Why is OneDrive not detecting new files for sync?

Question

I work at a small company that recently started using OneDrive for file management.

Several of my coworkers have reported that when they save a file to a folder in OneDrive (on their computer), it can take several minutes or more before OneDrive detects it and uploads it. When it finally uploads, transfer rates are fine, so it is not a network issue. Instead, the desktop OneDrive client is just very slow to detect changes to sync.

Myself and other coworkers are not seeing those same issues.

How can I diagnose what is causing the delay for the affected users?

(please note: I have chosen the Windows tag but this also affects at least one Mac user)

Answer 1

Hi @Andrew Fallows, 

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

Thank you for reaching out and sharing your detailed observation. I can truly understand how disruptive it is when OneDrive is taking time to sync your files. According your concern, the behavior can occur if you have a OneDrive file open, have added a lot of files, or added a very large file to your OneDrive. 

To resolve the issue, I would recommend following these steps: 

1. Reset OneDrive 

On Windows device: 

• Press Windows + R, then copy wsreset.exe into the box then select OK. 
• If OneDrive is still not syncing, let's continue with resetting the OneDrive sync app. 
  • Press Windows + R again, then copy this path to the input and select OK:  %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset 
• If you see a "Windows cannot find..." message, copy and paste path below instead, then press OK. 
  C:\Program Files\Microsoft OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset,  
• If you still see a "Windows cannot find..." message, copy and paste the text below instead, then press OK. 
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset,  

On a Mac: 

• Select the OneDrive cloud icon in the top tray, then select Preferences > Pause > Quit OneDrive. 
• Find OneDrive in your Applications folder. 
• Control-click OneDrive and select Show Package Contents. 
• Navigate to the Contents > Resources folder. 
• Double-click ResetOneDriveApp.command (or ResetOneDriveAppStandalone.command, if you're using the standalone app). 
• Start OneDrive and finish the setup process. 

2. Close all editing files 

When you are editing a file and OneDrive is trying to sync the same file, as a result, the file could be prevented from being synced. 

3. Check hidden files 

Sometimes, hidden files or temporary files that are not synced can cause issues with OneDrive sync status. 

• Open the OneDrive folder, click View. 
• Check the Hidden items. 

If there are no Hidden files in the folder, please follow these steps: 

• Create a new folder. Note that empty folders may show Sync pending until you put a file into it. 
• Copy all the files from the Sync pending folder to the new one. 
• Delete the Sync pending folder. 

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow the steps above and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can continue working together to resolve the issue.  

Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or need additional assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out so I can continue to support you. If you found the response useful, please consider marking it as accepted, as this may help other community members who are looking for similar guidance.  

I look forward to continuing the conversation.   

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