OneDrive Admin Checklist: former employee OneDrive access goes to the wrong approver for project teams

When a former employee leaves your organization, their OneDrive files must be transferred to a manager or project lead. By default, Microsoft 365 assigns the former employee’s direct manager from Azure AD as the approver for that data transfer. For project teams where the former employee reported to one person but worked on files for another team lead, the OneDrive access request often goes to the wrong approver. This causes delays, security gaps, and confusion about who actually owns the project data. This article explains why the default approval routing fails for project teams and provides a step-by-step admin checklist to reassign the correct owner before or after the employee departs.

Why OneDrive Access Requests Go to the Wrong Person for Project Teams

Microsoft 365 uses the Manager attribute in Azure Active Directory to determine who receives the access request when a former employee’s OneDrive files need to be transferred or accessed. This attribute is typically populated by HR systems or manual admin entry. In many organizations, the Manager field reflects the reporting structure for payroll or HR purposes, not the actual project reporting line.

For project teams, a developer, designer, or analyst might report to a department head but collaborate daily with a project manager on shared files. When the employee leaves, the OneDrive data access request is sent to the department head who may not know which files are relevant to the project. The project manager, who actually needs the files, never receives the request. This mismatch creates a security risk because the wrong approver might grant access to sensitive project data without proper context, or the project manager might be forced to request access through a separate IT ticket.

The default behavior is designed for simple organizational structures where the direct manager is the logical owner of all subordinate data. For matrixed or project-based teams, this assumption breaks down. Admins must proactively update the Manager attribute or use alternative transfer methods to route access correctly.

Admin Checklist to Redirect OneDrive Access to the Correct Project Approver

Use this checklist to ensure that when a project team member leaves, their OneDrive files go to the project lead instead of the default manager. Complete these steps before the employee’s departure when possible. If the employee has already left, complete steps 1 through 3 and then use the manual transfer method in step 4.

Step 1: Identify the Correct Approver for Each Project Team Member

1. Open Microsoft 365 admin center
   Go to Users > Active users. Search for the employee who will leave or has left. Click their name to open the properties panel.
2. Check the Manager field
   Scroll to the Manager section. Note the name listed. This is the default approver for OneDrive access requests. If this person is not the project lead, proceed to step 2 or 3.
3. Document the project lead
   Confirm with the project manager or team lead who should receive the employee’s OneDrive files. Record their full email address.

Step 2: Update the Manager Attribute Before the Employee Leaves

1. Edit the user’s Manager field
   In the same user properties panel, click Edit next to the Manager field. Search for and select the project lead’s name. Click Save.
2. Wait for replication
   Allow up to 24 hours for the change to propagate to Azure AD and SharePoint Online. After that, any OneDrive access request for this user will be sent to the new manager.
3. Revert after transfer (optional)
   If the department head must remain the official manager for HR purposes, change the Manager field back after the OneDrive files have been transferred to the project lead.

Step 3: Reassign OneDrive Ownership Using SharePoint Admin Center

1. Open SharePoint admin center
   Go to Admin centers > SharePoint. In the left navigation, click More features and then select User profiles.
2. Find the user’s profile
   In the People section, search for the former employee’s name. Click their profile to open the details.
3. Edit personal site settings
   Click Edit my site settings. Under Site collection administrators, add the project lead’s email address. Click OK. This gives the project lead full control over the OneDrive site immediately.
4. Verify access
   Ask the project lead to open https://-my.sharepoint.com/personal//_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx and confirm they can see the files.

Step 4: Manually Transfer Files to the Correct User

1. Go to Microsoft 365 admin center > Setup > Data migration
   Click Data migration and select OneDrive. Click Start.
2. Select the source and target
   Enter the former employee’s email as the source. Enter the project lead’s email as the target. Click Start transfer.
3. Monitor the transfer
   The transfer runs in the background. You will receive a notification when it completes. The project lead will find the files in a folder named Transferred from [former employee name] inside their own OneDrive.

If the Approver Is Still Wrong After the Checklist

The access request still goes to the old manager after updating the Manager field

The Manager field change can take up to 24 hours to sync to SharePoint Online. If the former employee’s account is already deleted, the Manager field is no longer editable. In that case, use the manual transfer method in step 4. You can also use PowerShell to force a sync by running Set-SPOTenant -SyncAadB2BManagementPolicy as an admin, but this is rarely faster than the manual transfer.

The project lead cannot access the transferred files

If you used step 3 to add the project lead as a site collection administrator, they must use the direct OneDrive URL. They cannot find the files by searching in their own OneDrive. If you used step 4, the files appear in a folder inside the project lead’s OneDrive. Check that the target user has enough storage space. OneDrive for Business plans have a default storage limit of 1 TB per user.

Multiple project team members leave at the same time

Use the SharePoint admin center’s bulk user profile update feature. Export the user profiles to a CSV file, update the Manager field for all departing users to point to the same project lead, and import the CSV back. Alternatively, use PowerShell with the Set-AzureADUserManager cmdlet to update multiple users at once.

Manager Attribute vs Manual Transfer: Which Method to Use

Item	Manager Attribute Update	Manual Transfer via Admin Center
When to use	Employee still active, departure date known	Employee already deleted or Manager field cannot be changed
Approver routing	Automatic after sync	Bypasses default approval flow entirely
Time to complete	5 minutes plus up to 24 hours sync	10 minutes setup, transfer runs in background
Impact on HR system	May conflict with HR-managed Manager field	No impact on HR data
Post-transfer cleanup	Revert Manager field if needed	None required

Use the Manager attribute update when the employee is still active and you can coordinate with HR. Use the manual transfer when the employee has already left or when the Manager attribute is locked by an HR integration.

You can now redirect OneDrive access requests to the correct project approver for any departing team member. Start by auditing the Manager field for all project team members and updating it before the employee’s last day. For teams with frequent turnover, create a PowerShell script that sets the Manager field to the project lead at the time the termination request is submitted. This prevents the wrong approver from ever receiving the access request.