SOLVED: Quick OneDrive Setup & Limitations Video

In this short OneDrive tutorial, we explain and demonstrate how to use OneDrive then start and configure OneDrive to connect to your Office 365 storage space.

What File Names and Extensions Cannot Be Used with OneDrive?

This list changes periodically as Microsoft is constantly improving the OneDrive service.  However as of February 2021, the following file names are incompatible with OneDrive and will cause OneDrive to not backup or sync those files resulting in a cloud icon with a red X in it.

• .lock, CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM0 – COM9, LPT0 – LPT9, _vti_, desktop.ini,
• any filename starting with ~$
• “_vti_” cannot appear anywhere in a file name
• “forms” isn’t supported when the folder is at the root level for a library.

What Characters Are Not Compatible With Microsoft OneDrive?

Again, Microsoft is improving the OneDrive service constantly so the list of blocked characters gets smaller from time to time.  However, as of February 2021 the following characters are not allowed in files that sync to OneDrive.

OneDrive for Home Limitations

• ” * : < > ? / \ |
• Leading and trailing spaces in file or folder names also aren’t allowed

The older list of incompatible characters was as follows and not all Office 365 tenants have been upgraded to the new standard so if you are having problems syncing with OneDrive and you see these characters if rejected files, I would just rename them:

• ~ ” # % & * : < > ? / \ { | }.
• Leading and trailing spaces in file or folder names also aren’t allowed

What is the File Size Limit For OneDrive?

Microsoft used to have a 10GB limit on individual files, then in 2020 they upped that limit to 100GB and Microsoft just announced that the maximum size for any single file is now 250GB.  Well, to be more accurate, that limit will apply to all accounts by the end of March 2021, which is likely when you are reading this.