When you’re using the Groove sync client, it’s easy to get sync error notifications. Sometimes they are an easy fix and sometimes you can spend a lot of time trying to first locate and then correct issues. A quick way to fix OneDrive For Business/SharePoint sync issues is to stop syncing the affected folder, renaming it (you’ll see why), and then sync it fresh.
It can be a bit scary to stop syncing a folder the first time. You wonder if anything will happen to the contents of that folder. Here’s what happens:
- you’ll get a message/warning that your files won’t sync anymore – say OK. This is what you want to do.
- you’ll notice the ‘S’ icon disappears and there is just the regular folder icon. This means it’s not syncing anymore, but all your files are still in there – see the graphic.
- it’s a good idea to rename the folder because when you start your fresh sync from on-line, it’ll put a ‘1’ at the end of the folder name. This is because you can’t have 2 folders with the same name.
- after your site is synced fresh again, you can take the time to compare the folder size to the now unsynced folder and make sure all files are there. You can even open specific documents to check this out.
- When you are synced up again, then you can delete the old folder, or save it for a while, if you wish.
All The Steps are In the Video
Watch the 4-minute video for all the steps to get your folders in sync again. The distinguishing among the sync clients is near the beginning.
It’s an easy way to quickly get your folders back into sync. One thing that happens when you do a resync – all the folder dates will then default to the current date. Some people really don’t like that feature – not sure if they are working to eliminate this or not.