Connect OneDrive

OneDrive connects through a standard OAuth 2.0 flow, the same shape as Dropbox. The TV shows a QR code, you sign in to Microsoft on your phone, and the TV picks up the tokens and starts indexing.

There is nothing to register and no credentials to create. Unlike Google Drive, OneDrive does not need a one-time developer project setup.

Personal Microsoft accounts only

Cinaura connects to personal Microsoft accounts, the kind ending in outlook.com, hotmail.com or live.com. Work and school accounts from Microsoft 365 are not supported and will fail at Microsoft’s own sign-in page before they ever reach Cinaura. This is deliberate: it keeps administrator consent and company sign-in policies out of the picture entirely.

What you’ll need

• A personal Microsoft account with the media you want Cinaura to read in its OneDrive.
• Your phone on hand to scan the QR code. It does not have to be on the same network as the TV, it just makes scanning easier.

Pair your account

1. On the TV, open Cinaura → Settings → Sources → OneDrive. The TV displays an 8-character session code and a QR code.

2. Scan the QR code with your phone. It opens https://cinaura.tv/pair/onedrive?session_id=XXXXXXXX in your browser. You can also type cinaura.tv/pair/onedrive manually and enter the code shown on the TV.

3. Tap Connect to OneDrive. You’ll be redirected to Microsoft’s official sign-in page.

4. Pick the right account. Microsoft always shows an account picker, even if you’re already signed in somewhere. Choose the account whose OneDrive holds your media. This step exists on purpose: plenty of people are signed into a Microsoft account that isn’t the one with their files, and a silent sign-in would connect the wrong drive.

5. Authorize Cinaura. Review the permissions and approve. Cinaura only requests read access to your files.

6. Return to the TV. Within a few seconds the source unlocks and Cinaura lists the folders in your OneDrive.

7. Pick which folders to sync. Tick the folders you want Cinaura to index, or tick All of OneDrive at the top of the list to take the whole drive without descending into it. Folders that someone has shared with you appear in the same list, marked with a shared-folder icon. You can come back later to add or remove folders. Once you confirm, Cinaura starts scanning the selected folders for media.

Tip

You can close the browser tab on your phone as soon as the success screen appears. Pairing is complete.

What Cinaura reads

Cinaura asks Microsoft for read-only access to your files and nothing else, so it can never change, upload or delete anything in your OneDrive.

Microsoft has no way to grant access to only part of a personal OneDrive, so the permission you approve covers the whole drive. The folder picker is Cinaura narrowing what it indexes, not Microsoft restricting what Cinaura can reach. If that distinction matters to you, it’s worth knowing which way round it works.

Cinaura looks at file names and folder structure to identify movies and shows. It does not download your library. Files stream on demand when you press play.

Because OneDrive is a folder-based source, it also supports the extras that live next to your media:

• Your own artwork, see Use your own artwork.
• .nfo metadata files next to a video.
• Subtitle sidecar files matched to the video they belong to.

See the filename parsing guide for tips on how to name your files for the best results.

Staying connected

Cinaura renews its access in the background, so a paired OneDrive keeps working indefinitely as long as the TV comes online now and then.

A TV left offline for 90 days loses access and has to be paired again. That’s Microsoft’s inactivity limit, not a Cinaura setting. If the source row in Settings → Sources says Re-authenticate, start the pairing flow again from the TV.

Syncing after the first scan

Microsoft tells Cinaura exactly what has changed since the last scan, so after the first full sync, later runs only touch what’s new or modified. OneDrive is one of the quicker sources to keep up to date for that reason.

The first sync is still the longest, because Cinaura is fetching artwork and metadata for everything it found. Let it finish uninterrupted.

Troubleshooting

• “Session expired”: the 10-minute window ran out. Restart pairing from the TV.
• “Invalid session”: the code on your phone doesn’t match the TV’s current session. Always start the flow from the TV first.
• Sign-in is refused, or the account isn’t offered: you’re using a work or school account. Only personal Microsoft accounts work. Sign out at login.microsoftonline.com and try again with a personal account.
• You signed in with the wrong Microsoft account: restart pairing from the TV and pick the other account at the account picker. If the picker doesn’t appear, sign out of Microsoft in your phone’s browser first.
• The browser opens but the TV never unlocks: either the sign-in didn’t finish or the TV lost network. Complete the flow again and check the TV has internet access.
• Shared folders are missing: folders shared with you appear in the top level of the picker, alongside your own, rather than in a separate “Shared” section. Scroll the root list before concluding they’re absent.
• The source stops working after months away: the 90-day inactivity limit above. Pair again from the TV.