Looking at a network trace, the WNS on the client machine creates a connection to (Figure 1) to subscribe for notifications of any changes: Figure 1: The WNS service creates a connection to to subscribe for change notifications For macOS, the same idea applies but instead uses the Apple Push Notification Service (APNs). How Does OneDrive Synchronization Work?Īt its core, the OneDrive Sync Client for Windows relies on the Windows Push Notification Service (WNS) to monitor for changes to the synchronized folders. In this article, I explain how the OneDrive Sync Client works and some of the ways it does more than just make personal files available across devices, such as how it supports connecting to Microsoft Teams and SharePoint Online. While it’s not 100% perfect, the modern sync client is better than ever. Not to mention the fact that regular enhancements like expanding the limit for large item synchronization to 250GB make the OneDrive Sync Client an even more well-rounded solution.

The legacy OneDrive Sync Client (Groove.exe) wasn’t reliable and duplicate files, sync issues and disconnected clients were regular occurrences.įast forward to 2022, and it’s hard to imagine not having your files synchronized to multiple devices with OneDrive for Business (ODfB). In the early days of OneDrive for Business (or SkyDrive as it was once known), syncing files from the cloud to a local workstation was an inefficient, frustrating user experience. Moving from Groove to Reliable Synchronization

How Does OneDrive Synchronization Work?.

Moving from Groove to Reliable Synchronization.

Onedrive for business sync