Fix OneDrive sync problems

1. Sign in to Office 365 with your work or school account.

2. Select the white or blue OneDrive cloud icon in the notification area, at the far right of the taskbar.

   

   Note: You might need to click the Show hidden icons arrow next to the notification area to see the OneDrive icon, or click and start typing "select which icons" to display the notification area settings option, and then show Microsoft OneDrive. If the icon still doesn't appear in the notification area, OneDrive might not be running. Click  , type OneDrive in the search box, and then click OneDrive (not "OneDrive for work or school" as that may be an older version) in the search results.

3. Select Help & Settings > Settings.

   

4. Select View online

If you cannot access your OneDrive for work or school online, contact your Network Administrator.

OneDrive and Windows are frequently updated and keeping your PC up-to-date can help sync problems.

1. Download the latest Windows updates to get the most out of OneDrive. The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update enables OneDrive Files On Demand which can help resolve sync problems. Learn more about OneDrive Files On-Demand.

2. Download the latest version of OneDrive and install it. 

   Notes: 

   • If you already have the latest version, the installer setup will end automatically.

   • For more information on the latest version, read the release notes.

3. Press  , search for OneDrive and then open the OneDrive desktop app. 

   Note: If shown, do not select "OneDrive for work or school" as that may be an older version still installed.

4. When OneDrive Setup starts, enter your OneDrive work or school account, and then select Sign in to set up your account.
   
   

You won't lose files or data by disabling, uninstalling or unlinking OneDrive on your computer. You can always access your files by signing in to your OneDrive for work or school account online.

1. Select the white or blue OneDrive cloud icon in the notification area, at the far right of the taskbar.

   

   Note: You might need to click the Show hidden icons arrow next to the notification area to see the OneDrive icon, or click and start typing "select which icons" to display the notification area settings option, and then show Microsoft OneDrive. If the icon still doesn't appear in the notification area, OneDrive might not be running. Click  , type OneDrive in the search box, and then click OneDrive (not "OneDrive for work or school" as that may be an older version) in the search results.

2. Select Help & Settings > Settings.

   

3. Click Unlink this PC.

4. Follow the steps in the Welcome to OneDrive wizard to set up OneDrive.

For more information, read how to Sync files with the new OneDrive sync client in Windows.

If you are seeing the sync icon stuck for a long period of time, moving some files out of a sync folder can help clear any sync issues.

1. Select the white or blue OneDrive cloud icon in the notification area, at the far right of the taskbar.

   

   Note: You might need to click the Show hidden icons arrow next to the notification area to see the OneDrive icon, or click and start typing "select which icons" to display the notification area settings option, and then show Microsoft OneDrive. If the icon still doesn't appear in the notification area, OneDrive might not be running. Click  , type OneDrive in the search box, and then click OneDrive (not "OneDrive for work or school" as that may be an older version) in the search results.

2. Select Help & Settings > Settings.

   

3. Select Pause syncing... > 2 hours

4. Select a file from one of your sync folders and move it to a folder that's not part of OneDrive, e.g., C:\users\

5. Select Help & Settings again and select Resume syncing... 

6. Once sync is complete, move the file back again.

There are three types of constraint with OneDrive files and filenames:

1. Make sure that none of the files you want to sync are larger than 15GB. If you see an error message such as "This file is too big to upload" or "Reduce the size of this file to upload to..." try reducing the size of a file by zipping it. You may be able to reduce the file size of a picture.

2. Make sure the entire file path, including the file name, contains fewer than 400 characters. An example of a file path is: 
   C:\Users\<UserName>\Pictures\Saved\2017\December\Holiday\NewYears\Family… 
   
   To resolve this, shorten the name of your file or the name of subfolders in OneDrive, or select a sub-folder that's closer to the top-level folder.

3. Make sure that your file doesn't contain any illegal characters (such as <, >, :, ", |, ?, *, /, \) or that the folder includes any unsupported file types. Learn more about Restrictions and limitations when you sync files and folders.

If you see the error message "Upload Blocked" or are having trouble syncing Office files, the Office Upload cache system may be interfering with OneDrive sync. Try turning off the related setting in OneDrive settings.

1. Select the white or blue OneDrive cloud icon in the notification area, at the far right of the taskbar.

   

   Note: You might need to click the Show hidden icons arrow next to the notification area to see the OneDrive icon, or click and start typing "select which icons" to display the notification area settings option, and then show Microsoft OneDrive. If the icon still doesn't appear in the notification area, OneDrive might not be running. Click  , type OneDrive in the search box, and then click OneDrive (not "OneDrive for work or school" as that may be an older version) in the search results.

2. Select Help & Settings > Settings.

   

3. Select the Office tab and uncheck the Use Office 2016 to sync Office files that I open check box.
   
   

   Note: When you turn off the Use Office 2016 to sync Office files that I open setting, any changes that you and other people make to Office files in your OneDrive will no longer merge together automatically.

1. Sign in to Office 365 with your work or school account.

2. Try to open the file or folder and make sure that you have permission to save a copy of it. If you're having problems seeing a file on a network, contact your network administrator.

Repairing or reinstalling Office can sometimes fix sync conflicts between Office and OneDrive. Read how to Download and install or reinstall Office 365 or Office 2016 on a PC or Mac.

Resetting OneDrive can sometimes resolve sync issues, and resets all OneDrive settings. OneDrive will perform a full sync after the reset.

To reset OneDrive:

1. Open a Run dialog by pressing Windows key   and R.

2. Type %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset and press OK. A Command window may appear briefly.

3. Manually launch OneDrive by going to Start  , type OneDrive in the search box, and then click on the OneDrive desktop app.

   Notes: 

   • If you had chosen to sync only some folders before the reset, you will need to do that again once sync has completed. Read Choose which OneDrive folders to sync to your computer for more information.

   • You will need to complete this for your personal OneDrive and OneDrive for work or school.

OneDrive Files On-Demand helps you access all your files in OneDrive without having to download all of them and use storage space on your device. Learn more about OneDrive Files On-Demand.

You can also download fewer files by choosing which OneDrive folders to sync to your computer.

If OneDrive sync seems to be stuck for a long time or the status shows "Processing 0KB of xMB" it could be because you have a lot of files in your OneDrive or a lot of new files to be uploaded. If you have more than 100,000 files, sync can take a long time.

To see how many files you have in your OneDrive:

1. Open File Explorer.

2. Right-click the OneDrive folder and select Properties.
   
   

3. If the Contains number is more than 100,000 you should consider which OneDrive folders to sync to your computer.

If the sync is already in process, you can Pause and Resume your sync to get things going again.

1. Select the white or blue OneDrive cloud icon in the notification area, at the far right of the taskbar.

   

   Note: You might need to click the Show hidden icons arrow next to the notification area to see the OneDrive icon, or click and start typing "select which icons" to display the notification area settings option, and then show Microsoft OneDrive. If the icon still doesn't appear in the notification area, OneDrive might not be running. Click  , type OneDrive in the search box, and then click OneDrive (not "OneDrive for work or school" as that may be an older version) in the search results.

2. Select Help & Settings > Settings.

   

3. Select Pause syncing... and select either 2, 8, or 24 hours.

4. Select Help & Settings again and select Resume syncing

You may have sync conflicts if you're uploading multiple files on the OneDrive website at the same time, or if you made changes in your OneDrive folder on another PC that is syncing at the same time. Sync issues can also occur if you edit files offline.

To reduce sync conflicts, rename the edited files or folders to something new or unique, and then save it again.