Preparing to upload on OneDrive stuck

Various types of sync issues like sync stopped, sync interrupted, and upload stuck are the most common issues with any cloud storage service. OneDrive is no exception, and most users have the same complaints. Here today, we are going to discuss how to solve OneDrive says preparing to upload for a long time.

Why is OneDrive stuck on preparing to upload?

There can be many reasons why OneDrive is stuck on preparing to upload. We have listed some of the more common ones:

How to fix OneDrive preparing to upload is taking forever

Now, you can try the solutions beneath to resolve “OneDrive preparing to upload on Windows 10/8/7 and Mac” with ease.

Way 1. Pause and resume OneDrive sync

Pausing and then resuming syncing helps reconnect OneDrive, making file uploads work properly.

Step 1. Click on the OneDrive icon on the Taskbar.

Step 2. Hit Help & Settings, click Pause syncing, and select a pause option.

Step 3. Wait a few moments for OneDrive sync to stop, tap OneDrive Help & Settings, and click Resume syncing to start OneDrive uploading.

Way 2. Check if file name is too long

If you are syncing multiple files, check that your file names do not contain invalid characters or that the file names are too long (less than 255 characters). Besides, when your OneDrive upload exceeds the limit, it may also cause the file upload to get stuck. This is one of the most effective but overlooked tips to help resolve OneDrive not uploading files issues.

• Invalid characters in file/folder name: " * : < > ? / \ | are not allowed in file and folder names in OneDrive for home, OneDrive for work or school.
• Invalid file types: ~ " # % & * : < > ? / \ { | }. are not allowed in file and folder names in OneDrive for work or school.
• Upload limit per day: Maximum file upload size updated to 250 GB on OneDrive in 2021.

Way 3. Manage your OneDrive/local storage

If you don't have enough space on OneDrive, you may encounter OneDrive constantly preparing to upload issues. You can go to the OneDrive Manage Storage page to check what is taking up your space and free up OneDrive space by emptying Recycle Bin.

Simultaneously, you should make sure that there is sufficient free space on your hard drive so that OneDrive can run properly. You can right-click the hard drive, choose Properties, click Disk cleanup on the General page, and delete redundant files to make room.

Way 4. Uncheck files on demand on OneDrive

According to OneDrive users, if your OneDrive preparing to upload on Mac takes a long time, unchecking OneDrive Files on Demand is a very helpful method. This can avoid files opening online.

Step 1. Access the OneDrive desktop settings, and select the Settings tab.

Step 2. Deselect Save space and download files as you use them under File on Demand, and click OK.

Step 3. Head to the OneDrive folder, right-click the folders/files you are uploading and choose Always keep on this device.

Way 5. Update OneDrive

If you are running an old version of OneDrive, chances are that you might face plenty of setbacks while uploading data. Many users find that after updating their OneDrive, they are able to fix OneDrive preparing to upload stuck, and synchronize files properly.

Step 1. Uninstall the current OneDrive by clicking Start > Settings > Apps > Microsoft OneDrive > Uninstall.

Step 2. Download the latest OneDrive client, and run it on your PC.

Way 6. Reset OneDrive

If nothing above works, please try manually resetting OneDrive to resolve issues related to file upload.

Step 1. Press the Windows and R keys at the same time to open the Run prompt.

Step 2. Enter the command %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset, and click Enter.

Step 3. After resetting, open the Run prompt again, and input %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe to set up OneDrive and re-establish the connection.

How to upload faster to OneDrive without errors

In fact, OneDrive upload stuck is a problem that happens from time to time, and you may find that OneDrive uploads slowly for large files. If you want to avoid any upload issues and quickly upload large files to OneDrive, you can switch to a better cloud backup service, CBackup, which allows you to sync files to OneDrive without any limitations.

✍ It can easily synchronize files and folders to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, and multiple cloud storage.
✍ It provides automatic sync to help you upload changes to clouds frequently.
✍ It is capable of uploading data to clouds without size and speed restrictions, and you could run sync tasks in the background, even if you turn off your computer and the OneDrive program.
✍ Besides sync, it offers many other powerful functions, like backing up hard drive to OneDrive, Google Drive, CBackup Cloud, etc. & file restore, backup files between clouds, and so on.

Please download and launch CBackup, and follow the steps below to synchronize data to OneDrive fast:

Step 1. Register an account for CBackup and sign in to it.

Step 2. Click Storage on the left panel and select OneDrive to permit CBackup access to the cloud.

Step 3. Switch to the Sync tab, and click on Sync PC to Public Cloud.

Step 4. Choose files/folders/hard drives that you wish to upload to OneDrive, and select a OneDrive folder to save them.

Step 5. Tap on Start Sync to begin the synchronization process.

In the end

To fix “OneDrive preparing to upload” on Windows and Mac, you could resume sync, check file names, manage storage, reset OneDrive, etc. If you don't want to spend a lot of time solving OneDrive upload problems every time, CBackup is a better cloud backup tool that helps you backup/sync files to OneDrive faster and easier.

What’s more, this freeware enables you to merge multiple cloud accounts to get unlimited OneDrive storage for free.