OneDrive disappears from start menu and also stops syncing

[Jennifer_Head]

Greetings,

My OneDrive for my Microsoft 365 business account periodically disappears from my start menu, and consequently also stops syncing. This occurs on my laptop, but apparently not on my desktop. Thus, when I try to access my files from OneDrive from another computer, my documents are woefully out of date. When I go to the start menu and search for OneDrive, it is still on the laptop, and when I click to open the app, OneDrive starts syncing again. It would be great if syncing happened automatically so that I don't have to constantly be verifying if syncing is occurring. I have enough on my plate as a business owner. I am running the most current version of Windows 11 on 02/07/22. 

For now, I will pin OneDrive to my taskbar to ensure that it is continually working, but it takes up valuable space needed by other applications, and I shouldn't have to do this. Furthermore, when my laptop tells me that syncing is up to date and then I switch to my desktop to work, the files are still not synced. For example, the status of the file in question on which I need to work, is two months old on my desktop, and 12 hours old on my laptop. One drive on the laptop says, "Up to Date" but in File explorer, the whole folder is "Sync Pending". 

Any advice would be most appreciated!

Thank you!

[#2]

OneDrive runs in the background whether or not you pin it to the Start Menu or Task Bar. Those locations have nothing to do with whether a program is running or not.

You should find the OneDrive icon in the Notifiction tray in the right hand end of the Task Bar, although it may be hidden and need revealing through the up arrow.

Any sync problems should be checked with the OneDrive troubleshooter. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/fix-onedrive-sync-problems-0899b115-05f7-45ec-95b2-e4cc8c...

[#3]

Thank you. Both blue and white OneDrive icons disappear from the start menu completely. That means that when I click the up arrow to reveal other apps, the OneDrive icons are not there either. When I manually open the app, they suddenly reappear in the start menu, on the bar next to the Wi-Fi icon.

I will try the OneDrive troubleshooter before contacting tech support.

Thank you

[#4]

The troubleshooter is out of date. OneDrive does not appear under Policies>Windows in the Registry Editor as the troubleshooter suggests.

[#5]

I think you're confusing some parts of Windows interface terms so it's not obvious what you're describing.

[#6]

"the bar next to the Wi-Fi icon." is the Notification area of the taskbar. The Start Menu is the large popup menu at the left hand end of the taskbar.

[#7]

@Mike Williams Sorry for confusing the terminology. I'm juggling multiple clients, I have put a substantial amount of time into troubleshooting this today, and these issues have caused a delay in an important deadline. 

I never pinned the OD icon to the start menu. It is normally at the far right of the taskbar, in the notification area. Support had me uninstall and reinstall OD, and after bogging down my computer while re-updating all the files, the same problem persists. The icon has not disappeared since I re-downloaded it; however, although OD says that it's "up to date" on both devices, the files are not up to date. Thus, I have to email myself the manuscript that I'm working on to work on it on another device, save it over there, and send it back to myself to work on it on my laptop, thereby defeating the purpose of OneDrive. It becomes cumbersome and inefficient to have multiple versions of the same document on different computers. Hoping that there is a solution.

[#8]

Are you dealing with Microsoft support or corporate IT support?

By default (ie without you doing any pinning) OneDrive should appear
1. On the Start Menu in the alphabetical list of programs
2. In the Notification tray at the right of the Taskbar
3. In File Explorer.
There will be white and blue icons for the Personal and Business versions.
- if some customisation has been done of the interface (e.g. by corporate IT custom setup) then the above might not be true.

What file-types are you trying to open, and with what software?

[#9]

They disappear from the Notification Tray. They are in file explorer. When I perform as search for the app (Windows 11), I am able to open it. I just can't get it to stay in the Notification tray, and thus keep syncing. I have both white (personal acct) and blue (business acct) icons. My computers are for work, so it's the blue OD icons that I'm concerned about. I don't sync my personal OneDrive account, as the 5 GB maxes out quickly.

I have a feeling this is a compatibility issue with Windows 11. My desktop has been having the same issue since updating to Windows 11. Powering down. Hoping a restart will help. Thank you so much for your assistance.

[#10]

The presence in the notification tray is likely not going to affect syncing. It's possible that they've been set as a hidden icon. To see if it's running, bring up Task Manager, and look for the OneDrive process (under Background Processes).

You're not answering my questions, so I'll pass on further support.

[#11]

@Mike Williams 

Thank you for the tip. I will check the task manager. Sorry for missing the last few questions. I was up late trying to meet my deadline. 

I'm just working with Word documents at the moment. Nothing fancy. Windows 11. Latest version. 

I am also chatting with support. Thanks!