---
title: "How should I break the directory sync in Opensense?"
slug: "breaking-directory-sync-in-opensense"
description: "Keep a manual edit to a synced user field: lock the field and break its sync. Also covers how the Outlook Add-in breaks sync for unlocked fields."
updated: 2025-10-15T18:48:12.000Z
canonical: "https://help.opensense.com/docs/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?

## Overview

Opensense can sync user data from external directories, such as Microsoft Azure, Google Directory, or other sources, to keep signature management consistent and automated. To keep a change that you make directly in Opensense, lock the field and break the sync for it.

## Why break the sync?

When your directory syncs with Opensense, the next scheduled sync overwrites any change made in the **Users** section. To keep a manual edit, lock the field and break the sync. The field then stays the same, even if the source directory has different data.


## Breaking the sync for a field

1. In the Opensense portal, go to the **Users** section.
2. Find the user whose data you want to edit.
3. Open their profile, and find the field that you want to change.
4. Click the lock icon next to the field to lock it.
5. Click the two-arrows icon next to it to break the sync, so that future syncs do not update the field.

![Edit User page with the Fields list; the title and email fields are locked and have their sync broken, shown by red lock and crossed-arrow icons](https://help.opensense.com/media/image-1746065306686-8fc003a48d7a.png)

:::note[Sync breaks one field at a time]
Breaking the sync applies to one field only. Other fields keep syncing unless you break them too. If a user updates an unlocked field with the [Opensense Outlook Add-in](#outlook-add-in-behavior), the change is written back to the user profile, and the sync for that field breaks automatically so that it is not overwritten.
:::

## Outlook Add-in behavior

Users of the Outlook Add-in can edit some fields on the **Signature Settings** tab, depending on whether the fields are locked:

<dl class="kb-insights-summary">
  <div><dt>Unlocked fields</dt><dd>Users can enter custom values. When they do, the sync breaks automatically for that field, to keep their change.</dd></div>
  <div><dt>Locked fields</dt><dd>Users can see these fields in the add-in but cannot edit them. The fields keep syncing from the directory unless you break the sync by hand.</dd></div>
</dl>

Users can control parts of their signature, such as preferred pronouns or a variation of their title, and every other field keeps syncing automatically.

## What's next

- [Locking and unlocking Compliance fields (classic UI)](https://help.opensense.com/docs/locking-unlocking-compliance-fields): the three ways to lock a field, and how locked fields affect what a signature shows.
- [Field data priority](https://help.opensense.com/docs/field-data-priority): the order in which a signature takes data from locked fields, the signature block, and unlocked fields.
- [Signature management and deployment FAQ](https://help.opensense.com/docs/signature-management-deployment-faq): answers to other common signature questions.