How to fix 'there was a problem connecting to OneDrive'

Question

Hi everyone, after an internet connection issue in our company network, we are no longer able to sign in to OneDrive on this PC, and when I trying to sign in to the Onedrive desktop app, it show that"you don't have access to this service, for help, contact your it department. error code: Ox8004deef".

However:

We can sign in successfully on the OneDrive web version

Internet connection is working normally.

We have reinstalled OneDrive

But the OneDrive desktop app still cannot connect. Is this a device permission or Entra ID issue? How can we fix this? Thank you.

Answer 1

Dear @Floor @ Superior Meat,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum. I understand how frustrating it is to be blocked by Error Code: 0x8004deef, especially when the web version works perfectly. This specific error typically indicates a credential or licensing conflict where the desktop application cannot verify your account's permissions, often triggered by a network disruption that corrupted the local authentication token. 

Since you have already tried reinstalling the app, I recommend the following steps to resolve this:  Step 1: Reset OneDrive 

Reinstalling often leaves old settings behind, but a reset clears the internal cache and resets the connection. 

• Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog. 
• Type or paste the following and press Enter: %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset 
• If it doesn't restart automatically after a minute, type onedrive in your Start menu and launch the app manually to sign in again. 

For more details and step-by-step instructions, please refer to: Reset OneDrive - Microsoft Support 

Step 2: Clear Office cached credentials 

The "Access Denied" error often stems from the Windows Credentials Manager holding an expired or "bad" token from your network outage. 

• Open Control Panel > User Accounts > Credential Manager.
• Select Windows Credentials. 
• Look for any entries containing "OneDrive" or "MicrosoftOffice16" and click Remove. Restart OneDrive and try signing in again. 

Step 3: Check Entra ID (Azure AD) Registration 

Since you asked if this is a device permission issue, the device's "Work or School" registration may have become de-synced. 

• Go to Windows Settings > Accounts > Access work or school.
• Find your account and click Disconnect. 
• Click Connect to re-link your account to Entra ID. This refreshes the device's security certificate and often clears 0x8004deef. 

Step 4: Verify License Status (For IT Admins) 

If you are an admin, ensure the user has a valid SharePoint/OneDrive license assigned in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. Even if the web works, the desktop app requires an active "Office Desktop Apps" or "M365 Apps" component to authenticate. 

You can check your Microsoft 365 license on the "My account" page > subscriptions 

For more details and step-by-step instructions, please refer to: What Microsoft 365 business product or license do I have? - Microsoft Support 

For a full list of OneDrive authentication error codes and their specific meanings, please see: What do the OneDrive error codes mean? - Microsoft Support I hope the above information is clear. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Please let me know how it goes after trying the steps above. I’m here to help further if needed. 

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".   

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.