How to Reset OneDrive to fix Sync problems

Are your OneDrive folders out of sync? Or is your OneDrive stuck on processing changes? Then you will need to reset OneDrive.

The more folders you are syncing with OneDrive the bigger the change is that one-day OneDrive will be stuck at syncing. The OneDrive status keeps showing the syncing symbol and the status screen will show a couple (or a lot of files) that need to be synced. These are common OneDrive sync problems and the best solution is to reset OneDrive.

When you reset OneDrive you won’t lose any data. OneDrive will only remove the index file that contains the status of all synchronized files. After the reset, OneDrive will compare each file on your computer and online, making sure that everything gets back in sync.

In this article, I will explain how you can reset OneDrive in Windows 10 and 11 with a single command.

Onedrive Reset Command

When the synchronization issue lasted for a longer time, then it’s possible that after resetting OneDrive finds version conflicts (same file both local and online). It might then not be able to determine which version to keep. You can select the file in OneDrive and choose which version to keep or to keep both.

OneDrive won’t restart of the reset command

If you don’t see the OneDrive icon after a minute you can start it manually from the Start Menu (search for OneDrive) or by running the following command Windows key + R:

%localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe

Reset OneDrive on Android

I haven’t seen a lot of issues with the OneDrive client on Android, mostly because users only open an occasional file on their Android device. But if you experience ian ssue with the OneDrive app on Android, then you can reset this as well:

• In Android, open Settings and select Applications (or Apps)
• Click on View all Apps or on Manage Applications
• Find and open OneDrive in the list
• Tap on Force Stop and open Storage and Cache
• Tap on Clear cache
• Uninstall the app and reinstall it from the Google Play store.

OneDrive Synchronization Tips

The reset command solves most synchronization issues with OneDrive. But it’s better to prevent issues because unnoticed synchronization problems with OneDrive can lead to data loss.

Open Files

One of the most common issues is open files. If you open files online (using Word or Excel Online for example), then OneDrive will show the syncing status because it’s actually syncing the file. You can mark the file as Always available to redeem this “issue”

Syncing too many files

OneDrive and SharePoint have their limitations. One of them is that you can only sync up to 300.000 files. If you are syncing more than that you can have problems where OneDrive can’t keep up with the changes. Sometimes a simple solution for this is to pause and resume the sync.

You can do this by simply clicking on the OneDrive icon > select More > Pause Syncing…

To long files names

Long file names are also a common issue when OneDrive is stuck at syncing. Check the files that OneDrive is processing to see if there are long files or file paths that could cause this issue. Simply rename the files to solve the issue.

Conclusion

Resetting OneDrive should fix most problems. Always keep an eye on the OneDrive icon to detect problems with syncing of the files.