why would my OneDrive suddenly be processing over 40,000 changes?

I have the same issue, it's been "processing changes" for days now.

I suspect, and this is just a hunch, and I have zero proof, that since MS is pushing AI tools down everyone's throats, this "reindexing" is some kind of AI-analysis during which all files are being "touched" and, as a result, changed (on a metadata level), so now OneDrive has to sync all those changes.

I cannot think of any other reason, maybe except for MS going full vibe coding mode and their codebase have been poisoned by poor quality AI slop.

It's a sad state, I really used to trust MS with this kind of stuff and am a - for now happily - paying customer, but if goes further this route I will have to move my files elsewhere.

same issue.. and it's May 2025..

had this before and couldn't find a resolution, save for letting OneDrive finish the 'processing'
OneDrive sits there counting down 'Processing xxxxxx changes'
Restarting OneDrive makes it reset and count up, to get it's restart point and then continue counting down.

OneDrive is out of action until the 'processing' completes.
You cannot open/edit/save any office (Word/Excel) documents until the 'processing changes' clears and gets to 0.
No new documents sync until after the 'processing' reaches 0

This is effectively a DOS (Denial Of Service) attack/bug or whatever..
OneDrive and the computer are out of action for hours or days, until this 'processing' completes.

My speculation:

• Is it an issue at Microsoft where they have had to restore the storage data (no data loss) but all the sync pointers have been lost so it has to scan through the whole contents of your OneDrive?
• Is it (given the current geopolitical crisis) Government agencies taking copies of data and buggering up the 'sync' pointer?
• Just a plain bug in the client or the host? Maybe a buffer overload or similar that causes the client or host to crash buggering up the sync pointers?
• This seems to happen more on oneDrive accounts that have >40k files [I have several OD accounts]

David (Nobby) Barnes

Wait, I thought the reason why this is happening has already been explained? It's Microsoft doing an upgrade to their OneDrive systems from v1 to v2. You just need to wait for the files to re-process. Some users have reported that signing out and re-signing in has helped increase this re-processing rate.

I am having the exact same problem brought up in this thread. One Drive tray icon tells me it is updating greater than 235,000 files AND I have not made any changes to my One Drive folders or files. Files are there in the Browser window, and in the Windows Explorer folders. The number of files being processed varies greatly meaning 100k changes up and down when I look multiple times. Once when I looked it said processing 8,000 changes. Now back up into over 150k. I think posting to a new thread is a dumb idea. It appears that this is the same problem for everyone that replied here. Of course maybe Md Nahid Sultan is trying to say to us that Microsoft will ignore our problem unless there are massive amounts of people creating the same post about the same issue.

Dear CyleEarwood,

Good day to you!

I hope you are doing well. Thanks for reaching out to our Microsoft Community Forum. We will be happy to help you.

According to your description, OneDrive has started syncing a large amount of data. Occasionally, sync issues can cause OneDrive to reprocess files. This behavior may occur if there was a temporary disruption in the synchronization process. When this happens, OneDrive may need to reprocess files to ensure everything is up to date.

Can you recall if you recently added new files or made any changes to the files in the OneDrive folder? Changes such as renaming files, reorganizing folders, or uploading new content could trigger reprocessing.

If you’d like to temporarily stop the process, you can pause syncing by following these steps:

• Click on the OneDrive icon in the system tray.
• Click on the Settings icon (gear icon).
• Select Pause syncing and choose a duration.
• When you’re ready, click Resume syncing to restart the process.

To better understand and address the issue, I’d like to ask for a few clarifications:

1. Are you encountering any error messages during the syncing process? If yes, could you please share the exact error message or a screenshot?
2. Could you provide screenshots of the OneDrive process, or the specific files being reprocessed? This will help us identify the root cause and offer more targeted guidance.

We need to first clarify the information before we can determine the subsequent troubleshooting plan, so we are sorry that we cannot directly provide a solution.

I am looking forward to your response for further assistance.

Thank you for your understanding. Your cooperation and contributions are greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Nahid Sultan