OneDrive (MacOS) only uploads large files when computer reboots

Hi @Deepesh

Based on the information you provided, my understanding is that the issue started approximately 3 to 4 days ago and affects a OneDrive Business account on macOS Tahoe. The first large folder upload after a system boot completes successfully, but any subsequent large folder uploads stall indefinitely. Small files continue to sync normally, downloads are unaffected, and the issue persists even after extensive troubleshooting, including a complete macOS factory reset and clean reinstall.

Please test the following separately:

1. One large file in a new folder
2. Several large files copied one at a time
3. A folder containing many small files
4. The same large file uploaded through OneDrive on the web

This will identify whether the trigger is:

• An individual file’s size
• The number of files submitted together
• A particular file name or path
• The desktop synchronization client
• The account or service itself

OneDrive and SharePoint have restrictions covering file size, prohibited names, path length, and the number of synchronized items. A folder can therefore appear to be a “large-file” problem when one contained item has an unsupported name or path.

If the same file uploads successfully through the web interface while the desktop client is stalled, that would strongly point to the Mac sync pipeline rather than the storage service or file itself.

-Test the same account on a completely different machine

If at all possible, sign into the same OneDrive Business account on a completely different physical machine (another Mac, or even a Windows PC) and repeat the same test: move one large folder, let it sync, then move a second large folder without rebooting. If the second sync also stalls on different hardware, that strongly points to the account/tenant or the OneDrive client software itself, not this Mac. If it works fine elsewhere, that reopens the hardware/network angle despite the factory reset.

-Test repeated large uploads via the OneDrive web browser instead of the app

Try uploading the second large folder through a browser at onedrive.com instead of the native sync client, without rebooting first. If browser upload succeeds repeatedly with no stall, that isolates the problem specifically to the native macOS sync engine rather than the server, account, or tenant policy since the browser and the desktop client hit the backend through different code paths.

Please keep me updated.

Hello @Deepesh ,

Given that you've already done a full OneDrive reset, reinstall, unlink/relink, removed the local sync state, and even performed a clean macOS installation, I would not continue treating this as a normal local OneDrive configuration issue.

There are some recent reports of similar OneDrive for Business behavior on macOS where uploads stop unexpectedly while downloads continue to work. In one recent case, the OneDrive client was detecting local changes and accumulating failed uploads while reporting essentially no upload errors or stall condition in the UI.

Your observation that:

first large folder after boot → uploads successfully subsequent large folders → repeatedly start/stop small files still upload full reboot temporarily clears it

is particularly interesting because it suggests something in the sync/upload state is getting stuck after the first large transfer rather than a simple permission, quota, or path problem.

A couple of things I'd check before opening a Microsoft case:

• Capture the OneDrive Activity Center / sync status while the second large upload is stalled. Look for failed/pending counts rather than only the cloud icon.

• Check whether the problem reproduces with one single large file rather than a folder containing many files. That helps distinguish large-file upload handling from directory/batch processing.

• Verify the exact OneDrive build. Microsoft is still shipping frequent macOS OneDrive builds, and recent release notes show multiple consecutive builds containing sync reliability fixes.

• If possible, test one affected Mac against a different Business account/tenant. If the behavior follows the machine, it's likely client-side; if it follows the account, that points more toward the service/tenant side.

At this point, though, I think a Microsoft support case is justified. Include the fact that the issue survives a factory reset and that a reboot temporarily resets the behavior. Also provide the exact OneDrive build, macOS build, approximate size/count of the first successful upload versus the subsequent failed upload, and the time the stall begins.

I would specifically ask Microsoft to investigate the OneDrive sync/upload service state and macOS File Provider interaction, rather than just repeating the standard reset/reinstall steps.