OneDrive for Business web upload troubleshooting for Edge users: opens the wrong tenant

When you try to upload a file to OneDrive for Business in Microsoft Edge, the browser opens the wrong Microsoft 365 tenant. Instead of your work or school account, you see a different organization’s sign-in page or a blank error. This happens because Edge stores cached credentials and cookies from multiple Microsoft accounts, and it sometimes picks the wrong one during the upload flow. This article explains why Edge redirects to the wrong tenant and provides five specific fixes to force the correct tenant.

Why Edge Opens the Wrong OneDrive Tenant During Web Upload

Microsoft Edge stores cookies, site data, and cached credentials separately for each browsing profile. When you access OneDrive for Business through the web, Edge uses the login.microsoftonline.com authentication endpoint. If you have signed in with multiple Microsoft accounts in the same Edge profile, the browser may present a cached account instead of prompting you to choose. This is not a bug in OneDrive itself — it is a credential conflict caused by Edge retaining old authentication tokens.

The upload flow for OneDrive for Business uses the https://[tenant-name]-my.sharepoint.com URL. Edge may redirect to a different tenant if it finds a cached token for that tenant first. The redirect happens before the upload dialog loads, so you see the wrong tenant’s file list or a permission error. Clearing the cached data forces Edge to start a fresh authentication flow where you can select the correct account.

How the Tenant Redirect Works

When you navigate to onedrive.com or a SharePoint document library, Edge sends a request to the Microsoft identity platform. The platform checks for an existing session cookie. If the cookie belongs to Tenant A, Edge redirects to Tenant A’s OneDrive even if you intended to use Tenant B. The cookie priority is determined by the most recent sign-in activity on that Edge profile. This behavior is by design and affects all Chromium-based browsers, but it is most noticeable in Edge because of its deep integration with Windows single sign-on.

Steps to Force OneDrive to Open the Correct Tenant in Edge

Use these methods in order. Test the upload after each method before moving to the next.

Method 1: Clear Edge Browsing Data for the OneDrive Site

1. Open Edge and go to Settings
   Click the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner and select Settings.
2. Navigate to Privacy, search, and services
   In the left sidebar, click Privacy, search, and services.
3. Open Clear browsing data
   Under the Clear browsing data section, click Choose what to clear.
4. Set the time range to All time
   In the dropdown, select All time.
5. Select Cookies and other site data
   Check the box for Cookies and other site data. Also check Cached images and files.
6. Clear the data
   Click Clear now. Close the Settings tab.
7. Restart Edge and test the upload
   Close all Edge windows, reopen Edge, and navigate to your organization’s OneDrive URL. Try the upload again.

Method 2: Remove Stale Credentials from Edge Password Manager

1. Open Edge Settings
   Click the three-dot menu and select Settings.
2. Go to Passwords
   In the left sidebar, click Passwords.
3. Find Microsoft work or school entries
   In the Saved passwords list, look for entries with the URL login.microsoftonline.com or onedrive.com that belong to the wrong tenant. These often contain your email address.
4. Delete the wrong credentials
   Click the three-dot menu next to each incorrect entry and select Delete. Confirm the deletion.
5. Restart Edge and test
   Close and reopen Edge. Navigate to your correct OneDrive tenant and upload a file.

Method 3: Delete Cached Windows Credentials for Microsoft Office

1. Open Windows Credential Manager
   Press the Windows key, type Credential Manager, and press Enter.
2. Switch to Windows Credentials
   Click Windows Credentials at the top of the window.
3. Locate MicrosoftOffice16 entries
   Scroll through the Generic Credentials list. Find any entry that starts with MicrosoftOffice16_Data:ADAL: or MicrosoftOffice16_Data:MSOL:. These store authentication tokens for Office and OneDrive.
4. Expand each wrong entry
   Click the arrow to expand the entry. Check the Internet or network address field — it will show the tenant ID or URL. If it matches the wrong tenant, proceed.
5. Delete the entry
   Click Remove and confirm the deletion. Repeat for all entries that belong to the incorrect tenant.
6. Restart Edge and test
   Close Edge completely. Reopen and try the upload again.

Method 4: Use the Direct Tenant URL for OneDrive Upload

Instead of using onedrive.com, navigate directly to your organization’s tenant-specific URL. This bypasses the tenant picker and forces authentication to the correct tenant.

1. Obtain your tenant ID
   Open the Microsoft 365 admin center at admin.microsoft.com while signed in with the correct account. Go to Settings > Org settings > Organization profile. Copy the Tenant ID shown on that page.
2. Construct the direct URL
   Use this format: https://[tenant-id].sharepoint.com. Replace [tenant-id] with your actual tenant ID. For example: https://contoso.sharepoint.com.
3. Open the URL in a new Edge window
   Make sure no other Microsoft tabs are open. Paste the URL and press Enter.
4. Sign in with the correct account
   If prompted, enter your work or school email and password. Check the box for Stay signed in.
5. Upload the file
   Navigate to the document library or OneDrive folder and upload the file. Edge will now remember this tenant for future sessions.

Method 5: Create a Dedicated Edge Profile for Work or School

1. Open Edge profile settings
   Click the profile icon in the upper-right corner of the Edge toolbar. Select Manage profile settings.
2. Add a new profile
   Click Add profile. Choose Add on the confirmation dialog.
3. Name the profile
   Give it a name like Work or Contoso. Click Done.
4. Sign in to the profile
   Edge opens a new window for this profile. Sign in with your work or school Microsoft account. Do not add any personal accounts to this profile.
5. Use this profile exclusively for OneDrive uploads
   Whenever you need to upload to OneDrive for Business, switch to this profile by clicking the profile icon and selecting the work profile. This keeps all cookies, credentials, and session data isolated from your personal profile.

If OneDrive Still Opens the Wrong Tenant After These Fixes

Edge Shows a Blank Page or Error After Clearing Data

Clearing cookies may sign you out of other Microsoft services. After you clear data, sign back in using the direct tenant URL from Method 4. If the page remains blank, press F12 to open Developer Tools, go to the Console tab, and check for blocked scripts. Disable any third-party extensions temporarily by going to edge://extensions and toggling them off.

OneDrive Redirects to a Personal Microsoft Account Instead of Work or School

This happens when Edge uses a cached Microsoft account (like @outlook.com or @hotmail.com) instead of your work account. Remove all personal Microsoft account credentials from Edge Password Manager and from Windows Credential Manager. Then use Method 4 to force the work tenant URL. After signing in, set that work profile as the default for all Microsoft sites.

The Correct Tenant Appears but Upload Fails with a Permission Error

You may have signed in to the correct tenant but your account lacks upload permissions. Verify with your Microsoft 365 admin that you have at least Contribute permissions on the target document library. If you are uploading to OneDrive, your admin must enable Allow external users to upload if you are using a guest account. Check the error message — a 403 Forbidden error indicates a permission issue, not a tenant mismatch.

Direct Tenant URL vs onedrive.com: Key Differences for Edge Users

Item	Direct Tenant URL	onedrive.com
Authentication behavior	Forces sign-in to the specified tenant without a tenant picker	Presents a tenant picker or uses cached session from any tenant
Cookie isolation	Stores cookies only for that tenant’s domain	Shares cookies across all tenants on the same Edge profile
Best for users with	Multiple Microsoft 365 accounts across different organizations	Single work or school account only
Upload reliability	High — no tenant redirect errors	Moderate — may redirect to wrong tenant if multiple sessions exist

Now you can upload files to OneDrive for Business in Edge without being redirected to the wrong tenant. Start by clearing Edge cookies and cached credentials. If the problem continues, use the direct tenant URL and create a dedicated work profile. For IT administrators, consider setting a group policy in Edge to restrict cookie sharing across profiles or to block automatic sign-in with multiple accounts.