clear if any of the Office 365 Enterprise plans offer this feature. Thank you.
2 Replies
best response confirmed by XmplHealth (Copper Contributor)
Solution

Hello @XmplHealth ,

 

There is no true way of disabling 'only the sync' for some users in 'random locations' and there is an explanation for the same as well, all onedrive users are basically administrators for their onedrive site and any settings you make on the onedrive site, they can very well go ahead and disable it. 

That being said, if you are not dealing with users who like to poke around to find settings, there is a way to do it, basically onedrive site collection includes a document library, and in any document library in sharepoint online you get an option whether you want the document library to be synced to offline clients or not.

Here is a link which explains the steps further : 

https://www.sharepointdiary.com/2017/08/disable-sync-button-in-sharepoint-online.html

The article above talks about settings in a document library, to see the same settings in onedrive :

1. Click 'return to classic onedrive'.

2. Click settings> show ribbon.

3. From the ribbon click library settings.

4. Advanced Settings > Offline client availability.

 

The article i shared above does include steps to do it via powershell, you just have to substitue the site name with the onedrive url of target users. Again as the users are admins to their personal onedrive sites they can go in and revert the settings you make, but it is a bit unlikely that they would dig that deep.

There are other options to show/hide the sync button but that just hides the sync button and doesnt disable the users from just opening the onedrive client and signing in with their onedrive account to sync files to their pcs.

 

Thanks

@harveer singh Thank you for the detailed response, exactly what I was looking for.

1 best response

Accepted Solutions
best response confirmed by XmplHealth (Copper Contributor)
Solution

Hello @XmplHealth ,

 

There is no true way of disabling 'only the sync' for some users in 'random locations' and there is an explanation for the same as well, all onedrive users are basically administrators for their onedrive site and any settings you make on the onedrive site, they can very well go ahead and disable it. 

That being said, if you are not dealing with users who like to poke around to find settings, there is a way to do it, basically onedrive site collection includes a document library, and in any document library in sharepoint online you get an option whether you want the document library to be synced to offline clients or not.

Here is a link which explains the steps further : 

https://www.sharepointdiary.com/2017/08/disable-sync-button-in-sharepoint-online.html

The article above talks about settings in a document library, to see the same settings in onedrive :

1. Click 'return to classic onedrive'.

2. Click settings> show ribbon.

3. From the ribbon click library settings.

4. Advanced Settings > Offline client availability.

 

The article i shared above does include steps to do it via powershell, you just have to substitue the site name with the onedrive url of target users. Again as the users are admins to their personal onedrive sites they can go in and revert the settings you make, but it is a bit unlikely that they would dig that deep.

There are other options to show/hide the sync button but that just hides the sync button and doesnt disable the users from just opening the onedrive client and signing in with their onedrive account to sync files to their pcs.

 

Thanks

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