Problem : navigating my OneDrive folders in Windows Explorer is so slow as to be almost unusable. The problem appears to worsen as the working day progresses. This may be relevant to my working theory (see below). Problem Behavior : Double-clicking on any OneDrive file/folder in the left-hand folder tree window works fine, but if you right-click on anything, or single-click on its drop-down chevron, it brings up the "processing" blue circle icon, and the green loading-progress tape moves very slowly across the address bar at the top of the screen. Selecting any operation in the right-click dropdown menu creates the same problem. Right-clicking on a file or folder in the right-hand (main) window creates the same problem. Each delay lasts 10-30 seconds. That is a lot longer than perhaps it sounds. The only way to move between OneDrive folders in Explorer without triggering one of these delays is to left double-click. Moving files or folders must be done with drag-and-drop, not right-clicking; deleting files or folders must be done by navigating to the target item using keyboard arrow keys, then by using the DEL key, not a right-click action. Clearly this is unworkable nonsense. The issue is confined to OneDrive folders in Explorer. Local drives, local detachable storage (like USB keys or externals) and other cloud storage destinations are all stable and responsive in the normal way. My Downloads folder is periodically affected by latency issues also - particularly around loading of image files in MS Photo. This may or may not be relevant, so I am not detailing those here. Rendering of previews for any file in any folder in Explorer is unreliable, and prone to slowness. Again, unsure if relevant. Troubleshooting : I do not have the same problem when navigating OneDrive: in a web browser on my Windows Desktop machine (Firefox, Chrome, Edge - all work fine) on my MacBook Pro from a mobile device OneDrive is lightning fast and very stable in all these contexts. I have a venerable iPhone 7 (2016 model) and an even older iPad Air 2 (2014 vintage). Both handle OneDrive folder navigation just fine, both through local apps and online through a browser. Clearly the issue is local, not server-side, and clearly it is peculiar to my Windows 10 Desktop installation. Other details : I am also running DropBox and iCloud on all my devices. Both of these locations are lightning-fast in Windows Explorer, so this is evidently not a connectivity issue (and anyway, as noted above, the problem is also affecting my local Downloads folder - again, not a problem I am seeing on my MacBook). I have ample processing, storage and memory resources: Processor: i9-9900K CPU @ 3.60GH GPU : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Memory: 32Gb Local Storage: 1TB SSD (OS) (25% used) / 4TB 7200RPM HD (Local OneDrive File Storage) (20% used) Yes, I am still running Windows 10, but - looking at relevant threads reporting the same issue - it appears the problem is also affecting Win11 users. I shut down my desktop machine at the end of each working day. Working Theory : is this issue being caused by Windows Search Indexing in some way? I did observe Search Indexing consuming huge amounts of resource in Task Manager during a particularly bad episode. I investigated by pausing indexing and restarting Explorer and on one occasion this appeared to fix the problem, but there have been many other occasions when indexing was not going on in the background and yet the problem remained. Microsoft: please step in and help us - it is clear from other threads here and on other boards that this is a widespread and longstanding issue.

I followed all the instructions but the issue still remains. It's so annoying

Hello, Thanks for reaching out! I'm Microsoft user like you. Please try to Unlink your OneDrive account -> Reboot your PC -> Link again your OneDrive account from OneDrive App. As you mentioned you are also using iCloud , Please try to Uninstall or Disable it as some Its been resolved for some users after disabling iCloud, Here is reference thread : https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/onedrive... In case of additional questions, reach out back to me, and I will be happy to help and try our best to resolve your issue. Best Regards, Prakash

Hello Thanks for your reply and Information. I apologize that the fix does not solve the issue. Let's check more options from other experts. Please wait for them to reply here. Best Regards, Prakash

@pmt83 - thank you for taking the time to reply, but de-linking and re-linking OneDrive is not a solution, it's a "try switching it off and on" suggestion. De-linking (which I have tried in the past) just creates a huge local cataloguing backlog on your desktop machine, and then the problem promptly re-appears anyway. Many threads contain this suggestion. To anyone else reading this: don't bother. Similarly, I can't see how iCloud is the culprit here: the desktop iCloud integration is basically just an API call with a fancy frontend. It is not causing the issue between OneDrive and File Explorer. Finally this is not an issue confined to iCloud users or Win10 or Win11 - clearly everyone using File Explorer is having this issue. No - this is something in the guts of the WinOS/OneDrive API and MS needs to step up and release a fix. This problem has been vexing OneDrive/MS 365 users for YEARS. Not only is it seriously degrading the UX for all users, it fatally undermines the viability of MS 365 as a cloud-native enterprise solution.

OneDrive very slow in Windows Explorer

Anonymous

Problem: navigating my OneDrive folders in Windows Explorer is so slow as to be almost unusable. The problem appears to worsen as the working day progresses. This may be relevant to my working theory (see below).

Problem Behavior:

Double-clicking on any OneDrive file/folder in the left-hand folder tree window works fine, but if you right-click on anything, or single-click on its drop-down chevron, it brings up the "processing" blue circle icon, and the green loading-progress tape moves very slowly across the address bar at the top of the screen.
Selecting any operation in the right-click dropdown menu creates the same problem.
Right-clicking on a file or folder in the right-hand (main) window creates the same problem.

Each delay lasts 10-30 seconds. That is a lot longer than perhaps it sounds.

The only way to move between OneDrive folders in Explorer without triggering one of these delays is to left double-click. Moving files or folders must be done with drag-and-drop, not right-clicking; deleting files or folders must be done by navigating to the target item using keyboard arrow keys, then by using the DEL key, not a right-click action. Clearly this is unworkable nonsense.

The issue is confined to OneDrive folders in Explorer. Local drives, local detachable storage (like USB keys or externals) and other cloud storage destinations are all stable and responsive in the normal way.

My Downloads folder is periodically affected by latency issues also - particularly around loading of image files in MS Photo. This may or may not be relevant, so I am not detailing those here.

Rendering of previews for any file in any folder in Explorer is unreliable, and prone to slowness. Again, unsure if relevant.

Troubleshooting: I do not have the same problem when navigating OneDrive:

in a web browser on my Windows Desktop machine (Firefox, Chrome, Edge - all work fine)
on my MacBook Pro
from a mobile device

OneDrive is lightning fast and very stable in all these contexts. I have a venerable iPhone 7 (2016 model) and an even older iPad Air 2 (2014 vintage). Both handle OneDrive folder navigation just fine, both through local apps and online through a browser.

Clearly the issue is local, not server-side, and clearly it is peculiar to my Windows 10 Desktop installation.

Other details:

I am also running DropBox and iCloud on all my devices. Both of these locations are lightning-fast in Windows Explorer, so this is evidently not a connectivity issue (and anyway, as noted above, the problem is also affecting my local Downloads folder - again, not a problem I am seeing on my MacBook).
I have ample processing, storage and memory resources:

Processor: i9-9900K CPU @ 3.60GH

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080

Memory: 32Gb

Local Storage: 1TB SSD (OS) (25% used) / 4TB 7200RPM HD (Local OneDrive File Storage) (20% used)

Yes, I am still running Windows 10, but - looking at relevant threads reporting the same issue - it appears the problem is also affecting Win11 users.
I shut down my desktop machine at the end of each working day.

Working Theory: is this issue being caused by Windows Search Indexing in some way? I did observe Search Indexing consuming huge amounts of resource in Task Manager during a particularly bad episode. I investigated by pausing indexing and restarting Explorer and on one occasion this appeared to fix the problem, but there have been many other occasions when indexing was not going on in the background and yet the problem remained.

Microsoft: please step in and help us - it is clear from other threads here and on other boards that this is a widespread and longstanding issue.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

Hi,

I'm Pedro A, Independent Advisor

I've had some problems with OneDrive very similar.

The following procedure helped me to solve them.

In step 3, deleting the 3 files indicated is essential to help solve the problem.

You can only run step 3 and do a test, but I suggest you run the full procedure

Procedure:

1 - In the start menu, type CMD and choose the option "Run as Administrator"

When opening the Command Prompt, type:

taskkill /f /im OneDrive.exe

and hit enter

The command above terminates all program processes that may be running in the background.

2 - Access the link below and install the "App Installer"

https://www.microsoft.com/store/productID/9nblg...

3 - Open up File Explorer, click View and then check Hidden items box to view all hidden folders. This is required as some folders like AppData are hidden by default

Navigate to the following location

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft

(Replace “UserName” with your user name.)

Now, look for "OneDrive" > "Setup" > Logs folder

Locate the files named below and delete them:

userTelemetryCache.otc

userTelemetryCache.otc.session

parentTelemetryCache.otc

4 - Click Start menu and search for Windows PowerShell, open with Admin privileges.

Copy and paste the following command by hitting enter after each one

(When a conformation message appears, type Y)

winget uninstall Microsoft.OneDrive

(This command will uninstall OneDrive)

5 - Now let's install Onedrive.

With PowerShell open with administrative privileges run the following command

winget install Microsoft.OneDrive

(This command will install OneDrive)

After the installation process is finished, restart Windows and test

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102 additional answers

Anonymous

2023-07-18T18:53:46+00:00

I followed all the instructions but the issue still remains. It's so annoying
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Anonymous

2023-04-24T10:46:52+00:00
Hello,

Thanks for reaching out! I'm Microsoft user like you.
1. Please try to Unlink your OneDrive account -> Reboot your PC -> Link again your OneDrive account from OneDrive App.
2. As you mentioned you are also using iCloud , Please try to Uninstall or Disable it as some Its been resolved for some users after disabling iCloud,
Here is reference thread :

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/onedrive...

In case of additional questions, reach out back to me, and I will be happy to help and try our best to resolve your issue.

Best Regards,

Prakash
Was this answer helpful?

1 person found this answer helpful.

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Anonymous

2023-04-24T12:07:18+00:00

Hello

Thanks for your reply and Information.

I apologize that the fix does not solve the issue. Let's check more options from other experts. Please wait for them to reply here.

Best Regards,

Prakash
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2023-04-24T12:02:54+00:00

@pmt83 - thank you for taking the time to reply, but de-linking and re-linking OneDrive is not a solution, it's a "try switching it off and on" suggestion. De-linking (which I have tried in the past) just creates a huge local cataloguing backlog on your desktop machine, and then the problem promptly re-appears anyway. Many threads contain this suggestion. To anyone else reading this: don't bother.

Similarly, I can't see how iCloud is the culprit here: the desktop iCloud integration is basically just an API call with a fancy frontend. It is not causing the issue between OneDrive and File Explorer.

Finally this is not an issue confined to iCloud users or Win10 or Win11 - clearly everyone using File Explorer is having this issue.

No - this is something in the guts of the WinOS/OneDrive API and MS needs to step up and release a fix. This problem has been vexing OneDrive/MS 365 users for YEARS. Not only is it seriously degrading the UX for all users, it fatally undermines the viability of MS 365 as a cloud-native enterprise solution.
Was this answer helpful?

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