Start-ADSyncSyncCycle is not recognized

In this PowerShell Azure tutorial, we will discuss how to fix the error, the term ‘Start-ADSyncSyncCycle’ is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet. 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.

Start-ADSyncSyncCycle is not recognized

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

I was executing the below PowerShell cmdlet

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

You can see it here 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

1. Open the Windows PowerShell or PowerShell ISE with run as administrator mode

2. Run the below PowerShell cmdlet to set the execution policy 

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

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.

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.

You may like to follow the tutorials below

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

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed the fix or 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. I hope this helps you 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