Microsoft Previews OneDrive Sync Admin Reports -- Redmondmag.com

Microsoft Previews OneDrive Sync Admin Reports

By Kurt Mackie
05/04/2021

Microsoft on Tuesday announced a preview of OneDrive Sync Admin Reports for the OneDrive for Business cloud storage service when used with Windows clients.

The OneDrive Sync Admin Reports preview just works with Windows clients right now. The reports show up in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center portal used by IT pros. They get a graphical dashboard view on how OneDrive for Business is being used by end users. The dashboard shows any data synchronization problems that end users may have experienced.

Three aspects about OneDrive for Business use get shown in a single view within the OneDrive Sync Admin Reports dashboard, namely:

The number of sync errors detected, plus its percentage within the organization (end users see a "red X on the OneDrive icon" when these errors occur).
The percentage of computers using the current version of OneDrive for Business.
The percentage of "known folders" in use by OneDrive users.

Known folders are the default folders that come with Windows, such as the "Desktop," "Documents" and "Pictures" folders. The synchronization of these folders with OneDrive is seen as a safeguard measure.

IT pros can use the dashboard to check on the success of file migrations using the Known Folder Move feature. Known Folder Move is Microsoft's solution for moving file storage from local machines to OneDrive cloud storage.

IT pros can click on end user names within the dashboard to see information about sync errors. They also get information about the device used. End users don't have to describe the problem to IT departments given this capability, Microsoft contended.

The next step is to tell end users how to resolve the issue. Apparently, the dashboard just shows sync errors. Tools to resolve such problems weren't described.

It's not clear how detailed the sync the reports are within the dashboard. For instance, some sync issues happen because the file names saved are simply too long, or the file name contained an invalid character or extension. Those limitations are described in this document. Troubleshooting tips can be found here.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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