How to Install Microsoft OneDrive on Linux

Microsoft doesn’t offer an official OneDrive client for Linux, but that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. Thanks to open-source projects and a helpful Linux community, syncing OneDrive files on Linux is not only possible — it’s surprisingly smooth.

Here’s a no-nonsense guide to get OneDrive running on your Linux system.

What You’ll Need

• A Linux distro (Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Arch, etc.)
• A Microsoft account (personal or business)
• Terminal access with sudo privileges

Step 1: Choose a OneDrive Client for Linux

Your best bet is onedrive, an open-source command-line client developed by GitHub user abraunegg. It’s reliable, actively maintained, and works well with OneDrive personal, business, and SharePoint.

GitHub repo: https://github.com/abraunegg/onedrive

Step 2: Install Dependencies

Depending on your distro, you’ll need packages like git, make, gcc, and curl. Here’s how to get them:

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential libcurl4-openssl-dev libsqlite3-dev git

Fedora:

sudo dnf install make gcc libcurl-devel sqlite-devel git

Arch Linux:
Use the AUR package: onedrive-abraunegg via an AUR helper like yay:

yay -S onedrive-abraunegg

Step 3: Download and Build the OneDrive Client

For distros other than Arch:

git clone https://github.com/abraunegg/onedrive.git
cd onedrive
./configure
make
sudo make install

Step 4: Authenticate Your Microsoft Account

Run the following command to set up authentication:

onedrive

This will print a URL. Open it in your browser, sign in to your Microsoft account, and paste the response URL back into the terminal.

Step 5: Sync Your Files

To do a manual sync:

onedrive --synchronize

To monitor and sync continuously:

onedrive --monitor

Optional: Enable Automatic Sync on Startup

Systemd (for most modern distros)

Enable the systemd service to run the client on boot:

systemctl --user enable onedrive
systemctl --user start onedrive

To make sure systemd user services work correctly, you might need to enable lingering:

sudo loginctl enable-linger yourusername

Step 6: Customize Your Sync Settings

Edit the config file at:

~/.config/onedrive/config

You can choose specific folders to sync, exclude files, and more. The config file is well-documented, so tweak it as needed.

Final Thoughts

OneDrive on Linux isn’t plug-and-play like it is on Windows, but with the onedrive client, it’s solid, fast, and reliable. Whether you’re running Ubuntu, Fedora, or Arch, syncing your cloud files is just a few commands away.

Got questions or hit a snag? Drop a comment or check out the GitHub page for detailed troubleshooting.