One Drive will not load

Question

My one drive app on my hp desktop will not open/login.

it was working fine one day. The next day when I came to do work there was an error message on my word document that said that cache credentials would not sign in. After that, the app stopped working. I have uninstalled it five times and reinstalled it. I have updated my windows, I have restarted shut down my computer like 10 times it won’t log me in therefore I can’t access any of my papers that are saved to my OneDrive. However, if I go to a browser and log into OneDrive, it opens that way however this does not help me when I’m trying to save edits to previously stored documents that are in my OneDrive. It says the location cannot be found.

I don’t know what else to try

Answer 1

Hello kia ward,

I understand that you are having issue with OneDrive App Login. I truly understand how you feel. Let me assist you go through this situation.

Based on your description, you can sign in to OneDrive in a web browser, your account is generally fine. The problem is on the PC: the OneDrive sync app / Office sign‑in token cache (cached credentials) on Windows has likely become expired or corrupted, so OneDrive can’t authenticate locally. When that happens, Office apps can’t reach the normal OneDrive sync folder, so Word/Excel report things like “cached credentials would not sign in” and “location cannot be found” when saving back to OneDrive.

I suggest you try this:

1. Clear the OneDrive “cached credentials” file (official Microsoft workaround)

This targets the exact “cached credentials” sign-in loop:

• Quit OneDrive completely (tray icon > Quit; or end OneDrive in Task Manager).
• Press Windows + R > paste: %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\settings
• Delete: PreSignInSettingsConfig.json
• Start OneDrive and sign in again.

2. Reset the OneDrive sync client

• Quit OneDrive.
• Windows + R > run: onedrive.exe /reset
• If it doesn’t reopen automatically, launch OneDrive from Start and sign in.

3. Remove stale OneDrive/Office credentials from Windows Credential Manager

This fixes cases where Windows keeps reusing a broken token even after reinstalling:

• Control Panel > Manager
• Windows Credentials
• Remove entries containing “OneDrive” and/or “MicrosoftOffice”
• Restart PC > launch OneDrive > sign in.

4. Disconnect any “Work or school” / extra accounts in Windows Settings

If Windows is holding onto an old or wrong sign-in identity, OneDrive can fail locally:

• Settings > Accounts > Email & accounts (remove unwanted Microsoft accounts if present)
• Settings > Accounts > Access work or school (disconnect anything not needed)
• Reboot > sign in to OneDrive again.

5. Clear Microsoft identity token caches

If the above doesn’t work, Microsoft troubleshooting guidance includes clearing token cache folders:

Sign out of OneDrive / quit OneDrive

Delete subfolders in:

• %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneAuth
• %localappdata%\Microsoft\IdentityCache

Reboot > sign in again.

6. Reinstall OneDrive after clearing caches (so the bad token doesn’t come back)

If you reinstall without clearing credentials/caches, the problem often returns immediately.

Download and install the latest OneDrive sync app from Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/onedrive/download

For more information, you can check this page: Can’t sign in to OneDrive

I hope this will help with your situation. Please feel free to reach back if you have further update or more questions.

Best Regards,

---

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.

Answer 2

Follow these steps on the HP desktop to fix OneDrive not opening or signing in and the cached-credentials error.

1. Clear OneDrive cached credentials (Windows)
   1. Press Windows key + R.
   2. In the Run box, paste:

            %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\settings
      

   3. Select OK.
   4. In that folder, delete the file PreSignInSettingsConfig.json.
   5. Restart the computer.
   6. Start OneDrive again and sign in.
2. Remove cached Office/OneDrive identities (if sign-in still fails) This addresses issues where cached identities block OneDrive sign-in.
   1. Close all Office apps (Word, Excel, etc.) and OneDrive.
   2. Press Windows key + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
   3. Go to:

            HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity
      

   4. Right-click Identity and select Delete.
   5. Close Registry Editor and restart the computer.
   6. Open OneDrive and sign in again.
   If OneDrive still cannot sign in, also remove cached credential folders:
   1. Make sure OneDrive is signed out/closed.
   2. Press Windows key + R, open each of these paths one at a time, and delete all contents in each folder:
      • %localappdata%/Microsoft/OneAuth
      • %localappdata%/Microsoft/IdentityCache
   3. Restart the computer and try OneDrive sign-in again.
3. Confirm OneDrive itself can sign in If the OneDrive icon is gray or shows not connected:
   1. Select the OneDrive icon in the taskbar.
   2. On the Set up OneDrive screen, enter the Microsoft account email and password used for OneDrive.
   3. If sign-in works here, the sync app will recreate the local OneDrive folder so Word can find and save documents again.
4. If OneDrive still will not start at all In some environments, a Group Policy can block OneDrive for work or school. If this is a personal HP desktop (no corporate IT), this is less likely, but if it is managed by an organization:
   1. Open regedit.
   2. Go to:

            HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\OneDrive
      

   3. If DisableFileSyncNGSC is set to 1, OneDrive is blocked. An administrator must remove this key or set it to 0.

After these steps, once OneDrive signs in and syncs, reopen Word, use File → Open → OneDrive to open the cloud copy of each document, then save. This re-establishes the correct synced location so “location cannot be found” errors stop.

---

References:

• Clear OneDrive cached credentials
• Error 0x8004dec5 when signing in to OneDrive
• Can't sign in to OneDrive
• OneDrive won't start
• Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in OneDrive