How to Restart OneDrive on Mac Steps to Reset O365 Drive App

If you are among those who wish they knew how to restart OneDrive on Mac then you are at the right place. In this write up, we will explain exactly why your OneDrive app which was working till 20 November 2024 suddenly refuses to launch.

Additionally, here you will find the exact steps to diagnose and fix the error that prevents you from accessing the OneDrive app on your Apple computer.

When you read the new OneDrive release notes you will see it is explicitly mentioned that Mac OS is no longer available for Macs running on OS Monterey or older.

Both Apple and Microsoft would want you to purchase a new device and start using the OneDrive app there. However, this solution is not feasible for many.

Moreover, there doesn’t seem to be any quick solution. Don’t worry we have multiple methods available and if they don’t work we provide access to an excellent utility that can save all OneDrive data on your Mac. Let us start our discussion with a root cause analysis for this problem.

Why Many Users Suddenly Want to Reset Their OneDrive App?

You are not alone in your search. Countless other Mac owners complain about the same issue.

Many Apple computer holders installed OneDrive from the App Store, which auto-updated the existing app without the owners’ knowledge.

The main reason for this is that Microsoft made a recent update to the OneDrive app, which made it invalid for any Mac not on macOS 13 or later.

So the next time users open OneDrive, they find an error that it’s no longer available on their system. With no direct way to revert back to a working version, many are stuck.

Even the uninstall-reinstall process is problematic as the new version won’t even complete the installation.

Microsoft shares the majority of the blame but not all of it. Macs last such a long time that the hardware outlives its software counterpart (which is why many people are willing to pay a premium price for it). This too played a small part in creating such a situation.

So, let us try out the most basic solution.

Update the OS on Your Mac to Reset OneDrive

If your Mac has been prompting you for a system update that you’ve been putting off, it is time to act. Many work-related apps not just OneDrive will slowly stop functioning if your system is not up-to-date.

Follow these steps and you won’t need to ask how to restart OneDrive on Mac again. 

• Click the Apple logo in the top left corner of your screen.
• Select “System Settings.”
• Under “General.” hit  “Software Update.”
• To install updates click the “Check for Updates” button.
• If any update is available your Mac will download(if it has enough space) and install them automatically.
• Once done restart your Mac to reflect the changes.

If you dont see an update it either means your Mac already has the latest OS or that it is too old to receive one.

See this list. If you are using any of the following devices then it means your Mac cannot run Mac OS 13 but has a OneDrive version that only works with Mac OS 13

• MacBook (12-inch, Early 2016 or older)
• MacBook Air (2017 or older)
• MacBook Pro (2016 or older)
• iMac (2016 or older)
• Mac Pro (2013 or older)
• Mac Mini (2014 or older)

Don’t worry even if you possess an archaic Mac we have a series of solutions that will help you get out of this mess.

Want to Refresh OneDrive? Close the App on your Mac

This goes without saying we can’t begin the repair work if a faulty instance of OneDrive is still running in the background. The default methods of Force Quitting are as follows:

• Click on the Apple logo at the top left corner
• Press Force Quit
• Select OneDrive from the list and confirm.

Or,

• Press Cmd + Tab
• Use the Arrow keys to select OneDrive and Press Cmd + Q together to exit the app.

However, this hardly qualifies as an answer for how to restart OneDrive on Mac as OneDrive exists as a folder within Finder and not a generic app.

That is  why you have to:

• Open Activity Monitor
• Locate the OneDrive app and double-click on it
• Select Quit
• Then Click Quit once again on the pop-up.

We recommend that you choose Force Quit here so that it closes down in priority.

If you dont want to use Activity Monitor as it contains other system-critical applications you can use OneDrive’s default close button.

• Click on the OneDrive icon on the Menu Bar
• Hit the Cog (help and Settings) icon inside the flyout.
• From there select X Quit OneDrive Option.
  

Once you do any of the above steps the OneDrive icon should disappear from the Mac Menu bar. Now we can move on to the next step which is the complete removal of OneDrive from Mac.

Remove and Restart OneDrive on Your Mac

If you go to the Launchpad, click and hold the OneDrive icon in the Applications area. It starts to wiggle but doesn’t show a cross icon at the top right.

So you need some other way to delete it which is possible via the steps given below.

• Open Finder
• Go to Applications 
• Right-click or tap with two fingers if you are using the trackpad.
• Select Move to bin 

You can also drag and drop the OneDrive app into the Mac trash Bin.

Going any which way requires you to close all running instances of OneDrive first.

Once it is in the bin right-click (tap with two fingers), select the Delete Immediately option, and confirm again by pressing Delete on the popup.

You can do all this directly from the terminal itself let us see how.

Steps to Remove the App via Mac Terminal

Step 1. Quit OneDrive: 

First, ensure OneDrive is not running. You can use Terminal to force quit OneDrive type:

killall OneDrive

Step 1.1. Unlink OneDrive Account (Optional): 

You may want to unlink your Microsoft account from OneDrive to prevent sync issues, for that use:

rm -rf ~/Library/Group\ Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office

Step 2. Remove OneDrive Configuration and Data:

To reset OneDrive, remove its configuration files and cache. Run the following commands:

rm -rf /Applications/OneDrive.app
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/OneDrive
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.OneDrive-mac
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.OneDrive.plist
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.OneDrive
rm -rf ~/Library/Logs/OneDrive

Step 2.1. OneDrive credentials from Keychain: 

If you keep your OneDrive Credentials on your Mac you may want to remove them to prevent autologin. So in the same Terminal instance type:

security delete-generic-password -s "Microsoft OneDrive"

Now you need to install the version that works for your Mac which is only possible via GUI so close the Terminal and follow the procedure given below.

Install a Version of OneDrive that Used to Work on your Mac

You won’t find a link to download the old Mac version of OneDrive on any of the official Microsoft websites or the Apple App Store for Mac.

Go to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine and visit an early cache page to install an old version of OneDrive or you can directly download it well.

The installer should work just follow the on-screen instructions and complete the rest of the steps.

A plus point of installing it via Safari is you dont have to worry about auto-updation which was the main reason for this problem in the first place.

During the setup disallow sending optional data to prevent any issues.

Use the Time Machine to Restore OneDrive

If you use the Time machine feature on your Mac then it might be possible to bring back an old version

• Open Finder 
• Go to Applications
• Press Command + Spacebar to launch the spotlight search
• Type Time Machine
• Scroll back to a date before you updated OneDrive to restore it.
• Find the OneDrive app in the Time Machine interface.
• Right-click (or Tap with two fingers you are using the trackpad) on the app and select “Restore.”
• A confirmation dialog will appear. Click “Restore” to proceed.

The restoration process may take some time, as OnDrive is quite a large app. Once the restoration is complete, go back to the Applications folder to use the old restored version of OneDrive. 

Using this method may have a side effect, such as losing some data on files/folders that were not in sync with the cloud. You may also have to log in to your OneDrive account again.

Alternative Methods to Bypass OneDrive Restart on Mac

Buy a new Mac

If your Mac can’t even install the Mac OS 13 which itself is 2 versions behind the latest Mac OS 15 Sequoia then lacking OneDrive app access is just the tip of the iceberg. Soon you may find that many other apps also drop support. Therefore, if your budget allows, it might be a good time to upgrade the hardware.

Use the Web App

The desktop is just one way with which you can access OneDrive. So if you wish to view/use some files on an emergency basis use Safari on your Mac to log in to your OneDrive account.

Run a Virtual Machine and use the Windows version of OneDrive App

If you use VMs in your workflow you can use them to get access into OneDrive. Open VirtualBox or any other such app use OneDrive from there. It works but also makes it a bit tricky to sync and store your Mac data.

Migrate Out of OneDrive into Google Drive

If you are a Mac that uses OneDrive via a M365 business subscription then it is possible to move out of OneDrive and into some other cloud platform.

Ask your admin if other users in your organization face the same issue with one drive then it might be cheaper to get a professional data migration software instead of a company-wide hardware upgrade. 

Backup your OneDrive to External Drive via the Professional Backup tool

For the time being, you can use the SysTools Backup and Restore to store a copy of all OneDrive files in a separate local environment.

Which can then be put back in OneDrive or any other cloud storage once you decide what to do with your existing data.

Conclusion 

So now we hope readers know how to restart OneDrive on Mac back in a version that works.

We have many different solutions, for resetting it using just the native options present in every Mac.

Even if your OneDrive issue does not get resolved with the techniques there is no need to worry. You can escalate it to official Apple or Microsoft support channels. Moreover, despite our best efforts, there is a low chance that you get to keep using the same old OneDrive version indefinitely. 

As it is a major security vulnerability. 

New versions not only introduce new features but are also the primary way with which known exploits and issues are patched out of software.  

So for the time being you can use the professional solution provided in this writeup to store a copy of all OneDrive files locally.