Solved: Excel Not Syncing to OneDrive | 12 Ways

What should you do if Excel not syncing to OneDrive cloud? Scroll down to get 12 ways with step-by-step guide, and find the best way to fix it.

By @Ailsa Last Updated September 30, 2024

Excel Not Syncing to OneDrive

If you use OneDrive to sync and backup files to the cloud, you can sync files, including Excel, Documents, PDF, txt files, photos, videos, and other files to OneDrive so that you can access files on any devices, like Android phones, iPhone, tablets, and computers as long as you have the Internet connection. However, you might find the Excel not syncing to OneDrive while syncing files to OneDrive. Don’t worry, here we will show you the causes and solutions to resolve it.

Why OneDrive not Syncing Excel?

According to our investigation, Excel not syncing to OneDrive due to the following reasons:

  • Unstable Internet connection.
  • Unsupported file types.
  • Invalid file name.
  • OneDrive cloud storage is full.
  • OneDrive client bugs.
  • Too many programs open and use up the bandwidth.

To solve OneDrive Excel not syncing problem, you can find the following solutions to fix it, just get it for reference.

How to Fix OneDrive Excel Not Syncing Issues

If you cannot upload Excel to OneDrive, you can try the following solutions one by one until fixing it.

Way 1. Restart your computer

Frankly speaking, restarting the computer can solve most of the problems, including Excel not syncing to OneDrive, and other computer problems.

1. Tap the Windows icon on the bottom left of your desktop, and select the power icon > Restart.

2. Wait for your computer to restart and open your OneDrive desktop app only.

3. Upload the Excel by dragging and dropping it into the OneDrive folder.

Then it should be solved. Or you try the way 2 to fix it.

Way 2. Restart OneDrive

If you use the OneDrive desktop app to upload Excel to OneDrive, you have to restart OneDrive to fix the bugs, then try again to upload Excel to OneDrive directly.

Here are the steps to restart OneDrive:

1. Tap the OneDrive icon on the system tray, and click the Help & Settings icon > Quit OneDrive.

2. Wait for OneDrive to close, and input OneDrive in the Windows Search box, select OneDrive to make it run normally.

3. Then sync Excel to OneDrive and it should be solved.

Way 3. Check the Internet Connection

Excel not syncing to OneDrive could be caused by an unstable Internet connection, so please ensure you have a good connection while syncing Excel to OneDrive. You can connect your computer to the wired network instead of Wi-Fi, then upload files to OneDrive and check if the problem is solved or not.

Way 4. Check the File Types

According to the OneDrive limitations, you cannot upload temporary files to OneDrive, like TMP files, the files that are used by your computer, and more, but you can sync PST files to OneDrive.

Please check your file types, and sync again, or you can close all the applications to upload files to OneDrive normally.

Way 5. Check Your Excel File Path

Sometimes, the long path of the Excel files can be the cause to prevent files from syncing to OneDrive. Make sure you have a file path of fewer than 255 characters. Please shorten the path for the Excel if it is longer than the supported file path lengths. Or try another solution.

Way 6. Check the Excel File Name

OneDrive cannot sync files containing these characters: ~ " # % & * : < > ? / \ { | }., so make sure your file name does not contain any of them, then upload Excel to OneDrive again.

Way 7. Check File Size

OneDrive limits the file size in different ways, the Excel cannot be uploaded to OneDrive if the file size exceeds the max file size limit.

OneDrive website max file size limit per file: 250GB.

OneDrive desktop app max file size limit per file: 20GB.

If your Excel is larger than the limited file size, you have to compress it, then upload it to OneDrive.

Way 8. Check OneDrive Suggestion

As a matter of fact, if you cannot upload Excel to OneDrive, you might get an error message from OneDrive, like there is a sync issue in OneDrive, click to learn more about this issue and how to resolve it some things like this, which means that OneDrive will show you the cause about the Excel not syncing to OneDrive, and helps you troubleshoot it.

Then follow the prompts to fix the OneDrive not syncing problems, and sync Excel to OneDrive again.

Way 9. Check OneDrive Cloud Storage

OneDrive only provides the free 5GB cloud space for you, and it’s not enough for most of the people, and your files will stop syncing to OneDrive once your OneDrive is full.

Please go to the following steps to check it:

1. Please log in to your OneDrive account on the website.

2. You can see OneDrive storage used from the left control panel.

Tips: You can also go to the Settings icon on the top right, then choose Options > Manage storage, and you can see the used OneDrive storage, which allows you to empty recycle bin to free up space.

3. If you have enough cloud storage just go to the next solution, or tap the Buy storage button to get more OneDrive storage space.

Besides, if your OneDrive storage is full and cannot upload Excel to OneDrive, you can increase OneDrive cloud storage for free by merging multiple OneDrive accounts or even combining OneDrive with other clouds, like Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. So, you don’t have to pay more for a long-term expenses.

Way 10. Close All Other Applications

Sometimes, you will get this problem if you opened many programs and these problems use the files that you want to upload to OneDrive so that you cannot upload Excel to the OneDrive cloud. Besides, other programs will occupy the bandwidth, which makes the sync process difficult to finish.

Way 11. Force OneDrive to Sync Excel

OneDrive desktop app might encounter a problem that makes you cannot upload files online, you can try to pause syncing and resume syncing to manually force OneDrive to sync.

1. Ensure you have installed the OneDrive desktop and signed in.

2. Tap the OneDrive icon > Help & Settings icon > Pause syncing > select 2 hours, 8 hours, or 24 hours you like.

3. Then OneDrive will show you the information: Your files are not currently syncing, tap or click here to resume syncing and keep your files up to date.

4. Tap the information to resume syncing Excel to OneDrive.

Note: Besides, you can wait for the OneDrive automatically sync Excel to the cloud when the pause syncing time is over.

Way 12. Check OneDrive Manage Backup Section

Sometimes, you might disable OneDrive manage backup for your Excel folder somehow, you have to enable it to make OneDrive sync Excel automatically. The steps listed below to enable manage backup for Excel:

1. Tap the OneDrive icon on the system tray, then select Help & Settings > Settings.

2. Under Sync and backup section, click the Manage backup button.

3. Check the option behind the Documents and click the Save changes button to sync Excel to OneDrive easily.

2 Tips for OneDrive Excel File Not Syncing

If you still cannot fix OneDrive Excel not syncing according to the above solutions, you can try the below useful tips.

Tip 1. Better Way to Sync Excel to OneDrive

Fortunately, there is free cloud backup service - CBackup can help you sync files to OneDrive directly and quickly.

  • It supports mainstream clouds, like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, FTP, SFTP, and more.
  • There is no file size limitation or transfer speed limit.
  • You can upload any file, like Documents, Excel, PowerPoint, Images, Videos, Audio, and many other file types to the cloud.

Here is how to sync Excel to OneDrive via CBackup:

1. Please download the CBackup desktop app on your computer, then sign up and sign in.

Download CBackupWin 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
Secure Download

2. Tap Storage, select OneDrive > Authorize Now, then follow the guide to finish the authorization.

3. Select Sync > Sync PC to Public Cloud in turn.

4. Choose Excel in the Source section, and select a folder in OneDrive as the target.

5. Press the Start Sync button to sync Excel to OneDrive quickly.

★Tips: There are some useful features for you in Settings (bottom left):
The Scheduler will help you sync files to OneDrive hourly, daily, weekly, and even monthly, which is especially useful to perform unattended sync tasks.
Email Notification and File Filter helps you to get emails about the sync task and sync the files you like, which saves your cloud storage and sync time.

Tip 2. Try Other Clouds instead of OneDrive

OneDrive is not stable according to the user experience, so you might encounter OneDrive isn’t connected, OneDrive Files On-Demand not working, OneDrive download not working, etc. If you don’t want to use OneDrive anymore, you can migrate OneDrive to Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. Here CBackup can also do you a big favor, here is how to migrate OneDrive to Google Drive via CBackup:

1. Tap Storage > Add Cloud > Google Drive > Add to add Google Drive to CBackup if you have added OneDrive.

2. Tap Sync > Sync Public Cloud to Public Cloud.

3. Hit New Task in the pop-up window.

4. Hit Add Source to select OneDrive as the source, and hit Add Destination to choose Google Drive as the target.

5. Press the Start Sync button to migrate OneDrive to Google Drive directly without downloading and re-uploading.

Besides, you could use CBackup to protect your computer file as well as cloud files with the following features:
Cloud to cloud backup, and you could backup files between Onedrive accounts, and the version cleanup will help you manage the backup versions.
Offers 5GB free cloud storage of CBackup Cloud, which can upgrade to 1TB, 5TB, etc., at a good price. CBackup uses 256-bit AES Encryption and a standard OAuth authorization system to safeguard your data.
Backup files to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc., directly and quickly.

The End

Now, you have known the effective ways to fix Excel not syncing to OneDrive, just follow the solutions to resolve. If you still have problems uploading Excel to OneDrive, you can try the free cloud backup service CBackup to backup or sync files to OneDrive easily and quickly. Besides, it can help you to increase OneDrive cloud space for free.