What the status is telling you
Microsoft names five reasons OneDrive stays on Processing changes:
- A OneDrive file is open.
- A lot of files were added to OneDrive.
- A very large file was added.
- You are not signed in.
- You have just signed in, or updated the computer.
Most of those end on their own, as long as the Mac stays awake and online. The rest of this page is for when it does not.
First, pause syncing and resume it
The status has sat on Processing changes for hours, and the Mac has stayed awake and connected the whole time.
Microsoft's own advice for a status that will not move is to pause syncing and start it again. They give the same advice for a slow or metered connection.
Fixcontrol-click the OneDrive icon in the menu bar and pause for 2 hours. Then select the paused icon and resume. Give it a few minutes before you judge it.
If a file stored in OneDrive is open on the Mac, close it first. Microsoft names an open file as one of the reasons the status stays up.
Look for a file name OneDrive will not take
The same file is named in the OneDrive menu every time you look, and nothing behind it moves.
Some names are refused outright. Microsoft's list of what a name cannot contain is short, and one stray character is enough.
- These characters:
" * : < > ? / \ | - A space at the start or the end of the name.
- The names
.lock,CON,PRN,AUX,NUL,COM0toCOM9,LPT0toLPT9,_vti_anddesktop.ini. - Any name that starts with
~$.
Length counts too, and Microsoft publishes three numbers that do different jobs. The entire decoded file path in the cloud, including the file name, cannot exceed 400 characters. Any single file or folder name is limited to 255 characters on macOS, and a longer name will not sync to the Finder.
The number that stops everything is 520. Microsoft says that when a synced file's full path passes it, OneDrive shows a path is too long notice and the sync app quits until that item is resolved.
That 520 is a different measurement: the path on your Mac, up to 400 characters, plus the OneDrive root folder, up to 120 characters. That local 400 is not the cloud 400 above; it is one part of the sum that stops sync. A deep folder inside a long-named OneDrive folder can pass 520 while every part of the name looks reasonable.
Fixrename the file, or drag it out of the OneDrive folder onto the Desktop for now. A folder buried many levels deep is shortened the same way. Then pause syncing and resume it.
Check your Microsoft storage
Nothing uploads at all, not even a small file, and the OneDrive website shows the storage bar near its end.
Microsoft's wording is plain: if you exceed your Microsoft storage, you will not be able to upload, edit, or sync new files to your OneDrive.
This is the storage on your account, not the space on the Mac. The two run out separately, and the next section is the other one.
Fixsign in at the OneDrive website and read the storage figure there. Freeing room on the account, or buying more, is the only thing that clears this one.
Check the free space on the Mac
Uploads go but downloads never finish, and macOS has started warning you that the disk is nearly full.
A file marked online-only stays in the cloud until you open it, and Microsoft says those files do not take up space on your computer. Opening one downloads it to the Mac, and that download needs room. Marking a folder Always keep on this device makes new files in it download to the Mac as always-available files. Microsoft's way to get everything local is to select the folders and the files, not the folder on its own.
Apple menu > System Settings > General > Storage shows what is left. Our page on a Mac that is out of storage covers reading that figure and making room.
Fixgive the disk room if it is nearly full. In the OneDrive folder, control-click a folder you rarely open and choose Free up space, which turns those files back into online-only ones. They then need an internet connection to open.
Sign in again
Nothing has synced since you changed your password, or the menu keeps asking you to sign in and the sign-in never sticks.
Microsoft's Mac page gives three steps in order: unlink the Mac, delete the saved OneDrive sign-in, then sign in again.
Unlinking is milder than it sounds. Microsoft says no data is lost by unlinking and re-linking, and that the local folders are only disconnected from the cloud for a while. Files already downloaded stay on the Mac.
Fixin the OneDrive menu open Preferences, then Account, then Unlink this Mac. In Keychain Access, delete the OneDrive Cached Credential entry. Open OneDrive again, sign in, and pick the same folder you were using.
After you link it again, Microsoft says OneDrive will not download all your files, only their placeholders, so the folder fills back in without pulling everything down.
Steps to leave for last
Resetting is what Microsoft keeps for when the rest has failed. It disconnects every sync connection the app has and starts a full re-sync.
You will not lose data — Microsoft says so plainly. There are still two costs. Point it at the same folder as before, or unchanged files get downloaded all over again. And if you had chosen to sync only some folders, you have to choose them again once it finishes.
Fixquit OneDrive from its menu. In the Applications folder, control-click OneDrive, choose Show Package Contents, and run ResetOneDriveApp.command in Contents > Resources, as Microsoft describes.
A reinstall on its own changes none of the causes above. The reinstalled app meets the same file, the same full account and the same saved sign-in.
The short version
- Pause syncing and resume it first. Microsoft gives that step for a status that will not move.
- One file can hold up the rest: a refused character, a name over 255 characters, or a full synced path over 520.
- Out of Microsoft storage means nothing new uploads, edits or syncs at all.
- Downloads need free space on the Mac. Free up space turns files back into online-only ones.
- Unlink, clear the saved sign-in, sign in again. Reset last, and point it at the same folder.