Forum Discussion
Why doesn't OneDrive ever finish syncing?
I've got a Microsoft 365 Family Edition license, so it comes with 1TB of storage. I've used 49.6 GB of that storage. Every time I log into my Windows machines (both a desktop and a laptop), the white cloud indicates that it is synchronizing files. And that goes on for hours and hours and hours.
Frankly, I can't believe it would take that long to finish syncing files when I haven't used that much. So, what in heck is going on? Why doesn't OneDrive ever finish?
3 Replies
Hello MrCharlesJenkins thank you for responding!
I tried to find the Help & Settings so I could see "View sync problems", but I didn't see it. I must be going at it the wrong way. How do I get to it?
BTW, I am using Windows 11 Professional
On Windows 11, Microsoft slightly changed the way you access OneDrive settings, so here’s how to get to the Help & Settings menu and then check sync problems:
Look in the system tray (bottom-right corner of your screen) for the OneDrive cloud icon (white for personal, blue for business).
Right-click the OneDrive icon.
If you don’t see it, click the small arrow (Show hidden icons) to reveal it.
From the menu that opens, select Help & Settings.
In that menu, you should see View online and other options. Depending on your version, the “View sync problems” option may show up there, or you might have to go through Settings → Sync and backup → Advanced settings to troubleshoot.
If “View sync problems” isn’t visible, another way is to open OneDrive Settings → Sync and backup → scroll to the bottom, and look for error/warning messages about files.
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Don't forget to mark as solution if my answer suits you
From your actual situation, this is what you can try if it wasn't done before :
- Open OneDrive → Click Help & Settings → "View sync problems"
- Check file types: avoid syncing PST, TMP, Database, or live Office files
- Run: onedrive.exe /reset
- Use Selective Sync to reduce load
- Check file count: avoid syncing over 100,000 files
- Test another network (mobile hotspot or Ethernet)
