How to remove broken FileProvider

I've run into some issues using an app called StrongSync, which uses the FileProvider API to mount various cloud services. The mounted folder was showing stale results and missing content. In attempting to troubleshoot, I uninstalled and reinstalled, deleted and recreated the connection multiple times, but it simply does not appear in Finder, and a folder does linger in ~/Library/CloudStorage even with no folders configured. The company that authors the software has been unresponsive.

Is there a command or API call to remove/reset that folder in CloudStorage?

I managed to clean up after Strongsync as follows:

  • Remove ~/Library/Application Support/FileProvider/com.expandrive.strongsync.fileprovider (this is where the configuration files that tell macOS to mount its providers go - Strongsync doesn't properly clean these up when you delete the connection).
  • Uninstall Strongsync (unless you intend to re-establish some connections; if you don't uninstall it, the folder above will re-appear, albeit harmlessly with just some default entries).
  • Restart your Mac (must be a restart, not a logout/in, or macOS won't let go enough for you to do the next step).
  • Go to ~/Library/CloudStorage in the Finder. Delete the folders that start with Strongsync (you can select and command-delete or drag them to the trash, whichever you prefer). Finder will prompt you for authentication; provide it.

Strongsync should now stop automatically restarting, and its directories shouldn't appear in CloudStorage any more.

Note that this completely removes all connections that Strongsync has established (which is usually what you'll want to do since unfortunately, as you mentioned, the connections aren't too reliable). If you want to only remove some, the only way I know of is to clear them all out, then run Strongsync and re-add any that you want. You might be able to examine the files in ~/Library/Application Support/FileProvider/com.expandrive.strongsync.fileprovider and edit them more strategically, but I didn't try as I was trying to clear them all out.

Use pluginkit -mvi com.expandrive.strongsync.fileprovider to check path of the FP

Then remove it with: pluginkit -r

How to remove broken FileProvider
 
 
Q