OneDrive - "an Item couldn't be uploaded"

Have you ever been bothered by the same question? Today you are in good luck! Let's see what's the reason causing "an item couldn't be uploaded to OneDrive". And after that, this article offers you 8 troubleshooting solutions to solve why OneDrive cannot upload files or OneDrive upload failed issues. Let's get started!

Why is OneDrive blocking my upload?

Users encounter OneDrive upload issues on Windows, especially when the sync folder options are grayed out. And various error messages may occur, such as "OneDrive can't upload folders or empty files," or "this file is too big." Your insufficient OneDrive storage space, wrong filename, outdated version of OneDrive and so on, may be the source of error message.

You may be bothered by the annoying messages. Fortunately, there are 8 available solutions that can resolve these OneDrive upload issues.

How to fix an item couldn't be uploaded to OneDrive: 8 ways

There are 8 ways to fix an item couldn't be uploaded to OneDrive. Read and choose a suitable way to resolve your problem.

Way 1: Check the file path and file name

OneDrive has some restrictions and limitations on file name and path lengths. If you exceed any limits, you will receive an error message and can't upload your data to OneDrive. When you receive an error message from OneDrive, first you can check your file path and file name. Following the solutions below, you can effectively resolve the file path issue and file name issue to ensure a smooth uploading process in OneDrive.

• Shorten File Name: Reduce the length of the file and subfolder within the path to ensure they collectively do not exceed the 400-character limit while reducing a file or folder name to no more than 255 characters. This can involve renaming files or moving them to a more concise directory structure.
• Avoid Limited Characters: Make sure that the file names do not contain any restricted characters, such as " * : < > ? / \ |. These characters may make "OneDrive not syncing", so you need to remove these characters before you upload your files.

Way 2: Check the size of a file

You need to notice the limited size of files when you upload your files to OneDrive. For example, when you use the OneDrive website to upload your files, the ability to upload files up to 250GB in size (per file), and may vary depending on the web browser you are using. It is advisable to check the specific limitations of your chosen browser to ensure compatibility with the files you intend to upload.

Way 3: Check for file permission

It is crucial to have the appropriate permissions to access and edit specific files when uploading them to OneDrive. Permissions play a vital role in ensuring that you can upload, modify, and manage files within your OneDrive account. If your OneDrive is stuck uploading, you need to check your account is granted all the permissions.

Way 4: Sign in again and upload the file

The simple way to solve "something went wrong and this file can't be uploaded to the cloud" is to sign out of your OneDrive account, sign in OneDrive account again, and then upload your file to see if the issue has been resolved.

Step 1: Click on OneDrive icon in the taskbar.

Step 2: Hit the settings gear at the top and click on Quit OneDrive.

Step 3: In the pop-out window "Are you sure you want to close OneDrive?", click Close OneDrive.

Step 4: Press Windows + R to run OneDrive and sign in your OneDrive account again.

Step 5: Open File Explorer by pressing Windows + E, find the OneDrive folder, and drag and drop files/folders to it for upload.

Way 5: Unlink and relink OneDrive account

If you encounter OneDrive upload issue, you can try to unlink and relink your OneDrive account to solve the issue. Here is a step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Click on the OneDrive icon located in the taskbar. Then, select the OneDrive Help & Settings button and hit Settings.

Step 2: Click Account tab and click on Unlink this PC. This action will unlink your OneDrive account from your computer.

Step 3: Close the OneDrive application, and then press the Windows key + R to open Run. Enter %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\settings and click OK. Delete the PreSignInSettingsConfig.json file from this location. Finally press the Windows, search for OneDrive, and sign in to your OneDrive account to reconnect.

Way 6: Update the version of Office application and Windows

The issue of "files not uploading to OneDrive" has been addressed in version 16.0.7870.2031 or higher. If you are currently using a lower version and encountering this problem, it's recommended you to manually update your Windows and Office version and to the latest version.

Step 1: Open Settings on your computer, click Update & Security > hit Windows Update > click Check for updates.

Step 2: Open a Microsoft application as you prefer, and click File > Account > Update Options > Update Now.

Way 7: Check storage space and gain more storage space

When you encounter OneDrive does not upload files due to insufficient storage space, you have 2 options to address the problem:

• Free Up Space: You can consider deleting unnecessary or less critical files from your OneDrive storage to free up space for uploading files.
• Expand Storage: If you don't want to delete your files, you can choose to increase OneDrive storage. You can choose to upgrade your OneDrive storage plan, or you can also choose to use a third-party service that seamlessly works with OneDrive.

Way 8: Remove credentials related to OneDrive and Microsoft Office

In some cases, outdated credentials can cause OneDrive upload problems like an item couldn’t be uploaded to OneDrive. To solve your upload issue, you can choose to clean credentials on your computer and then attempt to sign in again.

Step 1: Open a Microsoft application, hit File > Account > under User Information choose Sign Out and then close all Office App.

Step 2: Navigate to Control Panel > User Accounts > Credential Manager and under Manage your credentials click Windows Credentials > under Generic Credentials find Office credentials and click Remove link.

Upload files to OneDrive in a free and easy way

You may find that there are several reasons for "can't upload to OneDrive", and the solutions above may be complex to operate. So is there a convenient and safe way to upload files to OneDrive? Undoubtedly, a free and safe cloud backup service - CBackup can replace your OneDrive client to sync your documents from your PC to your OneDrive account.

It offers a sync function that can help you sync files and folders to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, and multiple cloud drives.   

It can help you increase your OneDrive storage space by combining multiple OneDrive accounts or merge OneDrive with other public cloud accounts like Dropbox, Google Drive. And it offers 10GB CBackup Cloud free storage space.   

You can use it to backup and sync files from one cloud to another cloud, like migrating OneDrive to Dropbox/Google Drive.

You can upload your data to OneDrive with ease through the following guide:

Step 1: Download and install the CBackup desktop application > sign up with your information and then sign in.

Step 2: Click Storage > select OneDrive > hit Authorize Now and finish the process of authorization.

Step 3: Click Sync > hit Sync PC to Public Cloud to create a new sync task.

Step 4: (Optional) Click Settings on the left bottom to set a scheduled sync task. In the pop-out window, hit Scheduler and tick Set a Sync schedule for automated Sync and choose One time only, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly as your preference to sync your files.

Step 5: Finally, select files you want to sync to OneDrive from your PC and select a OneDrive folder as the destination > hit Start Sync and from now on your files will sync to OneDrive.

Conclusion

This article can help you resolve the error message "an item couldn't be uploaded to OneDrive", and you can find 8 solutions to fix your problem. If you want to upload to OneDrive with ease and safety, you can choose to use CBackup to upload files. Also, you can use this tool to increase your OneDrive storage space for free instead of paying money to upgrade your OneDrive accounts when you encounter insufficient storage space.