Trigger a manual sync

5 steps 7 min Updated 4 November 2026

ADAdmin syncs to connected platforms automatically on a schedule. For urgent changes — a new starter who needs access immediately, or a fix that must propagate quickly — you can trigger a sync manually. There are two places to do it:

Sync now on the Dashboard (in the Sync centre), plus the Google and Entra buttons beside it. See The Dashboard and Sync centre.
Quick run (Sync status → Quick run) — the one place to do it for any integration, whether you need it for the school you're currently working in, or for every school across the MAT at once (one independent run per school, so you can see exactly which schools succeeded).

To push just one person, use Sync now on their own page (Users → the person → Details tab) instead.

What each run does

Run	What it does
Sync now on the Dashboard, and Active Directory (MIS provision) in Quick run	Both do the same thing: a priority MIS import for the school. It brings in what has changed in your MIS and applies any sync settings you changed since the last import. It does not re-send everyone to Google or Entra — use the platform runs for that. If neither your MIS data nor your settings have changed, nothing changes
Google Workspace	The whole-school Google sync: organisational units, groups, accounts and memberships — and Classroom, if Classroom sync is on for the school
Microsoft Entra	The whole-school Entra sync
Google Classroom	The same Classroom sync as the nightly 22:00 run, for this school
Apple School Manager	Builds the Apple export and uploads it to Apple over SFTP straight away (nothing is queued)

Before you start

You need the Run syncs & provisioning permission to use Quick run.
Per-school mode runs the integration for the active school only; MAT Overview mode lets you pick which authorised schools to include.
Each integration has its own cool-down of 3 hours per school after a manual run (see Notes).

Steps

Step 1: Open Quick run

In the left sidebar, under Platforms, open Sync status and choose Quick run.

Step 2: Choose your schools

In per-school mode, Quick run always targets the school you're currently working in. In MAT Overview mode, tick the schools you want to include (or Select all) — each ticked school gets its own independent run.

Step 3: Choose the integration

Pick one integration from the list: Active Directory (MIS provision), Google Workspace, Microsoft Entra, Google Classroom or Apple School Manager. Each shows a badge:

Ready — you can run it.
Cooling down — it was run less than 3 hours ago; the card says Available again in … hours, … minutes. You can still select it, but the run is refused until the time is up.
Not enabled — the school hasn't turned this integration on (Not enabled for this school), so it can't be selected. Turn it on under School settings → Sync services (see Enable or disable sync services).

In MAT overview the badge shows Ready if any selected school has the integration on, and each school is checked when the run reaches it.

Step 4: Run it

Select Run now. A confirmation prompt appears (Run this integration now?, or Run this integration now for every selected school? in MAT overview). Confirm to trigger the run.

In MAT Overview mode a progress bar shows the schools being run, in batches (Apple one at a time, because each school's export is built and uploaded straight away). Keep the page open until it finishes — the results for every school then appear under Last MAT-wide run, each marked Queued or Skipped with the reason, and a message such as "12 queued, 3 skipped across 15 school(s)". If you close the page part way through, the schools already run stay run; running it again skips them while they cool down and runs the rest.

Step 5: Monitor progress

Google Workspace and Google Classroom runs appear on the Provisioning runs page (Sync status → Provisioning runs) while they run and once they complete, with status and duration. The MIS import shows there as fetch:school.
Microsoft Entra runs don't appear on Provisioning runs. Check the Logs page with Source set to Microsoft Entra, or the Entra Status and Issues pages — see Search and filter the Logs page.
Active Directory (MIS provision) is the MIS import, so it shows as fetch:school; the AD connector then collects the changes the next time it runs on your server.
Apple exports are generated and handed over by SFTP straight away, so there's nothing further to watch for that one.

Small schools usually finish within a few minutes. A big school's whole-school Google or Entra run can take much longer, because it works through every user and group.

Notes

Triggering a manual run does not skip any changes — it processes whatever is due at that moment.
Each integration has its own independent cool-down between manual runs (3 hours) — one platform being unavailable never blocks another. The Dashboard and Quick run share the same cool-downs.
A MAT-wide run queues one independent run per school, never a single combined "MAT run" — so you can see exactly which schools succeeded and which were skipped (not enabled, or still cooling down).
Each school in a MAT-wide run uses that school's own settings, exactly as if you ran it from the school. For Active Directory (MIS provision) that includes the school's MIS group-membership sync and, where it is switched on, suspending people who are no longer in the MIS. For Apple School Manager it uses the school's own export and upload settings.
While your sync is paused for the summer, the MIS import, Google and Entra runs are refused with a message (below). Google Classroom isn't refused — outside the provisioning window a Classroom run does the end-of-term archiving, which is work you may want over the summer.

Troubleshooting

What the messages mean:

Message	Meaning and what to do
Sync is frozen for the summer, so nothing would be imported. Resume it from End of year when you are ready for the new school year.	Your school is between its final provision date and its resume date, so the MIS import would do nothing and wasn't queued (and no cool-down was used). See Cloud sync is paused
Sync is frozen for the summer, so nothing would be sent to Google. Resume it … (or … to Entra)	The same, for a Google or Entra run
A sync was triggered recently. Try again in … (or Google was synced recently. Try again in …)	The 3-hour cool-down for that integration at that school is still running. On the Dashboard the Sync now button shows Recently synced, greyed out, with Available again in …
Google sync is not enabled for this school. (also Entra, Apple)	The integration isn't switched on. See Enable or disable sync services
Could not queue the sync — try again shortly. (or Google sync could not be queued — try again shortly.)	The request didn't reach the queue. Try again in a minute; if it keeps happening, contact Realsmart support
Apple export failed — check the Apple sync settings and try again. / Could not upload the export to Apple School Manager.	The export couldn't be built or sent over SFTP. Check the host, user and password in Apple School Manager settings

"I ran a manual sync and nothing reached Google or Entra" — check the Users page for a Cloud sync is paused banner. During the annual pause a manual run changes nothing on your platforms; see Cloud sync is paused. Also check that the Dashboard says what the last import did: "Nothing to update — the data we received from your MIS was the same as last time" means the import found no changes, so there was nothing to send.
"The Sync now button is greyed out" — it shows Recently synced while the 3-hour cool-down runs. In Quick run, an integration that's Not enabled can't be selected.
"Errors appear in the log after the manual sync" — see User not syncing — troubleshooting for help diagnosing specific errors.

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