How to sync your OneDrive files on your Chromebook

Any of the best Chromebooks will serve as an incredible tool for almost anything you need a computer for these days, especially when you know all the Chromebook tips and tricks. No matter what kind of Chromebook you have, it mostly plays out its strengths when you stick with Google’s ecosystem of services. Google Drive is the only service that deeply integrates with the pre-installed Files app, so those using OneDrive may feel a little left out.

A workaround gives you easy access to your files in OneDrive and more in the ChromeOS Files app. The Android app Autosync taps into your cloud storage to sync your data to your Chromebook’s Files app, putting all your desired content on your laptop and offline.

Prerequisites and warnings

We need to preface this with two warnings. For one, some functionality is locked away behind an in-app purchase of at least $5, including the option for full cloud storage offline sync. For another, Autosync is different from official solutions like the OneDrive sync utilities for Mac and Windows. It works on a scheduled basis and compares all files available on your machine with those on your cloud storage on each run, so it takes some load on your battery and CPU, especially the bigger the pool of data on your cloud storage is.

In that sense, the solution is only good if you need offline files on your machine, integrated in your ChromeOS Files app. It might also be viable if you don’t have a lot of files in your cloud storage drive. Alternatively, you can opt not to sync all of your files. If any of these options don’t apply to you, you might be better off switching to Google Drive or making do with whatever online interface your cloud storage provider offers.

With that out of the way, Autosync is available for a multitude of cloud services, including OneDrive, Dropbox, Box, MEGA, Nextcloud, ownCloud, and Google Drive (the latter is mostly only useful for those using an Android phone or tablet). You can get individual apps for the specific service or a universal app for all of them. The developer recommends opting for its cloud storage-specific apps if you don’t want to sync with multiple different cloud providers. That’s because the multi-sync application takes up more space and resources on your device.

Additionally, note that this solution only works for Chromebooks that are capable of running Android apps. If you’ve recently turned your old Windows laptop into a Chromebook using ChromeOS Flex, you’re out of luck. It doesn’t support Android apps at the time of writing.

In the example setup here, we synchronize files on OneDrive with a Chromebook. This guide explores the setup for Microsoft’s service. Other than the login process, the steps presented here are similar for Box and other competitors.

How to set up OneDrive sync

To get started with Autosync for OneDrive, you’ll first set up the application and then connect your Microsoft account to the app:

1. Install OneSync: Autosync for OneDrive from the Play Store on your Chromebook and open the application.
2. Click I agree to accept the terms and conditions of the app.
3. Click OK.

4. Click Allow to allow OneSync access to the files on your device.
5. Click Connect to OneDrive.
6. Enter your Microsoft account credentials in the next screens.

7. Click Sign in at the end to finish the process.
8. When asked to let this app access your info, click Yes.

How to set up a test folder for OneSync

The next step is to select which folders and files to sync. Some of these features, particularly the full OneDrive sync option, are locked behind a one-time fee from the developer. So to get the hang of the process, we recommend you create a test folder pair to see if you like how the app behaves and to judge if everything is working well enough for you before you commit.

1. On the OneSync homescreen, click Choose what to sync.
2. Click Create test folder pair.

3. You now have a new folder in your OneDrive account that is synced to your Chromebook. Click OK to continue.

4. To finish setting up the local folder on your Chromebook, open the ChromeOS Files app.
5. Navigate to My files > Play Files.
6. Click the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner and select Show all Play folders. You should now see a folder called OneSyncFiles. This is the folder OneSync created for sharing files with your OneDrive.

7. For easy access, right-click the OneSyncFiles folder and select Pin to shelf. You will then be able to quickly access it from the Pinned Files section in your taskbar.

How to set up sync with your full OneDrive or select folders

Once you’re happy with how the test folder behaves with your files, hop back into the OneSync app to set up sync for your full OneDrive or selected folders.

1. Open the OneSync app.
2. Navigate to the Synced Folders tab in the upper-right corner.
3. Tap the floating Plus button in the lower-right corner.
4. Give the synced folder pair a name to make it easier to manage (optional).

5. Choose which folder to sync in the Remote folder in cloud storage section. To select your full OneDrive folder, tap Select when in the top-level view of your cloud files.
6. Choose a local folder to sync to under Local folder in device. We recommend creating a new one under My files for easier, top-level access in the Files app. You need to grant OneSync permission to your data on My files in this case.

7. Once you’re done, tap Save in the upper-right corner. You don’t need to change the advanced settings below the local folder selection for the default behavior. The new folder pair appears alongside the test pair.

8. Head back to the Status screen in OneSync and tap the floating two-arrow sync button in the lower-right corner to kick off the new synchronization manually.

Depending on the size of the folder(s) you selected, the process might take a while. The app needs to go through everything and compare, so it’s less efficient than the native Google Drive integration. It’s still better than nothing.

Battery saving options

Depending on how important it is to keep your files up to date, you can change the sync interval and the battery-saving mode cutoff.

1. Open OneSync on your Chromebook.
2. Tap the three-dot overflow menu in the upper-right corner of the app.
3. Go to Settings > Synchronization, and scroll down to the Automatic background sync section.
4. Select your preferred Autosync interval. By default, it’s set to one hour.

5. You can also adjust the power saving option that hinders Autosync from running when your battery is below 50%. You’ll find it under Battery level must be at least.
6. There are more options to explore to optimize battery life, like a toggle to allow syncing only when your device is charging.

Problems and downsides

Since this syncing solution relies on a third-party Android app, it doesn’t work as well as the official OneDrive desktop helper on Windows or macOS. It took the app a substantial amount of time to sync our 20GB test OneDrive, much longer than the official client would have taken on another OS. Autosync is intense on Chromebook hardware. You might notice your machine getting hotter than usual in the first sync process. It will almost certainly be one of the top CPU users during the sync process.

It also takes Autosync quite some time to spot changes on OneDrive. That’s because the app has to go through every folder and file on your machine individually, comparing each to the copy available in your cloud storage. A scan of our 20GB test drive takes almost seven minutes without any changes. If you see yourself switching between your Chromebook and other machines quickly and routinely throughout the day, this might not be fast enough, especially if you have a large number of files in your OneDrive storage.

You can mitigate the issue a bit by excluding some files from syncing, like those old college documents sitting in your cloud for backup. To do that, head to Autosync’s three-dot overflow menu in the upper-right corner and select Settings > Files and Folders > Exclude Name Patterns. In there, you can specify which paths not to sync. This is not a perfect solution, but it can make a difference. We managed to get sync time down to about three minutes by excluding some folders.

Due to Autosync’s manual syncing method, you’ll also have to watch for duplicate files and conflicts. If you edited a file on another machine and Autosync hasn’t synced it over to your Chromebook yet, you’ll run into syncing conflicts when you work on the older version of that file on your ChromeOS device.

Synced files look like they’re brand-new, even if they were created a long time ago.

If a file’s creation date is important to you, we have more bad news: All data appears as newly created on your Chromebook. Files you change on your ChromeOS machine will also appear as new in your cloud storage since the app replaces the older version of it.

An imperfect solution, but better than none

Despite all its downsides and restrictions, Autosync is the most robust syncing we’ve found for third-party cloud services for OneDrive on Chromebooks. It’s clear that it’s limited compared to official tools available on Windows and macOS. But in the absence of a proper OneDrive Android app that isn’t read-only, this is as close as you can get to third-party cloud storage integration on Chrome OS. You still have to be aware of the limitations. In many cases, it might be easier to use the OneDrive website to upload and download your data manually.

If you use your Dropbox, you don’t need to turn to these workarounds that Microsoft is forcing you to turn to, likely in an attempt to convince you that a Windows laptop is better suited for you. The Dropbox Android app properly hooks into the ChromeOS Files app, allowing you to copy, cut, and edit files right from the cloud.