---
title: "How Should I Break the Directory Sync in Opensense?"
slug: "breaking-directory-sync-in-opensense"
description: "Learn how breaking sync works in Opensense. Discover how to manage field synchronization, prevent unwanted overwrites, and control individual field sync settings for user profiles—especially when using the Outlook Add-in."
updated: 2025-10-15T18:48:12Z
published: 2025-10-15T18:48:12Z
canonical: "help.opensense.com/breaking-directory-sync-in-opensense"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.opensense.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How Should I Break the Directory Sync in Opensense?

Opensense offers the ability to sync user data from external directories like Microsoft Azure, Google Directory or other sources to ensure consistent, automated signature management. However, there may be times when you need to manually override or preserve changes made directly within Opensense. This is where **breaking the sync** comes in.

### Why Break the Sync?

When your directory is synced with Opensense, any changes made in the **Users** section will be **overwritten** during the next scheduled sync—unless you take action. To retain manual edits, you must **lock the field** and select **break the sync**. This ensures that specific user fields remain unchanged, even if the source directory contains different data.

### How to Break the Sync

To preserve changes made within Opensense:

1. Navigate to the **Users** section in the Opensense portal.
2. Locate the user whose data you want to edit.
3. Click into their profile and identify the field you wish to modify.
4. **Lock** the field by clicking the lock icon next to it.
5. Once locked, select **the two arrows to break the sync** to prevent future syncs from updating that specific field.

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** Breaking sync applies to individual fields only. Other fields will continue to sync unless you break them separately. If you are using the [Opensense Outlook Add-in to update an unlocked field](/v1/docs/breaking-directory-sync-in-opensense#outlook-addin-behavior), those changes will be written back to the user profile and sync for that specific field will be automatically broken to prevent it from being overwritten.

![](https://cdn.document360.io/05b0e12d-96a6-4b75-a423-672ab2be88d7/Images/Documentation/image-1746065306686.png)

### Outlook Add-in Behavior

If your users are using the **Outlook Add-in**, they can edit certain fields within the **Signature Settings** tab, depending on whether those fields are locked or unlocked:

- **Editable (unlocked) fields:** Users can input custom values. When they do, the sync is automatically broken for that specific field to preserve their changes.
- **Locked fields:** These are visible in the add-in but cannot be edited by the user. Data in these fields continues to sync from the directory unless the sync is manually broken.

This allows for a flexible workflow where users can take control of specific aspects of their signature (e.g., preferred pronouns or title variations) without losing the benefits of automated syncing for everything else.

### Opensense Support

For further assistance, contact Opensense Support:

- Email: help@opensense.com
- Knowledge Base: help.opensense.com

## Related

- [Signature Management & Deployment FAQ](/signature-management-deployment-faq.md)