Intune policy changes seem to apply whenever Microsoft decides to check in rather than immediately. Even when I select Sync in the Intune admin center or on the device, the interface reports that synchronization completed but the new settings may not appear. What is the best way to force or speed up policy updates on demand, similar to running gpupdate for Group Policy?
4 Answers
Restarting the Microsoft Intune Management Extension can help rerun Win32 app deployments, PowerShell scripts, and remediations. It generally does not force OMA-DM configuration or compliance policies to refresh, so it should not be treated as a full gpupdate replacement. For those policies, use a device sync, reboot, and the sync-status view to confirm what actually happened.
Installing Company Portal on managed devices gives users another practical sync option, since its Sync button can trigger a check-in. You can also sync from Settings under Accounts > Access work or school > your organization > Info. A reboot can sometimes trigger another check-in as well. For devices that remain stuck, verify connectivity; switching networks has occasionally resolved stalled syncs.
Configuration Refresh is the closest feature to a local policy refresh. You can configure it through the Settings Catalog or the DMClient CSP and adjust the refresh interval, typically from 30 to 1440 minutes. It reapplies configuration settings already downloaded to the device, but it does not immediately retrieve newly changed policies from Intune, so it is separate from the normal MDM check-in cycle.
There isn't a perfect gpupdate equivalent. The Sync action mainly asks the device to check in, and policy processing remains asynchronous. On an internet-connected device, it should apply the change as soon as the service and device process it, but the result is not always immediate. The newer sync-status view can help show whether the device was notified and whether policies or apps actually applied.
The Company Portal sync is useful for nudging a device, but it still does not guarantee that every policy will finish applying immediately. The service has to receive and process the check-in first.