Forum Discussion
How can I force OneDrive to accept metadata for images and photos 1:1?
Is there any way to force OneDrive to save images as an exact copy of the original local files, including all changes to metadata?
In detail:
I have massive problems with using OneDrive as a data storage for photos, as OneDrive is often unwilling to accept changes to metadata (especially tags or geo-coordinates).
The problem seems to have existed for years, as you can read in various places:
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4527626 - OneDrive reverts changes to IPTC (!)
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/onedrive-randomly-re-creates-pictures-some/7ca06735-eac2-470d-8c54-77adc7955d5c
https://www.lightroomqueen.com/community/threads/lightroom-with-onedrive-keyword-metadata-conflicts.41753/
and other places.
I also have the problem that I change the metadata of my images with digiKam, but that these changes are then often not accepted by OneDrive. There is then a file conflict, OneDrive renames my local files and I then have two variants. Or the changes simply do not arrive in OneDrive and are not even recognized as changes.
In other words, it is not possible to reliably change image metadata when the folder is synchronized with OneDrive.
So I tried the following workaround to at least have a secure and exact copy of my data somewhere:
- I now use local folders for pictures and videos that are not synchronized with OneDrive
- I synchronize these local folders via "Synology Drive" one-way (from the PC to the Synology) with a Synology Diskstation
- "Chloud Sync" runs on the Synology to synchronize the changes from the Synology to OneDrive one-way.
- The aim is for the data in OneDrive to also correspond to the local data on my PC
The synchronization from the PC to the Synology works. I can compare data with WinMerge and the data on the Synology corresponds to the local data.
The synchronization from the Synology to OneDrive does not work properly:
I can synchronize the data from OneDrive to my PC for testing and comparison. If I now compare my original local images with those that come back to my PC via the detour "local -> Synology -> OneDrive -> local 2", many changes in the metadata of the images are not adopted.
- The dpreview link is not terribly helpful as the poster doesn't clarify the sync process or whether or not other local processes are operating on the file.
Contrary to the advice expressed there I would report any reproducible case to Microsoft through the product support links. They've always been pretty quick to respond.
FWIW I've got 100s of GB of photos stored on OneDrive for over a decade and have not seen any metadata alteration.
I would explore the Synology sync tool as I don't think it is produced by Microsoft. See if you can repro the issues when syncing the same image from other platforms.- As I already described, the problem is OneDrive. And the problem often but not always occurs when only metadata is changed in a photo, especially tags. OneDrive then reports a supposedly simultaneous change in the cloud and locally and reports a conflict. As a result, I then have two versions of the file. I've been struggling with OneDrive without the synology for a long time. I can't manage to transfer my changes to tags securely from the PC to OneDrive. Until I found some links describing the same problem from other users: Mircrosoft OneDrive is doing something to the tags instead of just unconditionally using the last version of a modified file that was changed locally.
My attempts with the detour via the Synology are only a workaround, because I want to have a backup of my data somewhere that contains my metadata as I create and change it. And the synchronization between Windows and the Synology also works almost without any problems (if you make sure that certain conditions regarding the length of the files are met). I am aware that the synchronization from Synology to OneDrive is a Synology software. But it seems to me that the problem lies with OneDrive, as it is the same problem as with the direct synchronization between the PC and OneDrive. Instead of simply accepting the latest version of a file that is changed outside of OneDrive, OneDrive makes some kind of comparison that is probably not byte-accurate, but which often results in changed metadata not being accepted by OneDrive as a change. There is some kind of heuristic built into OneDrive to recognize changes, which means that not all changes are recognized. And my goal is to somehow force OneDrive to accept my changes to files unconditionally instead of applying some faulty change detection heuristics.- You have made up your mind. If you have decided not to investigate further or use Microsoft support then you're on your own. Good luck.
