OneDrive (Windows 11): New local files remain "Pending sync" indefinitely while continuing background processing

Question

OneDrive (Windows 11): New local files remain "Pending sync" indefinitely while continuing background processing

Vojte 20

Hi,

I've been investigating a persistent OneDrive desktop client issue for several weeks. Since the usual troubleshooting steps did not resolve it, I collected diagnostic data and tried to narrow the problem down before asking here.

I'm hoping someone familiar with the OneDrive desktop client or its synchronization engine can advise whether this matches a known issue or recommend additional diagnostics.

Environment

Windows: Windows 11 Insider Preview (Build 26200.x)

Account: Personal Microsoft account

Filesystem: NTFS

Files On-Demand: Enabled

Main symptom

Cloud-to-PC synchronization continues to work normally.

However, newly created local files never upload.

For example:

C:\Users\<username>\OneDrive\global sync test.txt

The file remains Pending sync indefinitely and never appears on OneDrive Web.

During the same period, the OneDrive client repeatedly alternates between Searching for changes and Up to date while continuing background processing.

Resource usage

Immediately after restarting OneDrive:

Handles:      1,246 
CPU time:     70 s
Working Set:  ~405 MB

Approximately five minutes later:

Handles:      136,270 
CPU time:     380 s
Working Set:  ~470 MB

The handle count continues to increase over time, and CPU time keeps rising while the client cycles between Searching for changes and Up to date.

Troubleshooting already performed

The following steps have already been tested without resolving the issue:

Restarted OneDrive

Ran OneDrive.exe /reset

Unlinked and relinked the Microsoft account

Reused the existing local OneDrive folder during relink

Removed unsupported symbolic links from Known Folder Backup locations

Verified SQLite database integrity (PRAGMA quick_check)

Confirmed that cloud downloads continue to function normally

Verified that the Windows USN Journal is operating correctly

The behavior remains unchanged after all of these steps.

Timeline

May 2026: First OneDrive crashes appeared in Event Viewer.

Late May 2026: Newly created local files stopped uploading.

June–July 2026: The issue persisted across multiple OneDrive client updates.

August 2026: Additional troubleshooting completed, including reset, account relink, database integrity checks, and removal of unsupported symlinks. The problem persists.

Additional observations

ODL logs repeatedly contain references to components such as:

RepairFSIDCache
HandleRecycledFile

I'm mentioning these only as observations from the logs, not as a claim that they represent the root cause.

Event Viewer also contains repeated OneDrive-related failures dating back to the beginning of the issue, including APPCRASH, Watson reports, SkyDriveClientError, CoreApi.cpp references, and exception codes such as 0x80004005, 0xe06d7363, and 0x80000003.

My questions

At this point, I'm mainly interested in understanding what additional information would help diagnose the problem.

Specifically:

Has anyone encountered similar behavior where cloud downloads continue to work but newly created local files remain pending indefinitely?

Is this a known failure mode of the OneDrive desktop client?

Is there a supported way to determine whether newly created local files are being accepted by the desktop client's synchronization engine before upload begins?

Are there any additional diagnostics or logging that would be useful before opening a Microsoft support case?

I can provide ODL logs, Event Viewer exports, WER reports, SQLite integrity check results, resource usage measurements, and other relevant diagnostic information if that would help.

If this behavior is not expected, I'd be happy to collect additional diagnostics or test potential fixes.

Thank you.

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Answer 1

Kai-H 26,580 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi, Vojte

This does not look like a normal “Sync pending” icon problem. One-way syncing combined with rapidly increasing handles suggests the client is repeatedly failing while processing the local change queue. I could not confirm this as a documented known issue, but the Insider build is an important factor because preview builds may be substantially changed before release.

Yes, similar upload-only failures can occur, but your handle growth and repeated crashes make this suitable for escalation rather than more routine cleanup. As an isolation test, unlink OneDrive again but select Choose new folder instead of reusing the existing folder. Create one small text file there. If it uploads, the fault is tied to the old local sync root. If it still fails, test the same account on a stable Windows 11 device or installation.

There is no supported user-facing tool that confirms a file has entered OneDrive’s internal upload queue. The Activity Center only shows files that are syncing or recently synced.

Before contacting support, reproduce the problem through Feedback Hub by pressing Win + F, selecting Report a problem, and enabling problem recreation so Windows captures diagnostics. Include the exact reproduction time, Windows build, OneDrive version, handle-count screenshots, Event Viewer exports, and WER files. Feedback Hub can collect feature-specific diagnostic data and accept screenshots or key files. Share the resulting Feedback Hub link in the support case so the diagnostic package can be correlated.

Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you.

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Kai-H 26,580 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-11T06:14:34.6733333+00:00

Hi, Vojte

It has been a while and I am writing to see how things are going with this issue.

Have you had a chance to check the replies provided?

Any update would be appreciated.
Vojte 20 Reputation points

2026-08-11T12:27:59.0633333+00:00

Hi Kai,

Thank you for your detailed reply.

I completed the test as you described.

I unlinked OneDrive again, selected Choose new folder, and created a completely new local sync root on another drive (D:\OneDrive)

After the initial synchronization completed, I created several new local files, modified existing files, and confirmed that every change uploaded successfully to OneDrive on the web, typically within 1–2 seconds. I also modified files through OneDrive on the web and verified that those changes downloaded correctly to the local folder. I repeated this upload/download cycle several times, and every test completed successfully.

I monitored the OneDrive process for several minutes during these tests. Unlike the previous sync root, the handle count remained stable at around 1,950 handles and did not continue increasing. CPU and memory usage also remained stable throughout the test.

This is the first time the client has behaved normally since the issue began.

These results suggest the problem is associated with the previous local sync root or its local synchronization state rather than the Microsoft account, network connection, or the OneDrive service itself.

I also attempted to publish a Feedback Hub report as you suggested, but my Microsoft account is currently unable to publish Feedback Hub reports because of account age restrictions.

Thank you again for your suggestion. This test was the first step that clearly isolated the problem.
Kai-H 26,580 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-11T13:48:56.8666667+00:00

Glad to hear that you've made some progress.

If you need anything else, feel free to get back.