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One Drive won't sync files because the name contains characters that aren't allowed

Anonymous
2021-04-19T08:02:19+00:00

Hi Microsoft Community, 

My One Drive on my Mac (Big Sur), is not accepting certain files. The sync issue: The name contains characters that aren't allowed keeps popping up. Now I have taken the file off the one drive, completely renamed it and tried to re uploaded but this problem still persists! It's driving me mad as it happens to alot of my files. (Mostly .psd .jpg .jpeg .pdf) 

If anyone has a solution that would be amazing!

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2021-04-19T08:45:49+00:00

Hi Harrison,

Thanks for sharing your experience in our community.

As for your OneDrive can’t rename issue in Mac, we’ll try our best to troubleshoot it. According to Invalid file names and file types in OneDrive and SharePoint. Some certain characters and file or folder names have special meanings when used in file names in OneDrive, SharePoint and macOS. If a file or folder you’re trying to upload to OneDrive contains any of the characters or names listed below, it may prevent files and folders from syncing. Rename the file or folder to remove these characters before you upload it.

Characters like: " * : < > ? / \ |

File or folder names: .lock, CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM0 - COM9, LPT0 - LPT9, _vti_, desktop.ini, any filename starting with ~$.

Meanwhile, please also check whether you can upload the file to OneDrive for web.

Besides, you may try to Reset OneDrive to fix it. Resetting Microsoft OneDrive can sometimes resolve sync issues and reset all OneDrive settings.

If the issue persists, to further check it, could you provide the screenshot about the error message? And may I know what is the extension of your affected files? Whether all files or just some specific files cannot be uploaded correctly?

Please feel free to contact us if you still have concern. 😊
   
Best regards,

Gloria

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-06-05T18:12:35+00:00

    I have a similar issue - Catalina 10.15.7. Onedrive for Mac reports thousands of file names with characters that are not allowed. However, none of them contain any of the special characters that cause such issues. A sample is in the screenshot... Thus, I cannot sync any files... I have reset Onedrive, deleted it and downloaded it anew, restarted my computer - all to no avail. I have the same problem on my Mac as well as MacbooK Air. Appreciate any help...

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-05-14T18:43:04+00:00

    I have this issue with one PPT file but the name does not contain any of the forbidden characters. 

    Could you advise further please? Thanks

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-04-21T08:52:36+00:00

    Hi Harrison,

    I'm writing this thread for monitoring, if you still need assistance, please feel free to post back at your convenience.

    Wish you a nice day and please take care!😊

    Best regards,

    Gloria

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