A red cross on your OneDrive files

Question

Hi there, I have noticed that my OneDrive has numerous files in different folders with a red cross. I have researched what to do, but I don't really want to reset OneDrive as my storage is 501gb being used from 1TB. Are there any other solutions?

Many thanks in advance.

Kindest Regards

Remove PII

Answer 1

Hi @Sarby, 

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum. 

Based on your sharing, the red cross icon on your OneDrive files and folders tells that you're having a sync issue, which means these files haven't synced to the cloud. There are many reasons can cause sync issue with OneDrive: 

• The file is open in another program when syncing 
• The file name contains invalid characters as / \ : * ? " < > |. 
• The file path is too long (OneDrive has a 400-character limit). 
• The file is corrupted. 

We suggest you should double check these things: 

1- View Sync problems 

• Right-click the OneDrive cloud icon in your taskbar notification area 
• Click on any error message or an icon with red cross  
• In the new pop-up window, select View sync issues 
• This will list all the files that have problems and the specific error message ("File is in use," "File name is invalid," "Path too long") 
• Now that you know the specific error, you can fix it file-by-file 

2- Double check storage status 

• Right-click the OneDrive cloud icon in the taskbar > Settings  
• Check the OneDrive storage, including used storage and the available OneDrive storage space on the bottom left. 
• If your OneDrive is full, OneDrive red X will appear as well 

3- Contact IT department for further assist 

If the issue still persists, we recommend reaching out to your organization's IT administrator for further assistance. Your admin may have elevated permissions to perform deeper troubleshooting such as reinstalling Office with the correct language settings or reviewing system-level configurations.

Additionally, your IT admin can escalate the issue to Microsoft Support by submitting a support ticket through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, which may help identify any backend or tenant-specific causes.

Note: We appreciate your understanding regarding the scope of support available through this forum. As moderators, our role is to provide general guidance and assist with common troubleshooting steps. While we do not have access to internal systems or administrative tools required to resolve account-specific or backend-related issues but we’ll continue doing our best to support you within the scope of our responsibilities.

I hope the information provided proves useful. Please proceed with the outlined steps and let me know whether they resolve the issue. If not, I’ll be glad to continue working with you to find a solution.

Thank you for your patience and understanding throughout this process. Should you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out at any time.

I look forward to hearing from you.

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Answer 2

Hi Hendrix-C

Many thanks for your quick response. I am going through the steps you have mentioned, and will revert to you shortly.

Many thanks in advance, your help is greatly appreciated!

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Answer 3

Hi Hendrix-C,

I can confirm that there are no error messages (or sync issues) when I click on my OneDrive icon. I have signed into OneDrive online, and the files are in the cloud. However, when I see the same file in Windows Explorer (Windows 11 fully up to date) it shows a red cross next to the file? Although i can open the file with no issues.

thanks

Remove PII

Answer 4

Hi @Sarby, 

Thank you for your new updates. 

If the files are already in the cloud, you have no sync errors on the OneDrive icon, and you can open the local files fine, the problem is highly not a file-sync issue, but a stuck or corrupted File Explorer icon overlay cache.  

You can try these workarounds to see if it helps resolve the issue: 

1- Restart Windows Explorer 

• Right click the task bar and open Task manager 
• In the Processes tab, scroll down to find Windows Explorer > Right click and choose Restart 

• Check your OneDrive folders to see if the icons have corrected 

2- Clear icon cache 

• Press Windows + R and type cmd then press OK to open Command Prompt  
• Run these commands one by one:  

ie4uinit.exe -ClearIconCache 

taskkill /IM explorer.exe /F 

DEL /A /Q "%localappdata%\IconCache.db" 

shutdown /r /f /t 00 

• These commands will clear the icon cache and restart your PC. After restarting, check if the issue still persists. 

Please try these workarounds and let me know whether they resolve the issue. Feel free to reach out at any time, I’ll be glad to continue supporting you.