Google’s success is mainly because of its strategy to make its apps available on all of your devices. If you upload any file on your Laptop, you can access it from your phone, even if you are away from your Laptop.
And, sometimes you may forget to transfer your important presentation files to your device. The google drive feature is very handy, as you can not carry all of your devices at the same time.
How to Fix Google Drive Not Syncing on Windows?
But still, sometimes your Google Drive can not sync it to your Windows 10. This issue won’t come up always. Here are some solutions we are offering. I guarantee you that it is easy peasy lemon squeezy to solve this issue. 🙂
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Method 1: Pause It!
This is a user recommended solution in which pausing the Backup and Sync option can rectify this issue. To do so,
Step 1: Click on the Backup and Sync icon in the system tray.
Step 2: If the icon is not visible, then click on the arrow in the bottom right corner of the screen to expose the hidden icons.
Step 3: Then click on the ‘three dot’ option to view the pause.
Step 4: After a while, check this option again.
Step 5: It will show Resume.
Step 6: Click on resume and check your google drive now.
Methdo 2: Restart Backup and Sync
Another user recommended hack is to quit and restart the Backup and Sync option.
Step 1: Click on the Backup and Sync icon in the system tray
Step 2: Then select Quit Backup and Sync option.
Step 3: Now the syncing will be stopped.
Step 4: In order to restart the sync, search for the software in the windows search and launch it.
Step 5: Now, the icon will be available in the system tray again.
Step 6: This process may take a few minutes. So, please wait before relaunching the apps.
Method 3: Reinstall Backup and Sync
Now that you have tried to stop and restart the Backup and Sync option, the next method is to uninstall your software from the system. There is a chance that the present version you have is corrupted.
Step 1: ClickWindows+I to open windows settings and select apps.
Step 2: Select Apps & Features on the menu.
Step 3: Search for Backup and Sync in the search bar.
Step 4: Click on it and then press the uninstall button.
Step 5: To reinstall it, click on the following link: https://www.google.com/drive/download/
Method 4: Choose the Correct Account
Most of us have different google accounts for our work and personal life. So, in order to access your drive, it is important that you have signed into the correct account.
Step 1: Click on the Backup and Sync icon in the system tray to view your profile details.
Step 2: See if you can find the account that you want to sync to your system.
Step 3: If you can not find the account that you want to access, click on Add account.
Step 4: Follow the process that is mentioned in the appeared dialog box.
Step 5: Then select a different folder location for Google Drive.
Step 6: Ensure that you select different folders for different google drive accounts.
Step 7: This is important to avoid confusion in syncing.
Method 5: Sync Folder Settings
If your account is already added to your device, then the issue might be due to the file sizes. If your files are large, then this syncing issue might happen. There is an option to sync only some files. So, if you have large files, it is advisable to use this option to ensure the smooth functioning of the drive. If you do not have any large files, but the syncing problem is persistent, then do the following.
Step 1: Click on the Backup & Sync option in the system tray.
Step 2: In the popup, select Preferences.
Step 3: On the left side, select Google drive.
Step 4: Make sure that Sync My Drive to this computer is selected.
Step 5: And select the ‘Sync everything in My Drive’ option.
Step 6: Click OK to save these settings.
If you want only specific folders to be synced, then click on Sync only these folders option.
Method 6: Check Firewall Settings
Basically, firewalls have a protective shield in your system, that prevents our systems from being attacked by malware and other hackings. But in some cases, the firewall may even block the backup and sync option to sync properly thinking that it is a threat. To rectify this, do the following.
Step 1: Press Windows+I and search Firewall.
Step 2: Click on ‘Allow an app through Windows Firewall’.
Step 3: In the list, see if the Backup & Sync is enabled to “allow” in both the public and private columns.
If you use any antivirus software, then also check if that application is interfering with Google’s Backup and sync option.
Method 7: Run as Administrator
Sometimes, Google may be denied permission in order to function normally. There might be a lack of administrative rights of the user account.
Step 1: Again go to the Windows search option and browse for Backup & Sync.
Step 2: Right-click on it.
Step 3: Select “Run as administrator”.
Step 4: By doing so, google drive will get admin rights and also the permissions to function as it wants.
Step 5: Now that the drive has the permission of an administrator, no possible restrictions can happen to the drive account. And the syncing will proceed smoothly.
Method 8: Change Proxy Settings
If you are using a Proxy, then Google Drive won’t sync in your system. To rectify it, do the following.
Step 1: In the system tray, select the Backup & Sync icon
Step 2: Select “Preferences”
Step 3: Click on Settings in the left panel
Step 4: Press the Network Settings.
Step 5: Under the proxy settings, select the option, “Direct connection”
Step 6: Click OK and save the settings.
Step 7: After doing this step, google can be able to bypass the proxy settings now.
Google Drive will be synced now.
If you want to use your proxy again, then use the google recommended hosts and ports to have a seamless experience.
Method 9: Delete desktop.ini File
When your google drive can not sync with the system, then it will record the resulting error in a file, which will be saved as “desktop.ini”. This file will be usually hidden.
Step 1: Open the windows explorer
Step 2: Browse the folder in which the unsyncing problem is present.
Step 3: To unhide the files, go to the view tab and select Options.
Step 4: Select the Change folder and search options.
Step 5: A dialog box will appear.
Step 6: In the view tab, select “Show hidden files, folders and drivers”
Step 7: Click on save.
Step 8: After this step, go to the folder in which the unsyncing problem is present.
Step 9: Search the “Desktop.ini” file and delete it.
Step 10: Now, refresh the screen. Check now if the drive has synced now.
Method 10: File Size and Name Length
Google Drive provides free storage for 15GB of data. If you have used all of your space, then too unsyncing issue might happen. To check this,
Step 1: Go to the system tray and select Backup and Sync.
Step 2: The free space will be displayed.
Step 3: If you have consumed much of the free space, then try to delete any unimportant files or copies of the same files to get free space.
Step 4: Or else, copy the files to your system’s hard drive, if all your files are important to you.
Well, last but not the least, we have the ultimate yet unexpected reason.
1. If you try to sync a file with its name containing more than 255 characters, then too it might be an issue. Because 255 is the maximum limit for a file’s name.
2. If any of your files have a large file name, then rename the file and then try to sync again.
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Conclusion
Google is an amazing platform for storing, sharing, and accessing your files. It actually desires to manage your data efficiently. The data google processes daily is humongous. But still, they manage to avoid major technical glitches. Recently though, there was a major technical glitch and the whole world got to know about it in a few minutes. This is the power and influence of Google. Some glitches might happen at times. That is completely normal. Though glitches are present, the data is not messed up. It is just that syncing was not proper in this case.
Moreover, if there is a problem of unsyncing, then it would have been rectified by any of our prescribed suggestions.
