Proton Drive Not Syncing on Windows

How to fix it

// try these in order, the most common fix is first

1. FIX 1Update the app

   Copy steps
   1. 01Open the Proton Drive app menu and select About
   2. 02Click Update app if a newer version is available
   3. 03Restart the app and let sync run for a few minutes
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. FIX 2Close files open in other apps

   Copy steps
   1. 01Close Word, Excel or any other app using the file
   2. 02Check the sync status again in the Activity tab
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. FIX 3Rename items with unsupported characters

   Copy steps
   1. 01Open the Activity tab and click Show more details
   2. 02Find items marked 'The name contains characters not supported by Windows'
   3. 03Click Rename, accept or edit the suggested name and click Save
   4. 04Proton Drive retries the sync automatically
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. FIX 4Keep files from other cloud apps on the device

   Copy steps
   1. 01If the files come from OneDrive, Dropbox or similar, right-click them
   2. 02Choose Always keep on this device so Proton Drive can read them
   Did this fix it? Yes No

5. FIX 5Pause and resume sync

   Copy steps
   1. 01In the Activity tab click Pause sync
   2. 02Wait a few seconds and click Resume sync
   3. 03Don't pause while progress is moving: pausing cancels and restarts transfers
   Did this fix it? Yes No

6. FIX 6Sign out and back in

   Copy steps
   1. 01Sign out of the Proton Drive app
   2. 02Sign back in to refresh the session
   Did this fix it? Yes No

7. FIX 7Switch or disconnect your VPN

   Copy steps
   1. 01If you use a VPN (including Proton VPN), connect to a different server
   2. 02Give sync a minute to reconnect
   3. 03If it still doesn't move, disconnect the VPN briefly to test
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

Files saved in the Proton Drive folder never appear on the web or other devices, the Activity tab shows items stuck or failed, or sync shows complete while files are still missing elsewhere.

Why it happens

• C-01Outdated Proton Drive Windows app
• C-02File open in another app (for example a Word document open in Word)
• C-03File or folder names with characters Windows doesn't support
• C-04Files set to online-only by another cloud storage app
• C-05Expired or stale app session
• C-06Congested VPN server or network problem

// this guide also covers

• proton drive not syncing
• proton drive windows not syncing
• proton drive sync stuck
• proton drive sync not working

The same problem in other apps

All sync failures guides →

• Sync.com Not Syncing or Stuck Indexing (Sync.com)
• pCloud Not Syncing or Sync Stuck (pCloud)
• Google Drive Not Syncing (Google Drive)
• Dropbox Not Syncing (Dropbox)
• iCloud Photos Not Syncing (iCloud)

Other Proton Drive errors

• Proton Drive Not Syncing on Mac
• Why Is Proton Drive So Slow? Uploads and Downloads
• Proton Drive Photo Backup Not Working
• Proton Drive on Linux: No Desktop App (Workarounds)
• Proton Drive rclone 'Too Many Recent API Requests'
• Proton Drive Duplicate Files and 'Name Clash' Conflicts
• Proton Drive Storage Full: Sync and Uploads Stopped
• Proton Drive Free Storage Only 2 GB (How to Get 5 GB)