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Silently configure user accounts

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This article is for IT admins who would like to silently configure user accounts when deploying the new OneDrive sync app (OneDrive.exe) to managed Windows computers in their enterprise. This feature works for computers that are joined to Microsoft Entra ID.

If you enable this feature, OneDrive.exe attempts to silently (without user interaction) sign-in to the work or school user account that was used to sign into Windows (known as the Windows Primary Account). That Windows account must be a Microsoft Entra account or be linked to a Microsoft Entra account through a hybrid authentication configuration (see Prerequisites below).

Before OneDrive.exe begins syncing, it checks the available disk space. If syncing the user's entire OneDrive would cause the available space to drop below 1 GB or if the size exceeds the threshold you set (on devices that don't have Files On-Demand enabled), OneDrive prompts the user to choose folders to sync. For info about setting this threshold using Group Policy, see Set the maximum size of a user's OneDrive that can download automatically.

When the user is configured in the sync app, if the same user account is syncing files with the previous OneDrive sync app (Groove.exe), the new sync app (OneDrive.exe) will attempt to take over syncing those files.

Important

We recommend enabling silent account configuration when you configure the sync app. See all our recommendations for configuring the sync app

Prerequisites

Before you can enable silent account configuration, you need to join your devices to Microsoft Entra ID. You can join devices running Windows 10 or newer, and Windows Server 2016 or newer, directly to Microsoft Entra ID. To learn how, see Join your work device to your organization's network.

If you have an on-premises environment that uses Active Directory, you can enable Microsoft Entra hybrid joined devices to join devices on your domain to Microsoft Entra ID. Devices must be running one of the following operating systems:

  • Windows 11
  • Windows 10
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2012 R2

If you federate your on-premises Active Directory with Microsoft Entra ID, you must use AD FS to enable this feature. For info about using Microsoft Entra Connect, see Getting started with Microsoft Entra Connect using express settings.

Note

For more info, see How to configure Microsoft Entra hybrid joined devices. To check the join status and fix problems, see Troubleshoot Microsoft Entra hybrid joined devices.

Enable silent configuration

If the computers on your network are joined to Active Directory on-premises, you can use domain group policy to configure silent account configuration.

Using Group Policy:

  1. Enable silent account configuration. For info, see Silently sign in users to the OneDrive sync app with their Windows credentials.

  2. Optionally, specify the maximum OneDrive size that downloads automatically in silent configuration. For info, see Set the maximum size of a user's OneDrive that can download automatically. If you enable Files On-Demand, OneDrive ignores the maximum size value.

  3. Optionally, set the default location for the OneDrive folder. For info, see Set the default location for the OneDrive folder.

Tip

See the Verify SilentAccountConfig section below to verify and troubleshoot your configuration.

Note

Silent account configuration won't work on devices for users who require multi-factor authentication. Select third-party identity providers (IdPs) are supported, but there are caveats. For more information, make sure to check out the Microsoft Entra federation compatibility list.

Configuration with Alternate IDs is only supported within Microsoft 365 Government environments.

If the computers on your network aren't connected to Active Directory on-premises, but only to Microsoft Entra ID, we recommend using Intune and a Microsoft PowerShell script to set the registry keys required to enable silent account configuration. Be sure you have automatic enrollment set up for Windows 10 or newer devices.

Using a script:

$HKLMregistryPath = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\OneDrive'##Path to HKLM keys
$DiskSizeregistryPath = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\OneDrive\DiskSpaceCheckThresholdMB'##Path to max disk size key
$TenantGUID = 'xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx'

if(!(Test-Path $HKLMregistryPath)){New-Item -Path $HKLMregistryPath -Force}
if(!(Test-Path $DiskSizeregistryPath)){New-Item -Path $DiskSizeregistryPath -Force}

New-ItemProperty -Path $HKLMregistryPath -Name 'SilentAccountConfig' -Value '1' -PropertyType DWORD -Force | Out-Null ##Enable silent account configuration
New-ItemProperty -Path $DiskSizeregistryPath -Name $TenantGUID -Value '102400' -PropertyType DWORD -Force | Out-Null ##Set max OneDrive threshold before prompting

Windows Image Prep requirements

SilentAccountConfig creates a SilentBusinessConfigCompleted registry entry once SilentAccountConfig has successfully provisioned the user in OneDrive.exe. This prevents SilentAccountConfig from reprovisioning the user in OneDrive.exe if the user manually stops syncing.

If SilentAccountConfig has successfully completed on a computer you're going to use to build a Windows deployment image (for example, SysPrep), you need to ensure this registry key and also ClientEverSignedIn and PersonalUnlinkedTimeStamp registry keys are removed before you prepare your image. You can do so by running the following commands:

reg delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\OneDrive /v SilentBusinessConfigCompleted /f
reg delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\OneDrive /v ClientEverSignedIn /f
reg delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\OneDrive /v PersonalUnlinkedTimeStamp /f
reg delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\OneDrive /v OneAuthUnrecoverableTimestamp /f

Verify SilentAccountConfig

Instructions for SharePoint in Microsoft 365

  1. Unlink all pre-existing Business instances in OneDrive.

  2. Clear the registry of any previous successful Silent Business Config runs:

reg delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\OneDrive /v SilentBusinessConfigCompleted /f
reg delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\OneDrive /v ClientEverSignedIn /f
reg delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\OneDrive /v PersonalUnlinkedTimeStamp /f
reg delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\OneDrive /v OneAuthUnrecoverableTimestamp /f

  1. Set the Silent Config policy registry entry (must be run from an administrator CMD window):

    reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\OneDrive /v SilentAccountConfig /t REG_DWORD /d 0x1 /f

  2. Sign out of Windows (Ctrl+Alt+Delete Sign out).

  3. Sign in to Windows.

  4. Shortly you should see a blue cloud icon in the notification area of the taskbar. Selecting the icon should show the activity center pop-up showing ongoing/recent activity from the first sync. If so, SilentAccountConfig has worked correctly.

  5. If instead you see the "Set up OneDrive" screen, SilentAccountConfig couldn't silently sign in or failed for another reason. Verify you completed these steps correctly by repeating them again. Follow the Verify Single Sign On (SSO) steps later in this article to confirm that SSO isn't a problem. Gather sync app logs to send to the engineering team for further help.

Instructions for SharePoint Server 2019 or newer

  1. Ensure you can manually get the OneDrive sync app to sync content with your on-premises SharePoint Server, 2019 or newer, before proceeding. See Configure sync app for syncing with SharePoint Server for details.

  2. Set the SharePointOnPremPrioritization reg key value to 1 (this ensures that your on premises SharePoint Server takes precedence over Microsoft 365 SharePoint cloud, delete the registry key to revert to SharePoint in Microsoft 365):

    reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\OneDrive /v SharePointOnPremPrioritization /t REG_DWORD /d 0x1 /f

  3. Follow steps 1 through 6 in the previous procedure for SharePoint in Microsoft 365.

  4. If instead, you see the "Set up OneDrive" screen, SilentAccountConfig was unable to silently sign in or failed for another reason. Verify you've completed these steps correctly by repeating them again. Gather sync app logs to send to the engineering team for further help.

To prevent Silent Business Config

reg delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\OneDrive /v SilentAccountConfig /f

Verify that Single Sign On (SSO) is working

The most common reason for SilentAccountConfig to fail is the credentials aren't available to OneDrive.exe without user interaction. Follow these steps to determine if this is a problem in your case.

If you have a computer you think should work with SilentAccountConfig, you can manually verify that SSO is working correctly to ensure that the environment is configured correctly.

  1. Ensure OneAuth is enabled

    reg delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\OneDrive /v OneAuthUnrecoverableTimestamp /f

  2. Shut down any running OneDrive.exe processes (verify in the Task Manager Details tab - Ctrl+Shift+Esc).

  3. Start menu - OneDrive, you should see the Set up OneDrive screen (if not unlink/stop syncing any business accounts and start over).

  4. Enter the same email address that the user used to sign into Windows (try alias@domain and domain\alias forms).

  5. Select the Sign in button.

  6. The dialog should switch to a "signing in" page with a spinning icon for a few seconds. It should then continue to the next part of the wizard without asking for a password.

  7. If a password prompt doesn't appear, your auth environment is properly configured and SilentAccountConfig should work for your users.

  8. If you do see a password prompt, the environment isn't configured properly for silent sign-on. This could be due to a problem with how the computer is domain joined (for example, a trust relationship problem), a problem with ADFS configuration, a Microsoft Entra Conditional Access policy requiring user interaction, you didn't provide the same user email address as the one used to sign into Windows, or some other reason. You'll need to resolve whatever is blocking silent sign-on before SilentAccountConfig will work for you.

  9. Remove any OneAuth failure timestamp

reg query HKCU\Software\Microsoft\OneDrive /v OneAuthUnrecoverableTimestamp
reg delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\OneDrive /v OneAuthUnrecoverableTimestamp /f