If you use Azure Virtual Desktop to provide desktop or applications virtualization to your end-users, you probably know that you can not use OneDrive outside of a remote desktop session – meaning with a RemoteApp.
Well, good news as you can now use OneDrive while using a RemoteApp.
To do so you first need to use a Windows 11 22H2 Insider Preview Enterprise build 25905 or later (which is currently in the Canary Insider channel – you can use this link to check in which channel which build is https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-insider/flight-hub/) deployed on hosted pool configured as validation environment.
To use Windows Insider multi-session, you need to join the Insider program from a non-insider build.
Once you meet these prerequisites, you need to ensure you have the latest OneDrive client version (https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/onedrive/download) on every session host; don’t forget to deploy it as per machine (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/per-machine-installation/).
Finally, you need to set the below registry – you can use a script or a deployment tool, such as SCCM or Intune:
- Key: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- Type: REG_SZ
- Name: OneDrive
- Data: “C:\Program Files\Microsoft OneDrive\OneDrive.exe” /background
Also you can not use the Start OneDrive automatically when sign in to Windows settings.
You can also improve end-user experience by implementing the silent sign-in to configure OneDrive automatically (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/use-silent-account-configuration/) – if not, end-users will have to manually sign-in.
When the RemoteApp is closed, it will take few minutes for OneDrive to close; unless you have the OneDrive Action Center opened, you will have to close it to get OneDrive automatically shutdown.
It is recommended to implement the below OneDrive settings when using OneDrive with RemoteApp:
- Allow syncing OneDrive accounts for only specific organizations https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/use-group-policy#allow-syncing-onedrive-accounts-for-only-specific-organizations
- Use OneDrive files On-Demand https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/use-group-policy#use-onedrive-files-on-demand
- Silently move Windows known folders to OneDrive https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/use-group-policy#silently-move-windows-known-folders-to-onedrive
- Silently sign-in users to the OneDrive sync app with their Windows credentials https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/use-group-policy#silently-sign-in-users-to-the-onedrive-sync-app-with-their-windows-credentials
An additional OneDrive blue icon will show up in the systray on your client device.