OneDrive for Business web upload opens the wrong tenant for iOS users: Fix Guide

When you tap Upload in the OneDrive for Business app on an iPhone or iPad, the file picker sometimes opens a web browser that shows files from a different tenant than your work account. This happens because the iOS file picker uses a cached authentication session from another Microsoft 365 tenant, usually from a personal account or a previous employer. This guide explains why the wrong tenant appears and provides the exact steps to clear the cached session so the upload targets the correct tenant.

Why the OneDrive iOS App Shows the Wrong Tenant on Web Upload

The root cause is iOS’s ASWebAuthenticationSession. When you first sign in to OneDrive for Business, iOS stores the authentication session from that tenant. If you later sign in to another Microsoft 365 tenant on the same device — for example, a personal OneDrive account or a different work account — iOS may reuse the cached session when the OneDrive app calls the web-based file picker. The file picker opens in Safari or an in-app browser, and that browser loads the cached authorization from the wrong tenant.

This behavior is not a bug in OneDrive itself. It is a side effect of how Apple’s single sign-on framework manages multiple Microsoft Entra ID tenants. The file picker does not check which tenant the OneDrive app is currently signed into. Instead, it relies on the browser’s existing authentication cookies. If those cookies belong to tenant B, the upload screen shows tenant B even though the OneDrive app is connected to tenant A.

When the Wrong Tenant Appears

The issue occurs in these specific scenarios:

• You previously signed in to a personal OneDrive account on the same iPhone or iPad.
• You have multiple work or school accounts from different organizations saved in the Microsoft Authenticator app.
• You used Safari to sign in to a different Microsoft 365 tenant for a web app, and that session is still active.

In all these cases, the cached browser session overrides the tenant context that the OneDrive app is trying to use.

Steps to Clear the Wrong Tenant and Upload to the Correct OneDrive

Follow these steps in order. Each step removes a different layer of cached authentication. After step 3, the OneDrive app will present the correct tenant in the web upload dialog.

1. Clear Safari history and website data
   Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. Scroll down and tap Safari. Tap Clear History and Website Data. Confirm by tapping Clear History and Data. This removes all cached cookies and authentication tokens from Safari, including the Microsoft Entra ID session from the wrong tenant.
2. Reset the OneDrive app account
   Open the OneDrive app. Tap the profile picture or the Me icon in the top-left corner. Tap Settings (gear icon). Scroll down and tap Reset Account. Tap Reset in the confirmation dialog. The app will sign you out and clear its local cache.
3. Restart the OneDrive app
   Close the OneDrive app completely by swiping it up from the app switcher. Open the OneDrive app again. Sign in with your work or school account for the correct tenant. Do not sign in with any other account.
4. Test the upload
   Navigate to any folder in the OneDrive app. Tap the plus (+) icon, then tap Upload. When the file picker opens, it should now show the correct tenant name at the top of the screen. Select a file and confirm the upload completes without errors.

Alternative Method: Force OneDrive to Re-authenticate via iOS Settings

If the steps above do not resolve the issue, you can force the OneDrive app to re-authenticate at the iOS system level.

1. Open iOS Settings and find OneDrive
   Open the Settings app. Scroll down until you see the list of installed apps. Tap OneDrive.
2. Toggle Reset on Next Launch
   On the OneDrive settings page, find the toggle labeled Reset on Next Launch. Turn it on. This tells iOS to discard the ASWebAuthenticationSession cache for OneDrive the next time the app opens.
3. Restart the OneDrive app
   Close the OneDrive app from the app switcher. Open it again. Sign in with the correct tenant account. The file picker should now use the correct tenant.

If OneDrive Still Shows the Wrong Tenant After Clearing Cache

OneDrive shows a tenant that is not listed in the app

This can happen when the Microsoft Authenticator app holds a session for a tenant that you no longer use. Open the Microsoft Authenticator app. Tap the account that belongs to the wrong tenant. Tap Remove Account. Then repeat the steps in section 2.

The file picker opens a blank page or shows an error

A blank file picker usually means the ASWebAuthenticationSession timed out or the browser cache was partially cleared. Go back to the Settings app and tap Safari. Tap Advanced > Website Data. Tap Remove All Website Data. This is more thorough than the standard clear. Then restart the OneDrive app.

OneDrive app itself shows the wrong account name

If the OneDrive app’s main screen shows the wrong user name, the app is connected to the wrong tenant entirely. Tap the profile picture, tap Sign Out, and sign in again with the correct credentials. Do not use the web-based file picker until this is resolved.

OneDrive for Business iOS Web Upload vs Native Upload: Key Differences

Item	Web Upload (File Picker)	Native Upload (In-App)
Authentication method	ASWebAuthenticationSession in Safari	Microsoft Entra ID token stored in app
Tenant selection	Uses cached browser session	Uses tenant from app sign-in
File types supported	Any file type supported by iOS file picker	Same as iOS file picker
Upload from third-party cloud	Yes, via iOS document picker	No, only local files
Cache clearing required	Clear Safari data and app cache	Clear app cache only

After applying the cache-clearing steps, you can now upload files to the correct OneDrive for Business tenant from your iPhone or iPad. If the issue recurs, check whether the Microsoft Authenticator app or Safari holds a session from an old tenant. For persistent problems, remove all Microsoft accounts from the device’s Internet Accounts section in Settings and sign in again to OneDrive only.