Back up your folders with OneDrive

Every computer has standard folders such as Desktop, Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos which you probably use but might not be included in your OneDrive. By backing up these folders to your OneDrive, they're protected and available across all your devices. 

Fix problems with folder backup

 Here are a list of errors you might see when you set up folder backup. Expand a section to see how to resolve them.

Folder backup not including Desktop & Documents in macOS

To enable back up of your important folders (Desktop, and Documents) in macOS, you need the following:

1. The standalone sync app, not the app from the Mac App Store. Uninstall any other versions of OneDrive then download the sync app.
   Download
2. Your macOS device must have Full Disk Access enabled. Go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy Preferences > Privacy and add OneDrive to the list of applications. Learn more.

Folder protection is unavailable

A common reason for this error is that important folders on that are connected to a domain can't be protected in a personal OneDrive account (when you're signed in with a Microsoft account). For info about data protection solutions, contact your IT administrator. You shouldn't have this issue with a work or school account.

File exceeds the maximum path length in Windows

Make sure the entire file path, including the file name, contains fewer than 260 characters. An example of a file path is:
C:\Users\<UserName>\Pictures\Saved\2017\December\Holiday\NewYears\Family…

To resolve this, shorten the name of your file or the name of subfolders in OneDrive, or select a sub-folder that's closer to the top-level folder.

File exceeds the maximum file size

OneDrive can't sync files over 250GB. Remove these files from the folder you want to protect and then try again.

The file name isn't allowed in OneDrive

File names can't start with a space or include any of these characters: \ : / * ? < > " |. Please move or rename the file to continue. Learn more.

The folder isn't selected for syncing

The folder with the error is not syncing to your PC. To resolve this error, open OneDrive Settings (right-click the white or blue cloud icon in your notification area, and select Settings), select Choose Folders, and then make sure the folder you want to protect is selected. If Pictures is showing this error, make sure that Pictures, Screenshots, and Camera Roll are all selected (or don't exist). It's also possible that the OneDrive folder has a different name from the Windows important folder.

Important folders aren't in the default locations

The folder with the error contains another important folder and can't be protected until the contained folder is moved. Important folders that may be contained within the folder include: Documents, Desktop, Pictures, Screenshots, Camera Roll, or the OneDrive folder.

An unknown error occurred, with error code 0x80070005

If you receive error code 0x80070005, the "Prohibit User from manually redirecting Profile Folders" group policy is enabled. You may find that the files from the folders you selected were moved to identically named folders in your OneDrive folder, and the original locations are empty. Move the folder contents back to the original locations and ask your administrator whether the policy can be changed.

Folder contains a reparse point (junction point or symlink)

The folder you want to protect contains a special file type that links parts of the file system together. These items can't be protected. To protect the folder, remove the file causing the issue.

Post PC folder backup

OneDrive tries to automatically re-open notebooks that were previously open. In rare cases, some notebooks may not be automatically loaded in the OneNote desktop app after PC folder backup. Workaround for this issue is to reopen the notebooks in the OneNote app using File > Open.

"File is open and cannot be moved" error

Any open files cannot be moved. Save and Close the file and try again. 

"OneNote notebooks can't be moved" error

If you try to stop back up for a folder that contains OneNote notebooks, you will see the “OneNote notebooks can’t be moved” error because Notebooks are cloud-based files and cannot be moved to your computer. 

Folder backup not including Desktop & Documents in macOS.

Need more help?

Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in OneDrive

If your OneDrive is always showing Processing changes when Outlook is open, you might try removing the Outlook .pst data file from OneDrive.