OneDrive isn’t syncing with SharePoint: Troubleshooting tips

OneDrive and Sharepoint offer their users an unbeatable experience when it comes to managing digital content on a day-to-day basis. You can use the service offered by Microsoft to both manage your content on wither your own device or company device or share content across different domains whether external to your group or within your group. Although Microsoft has done an excellent job with OneDrive, there are occasions when it does not backup data to OneDrive correctly. If OneDrive isn’t synchronizing with SharePoint, there might be a variety of causes. If you’re using an older version of the app, there’s a potential you’ll have problems with software sync. Additionally, you may have just run out of cloud storage capacity and should seek additional storage. The maximum file size you may upload on OneDrive, even if you have a premium account, is 10 GB. The OneDrive sync problem might also be caused by uploading a huge amount of data. Other typical causes of the OneDrive not syncing issue include an unstable connection, a faulty OS upgrade, or a denial of permission. In this blog, we will be looking at solutions to help users resolve “OneDrive isn’t syncing with SharePoint” and find possible solutions to help prevent the error from occurring again. We will also address some of the issues that can cause “OneDrive isn’t syncing with SharePoint” so users are more aware of what they are dealing with and what approaches they need to take to resolve “OneDrive isn’t syncing with SharePoint”. Follow the step-by-step process below to see how you can resolve “OneDrive isn’t syncing with SharePoint”.

Step by step process – OneDrive isn’t syncing with SharePoint

  1. First sign in to Office 365.
  2. Use the app launcher and navigate to “SharePoint”, and click on it.
  3. In SharePoint go to the Site where your files are located.
  4. In the menu bar, find and click on your document library.
  5. Now click on “sync”.
  6. If you receive the error message “Sorry, We Can’t Sync This Folder”, your services are not syncing correctly.
  7. You now need to click on the OneDrive icon on your desktop.
  8. Then click on “Help & Settings”.
  9. Now click on “Preferences”.
  10. Now click on “Accounts”.
  11. In the “Location is Syncing” category find the OneDrive account.
  12. Now click on “Stop sync”.
  13. Now start the sync.

Once the steps above are complete, Onedrive and SharePoint will now start to sync together, unusually this issue occurs when the application may have a resulting error that prohibits a seamless transfer between the services and your devices. You need to stop and start the sync again, to ensure that the software is running correctly.

Why is there an issue with sync between Onedrive and SharePoint

Although Microsoft has done an excellent job with OneDrive, there are occasions when it does not backup data to OneDrive correctly. If OneDrive isn’t syncing, there are a variety of causes. If you’re using an older version of the software, there’s a potential you’ll have problems with OneDrive sync. Additionally, you may have just run out of cloud storage capacity and should seek additional storage.

The maximum file size you may upload on OneDrive, even if you have a premium account, is 10 GB. The OneDrive sync problem might also be caused by uploading a huge amount of data. Other typical causes of the OneDrive not syncing issue include an unstable connection, a faulty OS upgrade, or a denial of permission.

In this comprehensive tutorial, we can assist you in resolving any OneDrive sync issues you may be experiencing. To get you started, check your computer’s icon to see if you’re having any issues.

Alternate solutions to fix a sync error

Re-establish the connection.

This is the most straightforward method for resolving OneDrive sync issues. To fix a problem, you can uninstall and reinstall the OneDrive desktop software on your computer. To do so, go to your notification area and right-click the OneDrive cloud symbol. If you can’t find the shortcut, select “Show Hidden Icons” from the drop-down menu.

Choose to “Exit” the app and terminate its desktop program from here. Restarting the computer will allow OneDrive to re-establish the connection. If your OneDrive isn’t synchronizing, there is a simple solution.

Files and folders can be compressed.

You can’t upload a single file larger than 10 GB at a moment, even if you have a premium OneDrive account. If you have a high-definition movie or any other material that exceeds this storage limit, try compressing it before uploading. Using the native Windows functionality or WinZip, you may quickly compress a file.

Simply right-click the file you want to compress and choose “Add to Archive” or “Send to Compressed Folder” from the drop-down menu. It is dependent on the Windows version you are running. It will display a pop-up similar to this. To repair OneDrive sync issues, pick the method of compression and restrict the storage of your file from this menu.

Choose the folders you want to sync.

Because OneDrive has a limited amount of capacity, you won’t be able to sync everything to it. If you’ve just updated to Windows 10, you’ll also need to manually choose the folders you want to sync with OneDrive to fix OneDrive sync problems. To begin, go to Settings by right-clicking the OneDrive symbol in the notification panel. Go to the Account tab and select “Choose folders” from the drop-down menu.

This is the type of pop-up window you’ll get. Simply select the folder you want to sync with OneDrive and then click the “Ok” button to save your changes.

In-depth – Step by step process – OneDrive isn’t syncing with SharePoint

Step by step breakdown:

  • First sign in to Office 365.

Use your account details or if you have a current Skype account with the Office account in question, you can use this.

  • Use the app launcher and navigate to “SharePoint”, and click on it.

You can access the SharePoint application however this is for individuals who only have a SharePoint plan, A larger group of individuals have SharePoint in Office 365.

  • In SharePoint go to the Site where your files are located.

In this example, the site above called “Demo site” will be used to create the preview.

  • In the menu bar, find and click on your document library.

In this example, we will be using the document site called “test blog” to alter the permissions.

  • Now click on “sync”.
  • If you receive the error message “Sorry, We Can’t Sync This Folder”, your services are not syncing correctly.
  • You now need to click on the OneDrive icon on your desktop.

Normally the OneDrive Icon will be located in the taskbar on both Mac and windows. Here on this example for Mac the OneDrive Icon was located in the top corner as opposed to the bottom for Windows computer.

  • Then click on “Help & Settings”.

The help and settings panel will house all the essential tools to manage your OneDrive for PC application. This includes the sync panel which is what we require here.

  • Now click on “Settings”.

Preferences are located within the OneDrive setting folder.

  • Now click on “Accounts”.

Here you can manage your accounts including account settings and whether you want to sync with the current computer or not and here we need to see if the computer is actually being synced with the OneDrive account in question or not. It will also give you a breakdown of how much storage has been used for folders and files.

  • In the “Location is Syncing” category find the OneDrive account.

If you see the above in the selection panel, your dive will be syncing with the associated OneDrive account.

  • Now click on “Stop sync”.
  • Finally, start the sync.

That’s it for this Blog thank you for taking time out to read our content, please feel free to email our team about how it went if you followed the steps or if you need more help with the questions we answered in this Blog.

Saajid Gangat

Saajid Gangat has been a researcher and content writer at Business Tech Planet since 2021. Saajid is a tech-savvy writer with expertise in web and graphic design and has extensive knowledge of Microsoft 365, Adobe, Shopify, WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and more! You can connect with Saajid on Linkedin.

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