How do I Sign in and Sync my OneDrive on my Mac?

Note: The new OneDrive sync client is supported on OS X version 10.9 and above. The new OneDrive sync client syncs only OneDrive for Business associated with Office 365 business accounts.

Install and set up

If you have signed into the OneDrive client with a Microsoft account (for example, someone@outlook.com), you should already have the new OneDrive sync client and you can skip to step 2 below.

Install OneDrive from the Mac app store.
Start OneDrive Setup.

Start OneDrive to connect a work or school account.

Start OneDrive by pressing cmd+Space to launch a Spotlight query and type OneDrive. This starts OneDrive Setup.
Enter your work or school account and then select Sign in to set up your account.

If you already have a personal account signed in to OneDrive, you’ll want to add a work or school account in OneDrive Preferences.  

Click the OneDrive cloud icon up in your Menu bar and select Preferences .
Click the Account tab and in the new Add Account group, select Add a Business Account to start OneDrive Setup.
Enter your work or school account and click Sign in.

Key parts of OneDrive Setup

There are a few points of OneDrive Setup that are helpful to watch for:

On the This is your OneDrive folder screen, click Choose OneDrive Folder Location.

Select a location where you would like to save your OneDrive files and click Choose this location.

When you see the This is your OneDrive folder screen, you’ll now see a path to the folder you selected. Click Next to continue.
On the Sync Files from Your OneDrive screen, you can choose the folders you want to sync to your computer, and click Next. This conserves space on your computer, and reduces bandwidth needed for the sync processes.
When you see Your OneDrive Is Ready for You, the last thing to do is make sure you select Open at login so my files sync automatically. This will ensure that OneDrive runs at login and you always have the most up to date version of all your files.

After you enable OneDrive to open at login, you’re done! Click Open your OneDrive folder to see your files sync to your folder.

You can find OneDrive up in your Menu bar. You’ll have a cloud icon for every account you’ve connected to OneDrive. So you’ll have one cloud if you’re only syncing a work or school account, one cloud if you’re syncing only a personal account, or two clouds if you’re syncing both.

Screenshot of OneDrive in the menu bar on a Mac after finishing Welcome to Onedrive

You’ll also see a folder in Finder called OneDrive – YourTenantName.

Screenshot of Finder integration on Mac with sync overlays for synced files

Turn on Finder integration

If you’re on OSX 10.10 or higher, get sync status directly from Finder by enabling Finder overlays in Settings.

First, click the Apple logo in the top left corner of your Mac Desktop and select System Preferences, then select Extensions in the top-level menu (shown in the 3rd row from the top).

Screenshot of system preferences on a Mac