The term ‘Start-ADSyncSyncCycle’ is not recognized error

In this PowerShell azure tutorial, we will discuss how to fix the error, The term ‘Start-ADSyncSyncCycle’ is not recognized error. This error I got while running the PowerShell command to Manually Force Sync Azure AD Connect Using PowerShell ISE or while executing the Azure PowerShell sync command.

The term ‘Start-ADSyncSyncCycle’ is not recognized error

Recently, I was trying to run the PowerShell cmdlet to manually force the sync Azure AD to connect. Then I got the error “The term ‘Start-ADSyncSyncCycle’ is not recognized”.

• Start-ADSyncSyncCycle
• The specified module ‘ADSync’ was not loaded because no valid module file was found in any module directory error

I was executing the below PowerShell cmdlet

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Start-ADSyncSyncCycle -PolicyType Delta

You can see it here, as below

The exact error message is

Start-ADSyncSyncCycle: The term ‘Start-ADSyncSyncCycle’ is not recognized as the name of a
cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a
path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:1

• Start-ADSyncSyncCycle -PolicyType Delta
• ~~~~~
  • CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (Start-ADSyncSyncCycle:String) [], CommandNotFoun
    dException
  • FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

start-adsyncsynccycle not recognized – solution

Now to fix this issue, You need to follow the below steps

Step-1: Open the Windows PowerShell or PowerShell ISE with run as administrator mode

Step-2: Run the below PowerShell cmdlet to set the execution policy 

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

Step-3: Now the next step is to import the ADSync module using the below PowerShell cmdlet.

Import-Module -Name "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Azure AD Sync\Bin\ADSync" -Verbose

Check out the Path for ADSync installation. By default, the path is C:\Program Files\Microsoft Azure AD Sync\Bin\ADSync. But cross-check the path in your machine before running the cmdlet.

Step-4: Now try running the below PowerShell cmdlet again,

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Start-ADSyncSyncCycle -PolicyType Delta

Now, you should be able to execute this PowerShell cmdlet successfully without any issues.

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Conclusion

Here, in this article, we discussed the fix or the solution for the error The term ‘Start-ADSyncSyncCycle’ is not recognized which I got while trying to execute the PowerShell cmdlet to Manually Force Sync Azure AD Connect. Hope this helps you to fix your issue !!!

Bijay Kumar

I am Bijay, a Microsoft MVP (10 times) having more than 17 years of experience in the software industry. During my IT career, I got a chance to share my expertise in SharePoint and Microsoft Azure, like Azure VM, Azure Active Directory, Azure PowerShell, etc. I hope you will learn from these Azure tutorials. Read more