OneDrive For Business FAQ

How much OneDrive for Business storage do I have?

By default you have 5TB of OneDrive storage.

Can I increase my OneDrive for Business Storage?

Users who reach at least 90% of their default 5TB capacity of OneDrive for Business storage can submit a ticket and request additional cloud storage up to 25TB.

File Size Limitations

File name and path lengths

Different apps and Office versions have different limits, and the combination of limitations may be unique to your setup.

The entire decoded file path, including the file name, can't contain more than 400 characters for OneDrive, OneDrive for work or school and SharePoint in Microsoft 365. The limit applies to the combination of the folder path and file name after decoding. 

• For example, if the file URL in SharePoint is https://www.contoso.com/sites/marketing/documents/Shared%20Documents/Promotion/Some%20File.xlsx, the limit applies to “sites/marketing/documents/Shared Documents/Promotion/Some File.xlsx.”

• Likewise, if the file URL in OneDrive is https://contoso-my.sharepoint.com/personal/meganb_contoso%20_com/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fmeganb%5Fcontoso%5Fcom%2FDocuments%2FContracts%2FVendor%20Quotations/Some%20File.xlsx, the limit applies to “personal/meganb_contoso_com/Documents/Contracts/Vendor Quotations/Some File.xlsx.”

In addition to the above, if files are synced to a PC or Mac, the following limitations apply:

• Each segment of the path (a segment is a file name or folder name like “Promotion” or “Some File.xlsx” in the examples above) can't be more than 255 characters due to operating system limitations.

• The length of the OneDrive root folder (e.g. C:\users\meganb\OneDrive - Contoso) + the relative path of the file (up to 400 characters) cannot be more than 520 characters.

• The organization name can be updated in the M365 admin center but that will not propagate to existing Sync relationships (only newly established ones). For existing Sync relationships to have the new organization name, users need to unlink and relink their accounts.

SharePoint Server versions only support up to 260 characters for file and path lengths, Microsoft Excel and older Office versions have a lower limit, see Microsoft's troubleshooting page for details.

If you exceed any limits, you'll receive an error message.

What are invalid characters?

Certain characters have special meanings when used in file names in OneDrive, SharePoint, Windows and macOS, such as "*" for wildcards, and "\" in file name paths. If a file or folder you’re trying to upload to OneDrive contains any of the characters listed below, it may prevent files and folders from syncing. Rename the file or folder to remove these characters before you upload it.

Notes

• To rename a file or folder in Windows, select it and press F2. To rename a file or folder on a Mac, select it and press the 'return' key. 

• Some organizations don't yet support # and % in names. If you're a global admin or SharePoint admin in Microsoft 365, see Enabling # and % Support on the SharePoint blog to learn how to allow these characters.

• For Office desktop win32 apps: If you're saving an Office file via the Backstage view to a OneDrive or SharePoint folder, you won't be able to save the file if the folder name contains ; (semicolon).

• If you're using Office 2010, you can't use "&" in file and folder names

What are invalid file or folder names?

These names aren't allowed for files or folders: .lock, CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM0 - COM9, LPT0 - LPT9, _vti_, desktop.ini, or any filename starting with ~$.

• "_vti_" cannot appear anywhere in a file name

• "forms" isn't supported when the folder is at the root level for a library.

•  You can’t create a folder name in SharePoint that begins with a tilde (~).

What are invalid or blocked file types?

Temporary TMP files will not be synced to OneDrive. See OneDrive status stuck on "Sync pending" for more details.

Files that are used by your local computer, such as desktop.ini on Windows or .ds_store on macOS, don't usually sync. If these files do get uploaded to OneDrive during migration, the sync app will delete the cloud copy and leave the local copy.

Outlook .PST files are supported, however they are synced less frequently compared to other file types to reduce network traffic. To prevent uploading .PST files from the OneDrive sync app, read Blocking syncing of specific file types. To move .PST files out of OneDrive, read How to remove an Outlook PST data file from OneDrive. If users enable PC folder backup (Known Folder Move) manually without the group policy, they will see an error if they have a .PST file in one of their known folders (e.g. Documents). If Known Folder Move is enabled and configured via group policy, .PST files will be migrated.

Outlook may show errors after .PST files are migrated because it is still looking for .PST files at original location.

If you are a OneDrive for work or school user, some file types may be blocked on your organization’s SharePoint site. The list of blocked files will vary depending on your administrator.

For security reasons, a number of file names and extensions can't be uploaded since they are executable, used by SharePoint Server, or used by Windows itself. 

Can I share files from my WVU OneDrive account with external, non-WVU colleagues?

Yes. Your organization is selected by default when sharing a file. Click the default People in West Virginia University with the link can edit selection to view more sharing options.

You can choose to share files with anyone with a link or select people with Microsoft accounts. You can also adjust your sharing options to grant editing access or open files in view-only mode, block downloads, and set a password or expiration date for file access.

View Microsoft’s Share OneDrive files and folders page for more information.

Why can’t I share an item?

You can't synchronize the Shared with me view grouping of files from a OneDrive for work or school site.

Error messages:

• You can’t share this item because too many items have already been shared in this library
  There is a limit of 50,000 items that can be shared within a folder and any sub-folders. To overcome this restriction, move some items into another folder that is not within the original folder, or choose individual files to share.

• Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups error when sharing
  You may receive this error message when trying to share to an address that is not associated with a Microsoft account.

How many OneDrive accounts can I have?

Number of OneDrive accounts

There are limits to the number of accounts that can be concurrently signed in and syncing. Each device is allowed a maximum of one OneDrive for home account and nine OneDrive for work or school accounts. For MacOS devices, only a single business account from the same organization can be in sync at any given time. 

OneDrive Guest accounts

Synchronizing content using an external or guest user is currently not supported by OneDrive.

Are authenticated proxies supported?

Authenticated proxies aren’t supported in OneDrive.

If you see the error message "Your proxy settings require authentication" or the error code 0x8004de42 when trying to sign in to OneDrive, please check you are not using an authenticated proxy to connect to OneDrive.

How are OneNote notebooks synced?

OneNote notebooks have their own sync mechanism outside of OneDrive. If you plan on sharing a OneNote notebook—with yourself or others—it's best to create it on OneDrive right from the start. Moving an existing OneNote notebook into a folder synced by OneDrive without going through the OneNote application is not currently supported.

Once a OneNote notebook is saved in OneDrive, if you are syncing the folder that contains the notebook, you will find a stub .url file, which will open the notebook on the website.

OneNote notebooks saved in OneDrive or SharePoint are limited to 2GB.

Read how to Move a OneNote notebook to OneDrive.

Can I sync network or mapped drives?

You can't add a network or mapped drive as your OneDrive sync location. OneDrive doesn't support syncing using symbolic links or junction points.

Elevated privileges

OneDrive can’t be run with elevated privileges, and you will not be able to see OneDrive menu items within File Explorer. However, the per-machine sync app installation is helpful, especially for multi-user computers and when you don’t want exe files running from the user profile. See also Unable to share OneDrive files.

When are thumbnails and previews generated?

Thumbnails are not generated for images larger than 100 MB.

PDF previews are not generated for files larger than 100 MB.

How many items can be synced or copied?

When using OneDrive, you can only copy up to 2500 files at one time.

Although SharePoint can store 30 million documents per library, for optimum performance we recommend syncing no more than 300,000 files across all document libraries. Performance issues can occur if you have 300,000 items or more across all libraries that you are syncing, even if you are not syncing all items within those libraries.

• If you are uploading, downloading, or moving a large number of files at once, you may need to wait an extended period of time before the sync process can complete. The desktop app showing “syncing” icon or displaying "processing changes" during this period is not necessarily an indication of a problem. You can always click the OneDrive taskbar icon to see the status of content that is in the process of syncing. To help reduce sync times, we recommend reviewing and possibly modifying your bandwidth settings before starting your upload or download. You can also read how to Choose which OneDrive folders to sync to your computer.

• There are other SharePoint limits on viewing a document library using the web that may affect how you structure your files in OneDrive.

Libraries with Information Rights Management enabled

Libraries can be synchronized as read/write with sync app for Windows build 17.3.7294.0108 or later, or OneDrive for Mac build 18.151.0729.0014 or higher.

Is differential sync available for all file types?

Differential sync is possible for Microsoft Office files in the new file format, .docx, .pptx, .xlsx. This is part of Office integration and requires that you have:

• Office 2016 Click To Run (version 16.0.6741.2027 or higher). You must also have OneDrive (version 17.3.6386.0412 or higher).

• Office 2016 MSI and have the following update installed: October 4, 2016, update for Office 2016 (KB3118262). You must also have OneDrive (version 17.3.6386.0412 or higher).

• The "Use Office applications to sync Office files" setting turned on in the Office tab of OneDrive settings (PC) or OneDrive Preferences (Mac).

For other file types, differential sync is available globally.

How do I resolve OneDrive Sync performance issues?

• For optimum performance, we recommend storing no more than 300,000 files in a single OneDrive or team site library.

• Additionally, relevant to OneDrive Sync, the same performance issues can occur if you have 300,000 items or more across all libraries you are syncing, even if you are not syncing all items in those libraries. The 300K file “soft” limit for OneDrive Sync also applies to shortcut folders

How are libraries with specific columns or metadata synced?

If you have libraries with Checkout or Validation columns, or when Draft Item Security is set to either Only users who can edit or Only users who can approve items in Version Settings of the library:

• For SharePoint document libraries, these items will be synchronized as read-only.

• For OneDrive libraries, OneDrive will show a lock icon () next to the sync status and the user will not be able to synchronize the library until the mentioned settings have been removed. 

How do I remove sync-blocking column settings?

Windows restrictions and limitations

File Explorer displays the first 35 characters of a site library’s name and site name combination for a library that you have synchronized. This doesn’t affect the ability to sync these items within the limits that are described in this article.

Roaming, Mandatory, and Temporary Windows profiles aren't supported. The OneDrive sync app only supports users who can write to OneDrive application directories.

Additionally, the OneDrive sync app is only supported in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environments in the following cases:

• Virtual desktops that persist between sessions.

• Non-persistent environments that use Windows Virtual Desktop preview.

• Non-persistent environments that have FSLogix Apps 2.8 or later, FSLogix Microsoft 365 Container, and a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Read more about using the sync app on virtual desktops.

For the sync app to work as designed, the following requirements must be met:

• The application must be installed on the local computer.

• The user must be able to write to the user profile.

• Data that's written to the user profile must be saved to the local hard disk and be available without a network connection.

• Folders must not have the SetCaseSensitiveInfo setting enabled.

OneDrive Files On-Demand is supported on Windows 10 2017 Fall Creators Update and later versions, or Windows Server 2019 and later versions, or Mac OS X Mojave (10.14) or newer.

macOS restrictions and limitations

Case-sensitive formatted disk volume isn't supported.