OneDrive - Resolving Sync Issues

OneDrive can sometimes run into sync issues. You can see if there is an issue by checking the OneDrive client icon in your system tray if you are on Windows or the top menu bar if you are on a Mac. Below are what they mean.

OneDrive icon	What it means	What you need to do
	OneDrive has an Error	Click the Icon for more information
	OneDrive is currently processing or syncing changes	OneDrive is currently syncing files and or processing changes
	OneDrive sync is paused	Resume the OneDrive sync
	OneDrive is running low on space	Delete any large files or folders to free up storage
	OneDrive is out of space, the account is locked or Frozen	Click the Icon for more information
	OneDrive is not logged in	Sign into OneDrive
Icon Missing	OneDrive is not running	Start OneDrive or Restart your Computer

My OneDrive icon has an X mark. I have opened the client and it says I have invalid characters

My OneDrive icon looks like this . I have opened the client and it says I have invalid characters

OneDrive does not support files or folders with characters with the following symbols:

OneDrive is saying that there are hundreds of files that have not synced

Don't panic. OneDrive client will tell you about the files that cannot be synced. In most cases, this is because those files are located inside a folder which is named using unsupported characters. The troublesome name on the folder blocks the files within from syncing.

Once you fix the name of the folder, in most cases the files within will then start syncing.

Locate one of the files that could not be synced. Navigate up the folder hierarchy and make any folder name corrections as you go. Make sure to remove any leading or trailing space characters, for example, " Files" or "Files ". Then, check the OneDrive client again.

OneDrive is telling me "This file is too big to upload"

Make sure none of your files are larger than 15GB

One file will not sync and the client is telling me it is in use

Make sure the file is still not being copied or being used by another background program. If you have checked this and it still say's it is in use, restart your computer

OneDrive is syncing all of my folders but I only need a few folders synced on my computer

You can get tell OneDrive to only sync folders you choose.

1. Open the OneDrive client and go to Settings for Windows. Choose Preferences on a Mac
   
   
2. On the account tab go to Choose folder
   
   
   
   
3. Check and uncheck the folders you want synced
   
   

OneDrive has stopped syncing due to folder path is too long

The entire decoded file path, including the file name, can't contain more than 400 characters for OneDrive, OneDrive for work or school and SharePoint in Microsoft 365. The limit applies to the combination of the folder path and file name after decoding. 

• For example, if the file URL in SharePoint is https://www.deakin.edu.au//sites/marketing/documents/Shared%20Documents/Promotion/Some%20File.xlsx, the limit applies to “sites/marketing/documents/Shared Documents/Promotion/Some File.xlsx.”

          In addition to this, each file name cannot be longer then 255 characters due to operating system limitations and the length of your OneDrive folder (c:\users\JohnSmith\OneDrive - Deakin University\... + up to the file name cannot exceed 400 characters

Check the following Microsoft article for more information about OneDrive restrictions and limitations

Restrictions and limitations in OneDrive and SharePoint (microsoft.com)