Sync SharePoint 2019 Library To Local Folder

Recently, I needed to implement FBA for a SharePoint 2019 Environment. But before implementing that, I needed to make sure to back up few libraries from site. This is because if we mess things up, that data won't be affected. One way to do this was to back up content DB for that web application, but it was huge in size. As we require data from couple of libraries, I thought to use local folder integration and then copy files to another drive.

Issue

The classic option that worked in SharePoint 2013 of opening the library with file explorer shows enabled, but stopped working in SharePoint 2019. It will showcase you a dialog for one drive sync client installation. If you allow the popup, the reference link provided at the end of the blog will open in a new tab.

Solution

You have two options showcased on this page.

Solution 1 - Install latest OneDrive client.

They have mentioned all the steps as well.

The issue I faced with this is that you will need to login into OneDrive before use. This requires a Office 365 user. Even after connecting with my trial development account user, I was not able to make it sync to the local folder.

The issue can be anything, such as not having any patch installed in the server, or that the functionality requires both systems to have same credentials. As this is not my primary task, I decided to go with the second solution.

​​​​Solution 2 - Install OneDrive Sync app

The support for the OneDrive Sync app is ended on January 11, 2011. So, choose this approach carefully.

To install the previous OneDrive for Business sync app with Office 2013, follow these steps.

Note
If you have Office Professional Plus 2013, Office 365 Enterprise E3, Office 365 Midsize Business, or Office 365 Small Business Premium, then you already have the OneDrive sync app installed.

• Uninstall any earlier versions of the previous OneDrive for Business sync app.
• Select one of the installer links below to download the installer for your language and system edition. If the 32-bit or 64-bit edition of Office is already installed, you must select the same edition for OneDrive.

  Language	32-bit download link	64-bit download link
  Arabic	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Bulgarian	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Chinese (Simplified)	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Chinese (Traditional)	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Croatian	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Czech	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Danish	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Dutch	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  English	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Estonian	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Finnish	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  French	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  German	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Greek	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Hebrew	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Hindi	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Hungarian	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Indonesian	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Italian	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Japanese	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Kazakh	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Korean	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Latvian	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Lithuanian	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Malay(Malaysia)	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Norwegian(Bokmal)	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Polish	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Portuguese(Brazil)	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Portuguese(Portugal)	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Romanian	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Russian	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Serbian(Latin)	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Slovak	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Slovenian	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Spanish	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Swedish	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Thai	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Turkish	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Ukrainian	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]
  Vietnamese	OneDrive for Business [32-bit]	OneDrive for Business [64-bit]

• Run the downloaded file to start the Setup program.
• Follow the instructions to complete the installation.
• If you're asked to provide a license key, enter 3V9N8-W93CC-FQPB8-Y9WVF-TVGJ3.
• Once the installation is complete, you can open start menu and in that you will see “Microsoft Office 2013” folder. When you open it, you can view OneDrive for Business 2013.
  
• When you open it, it will ask you to provide a URL to sync and path where you can map your local drive folder.
  
• Provide the URL and map correct path and you will be able to sync your files to local folders.

I did not have permission to install new patch on the server, but if you do have it, try to update the server and check if you can copy files using the OneDrive app in SharePoint 2019 first. If that doesn’t work, you can always perform steps mentioned in solution two.

Reference

• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/install-previous-sync-app