User not syncing — troubleshooting

Use this guide when a user exists in ADAdmin but isn't appearing, or is appearing incorrectly, in a connected platform such as Google Workspace or Microsoft Entra. It also covers someone who is in your MIS but hasn't come through to ADAdmin at all — see The user doesn't exist in ADAdmin at all.

First: is your cloud sync paused?

Check this before anything else, especially over the summer. Once a year — typically from mid-July until the start of term — your school's cloud sync pauses, and Realsmart stops sending anything to Google Workspace or Microsoft Entra.

Open Users. If there's a Cloud sync is paused until … banner at the top of the page (your Dashboard also shows a Sync is frozen for the summer card), that is your answer: the account was created correctly and simply hasn't been sent yet. It will appear in your platform automatically when sync resumes on the date shown, and nothing is lost.

None of the steps below apply while that banner is showing — the log will hold no error for the user, because no attempt was made.

If a single account genuinely can't wait, Send now on the user's page pushes them through. See Cloud sync is paused.

If there's no banner, carry on below.

The user doesn't exist in ADAdmin at all

The steps further down assume the person already has an ADAdmin record. If they're in your MIS (SIMS, Arbor, Bromcom and so on) but don't show up in Users at all, check these first, in order.

1. Your sync is frozen for the summer. While the provisioning window is closed, nothing new comes in from your MIS. New staff and incoming pupils can still be given accounts early with Release early accounts on Data → Incoming learners and mentors — see Release early accounts during the freeze. Everyone else arrives when sync resumes.

2. The MIS import hasn't picked them up yet. MIS imports run on weekdays at 03:00, 05:00 and 15:00. Someone added to the MIS arrives at the next import after your MIS shares them with Realsmart. On the Dashboard, the Sync centre shows the Last MIS import. On a weekday it should be today. To bring changes in sooner, select Sync now there. It brings in what has changed in your MIS, and once used it's unavailable for 3 hours.

3. MIS sync is set to Preview, or switched off. On School settings → Sync services, the MIS sync card shows it. With Preview chosen the fetch runs on schedule but nothing is imported (the run shows as skipped — mis-preview; see MIS sync preview). With MIS sync OFF nothing is imported either, and the MIS log reads IMPORT DISABLED. Turn it back on (or switch to Live — import changes) and the next import catches up.

4. They haven't started yet. A pupil who is still an applicant or pre-admission in your MIS is only imported once someone at your school has chosen them — see Import pre-admission students. Staff only come through once they're a current employee in the MIS, unless Import pending mentors is on and their start date qualifies. Both settings have a Preview that shows who's held back and why.

5. Their ID is missing or shared with someone else. The import matches each person to an account on one ID: their UPN, staff code, MIS ID or Wonde ID, depending on your school's settings. If it can't use that ID, it may skip the person's row, or put their details on someone else's account. A first name and surname are also required. If the preferred first name or surname is blank in your MIS, the import uses the legal one, and their account is named with it. A row is only turned away when the first name, or the surname, is missing from both the preferred and the legal name.

   • To check: open Logs in the sidebar and type the person's surname into Search. Select Filters, then set Source to MIS / Wonde and Outcome to All outcomes. An entry that says SKIPPED; Reasons: means the import turned their row away, and the reason says why, for example that an ID has already been taken. Also search Users for their UPN or staff code: if another account already has it, the two people clash.
   • To fix: ask your MIS manager to fill in the missing ID or give the person a unique one, then wait for the next import.

6. Your school has no valid Wonde ID. If the MIS log says NO WONDE ID CONFIGURED — MIS FETCH SKIPPED, or WONDE ID "…" IS NOT A WONDE REFERENCE — MIS FETCH SKIPPED, Realsmart has no MIS feed set up to read for your school, so nobody new can come in. That's a setting at our end — contact Realsmart support.

If none of these explain it, the person may not be in the data your MIS shares with Realsmart. Contact Realsmart support with their name, role, MIS ID and UPN or staff code, and the date they were added to your MIS.