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Google Drive is Not Syncing on Windows 11: How to Fix it

Clear the app cache or tweak the bandwidth settings

7 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Several readers have reported that Google Drive is not syncing on Windows 11. And since most people prefer using Google Drive for its enhanced safety and options, this issue ultimately affects many people.

Thankfully, this guide will give you many solutions that will help you resolve theGoogle Drive not syncingon Windows 11 problem.

Why is Google Drive not syncing on my Windows 11 PC?

After some research, we found many common reasons that would not allow Google Drive to sync on your Windows 11 PC.

What can I do if Google Drive is not syncing issue on my Windows 11 PC?

1. Re-enable the sync process

2. Delete the Desktop.ini file

Google Drive often creates a Desktop.ini file that prevents from syncing. However, you can safely delete it by following the above process and checking if this resolves the Google Drive is not syncing on my Windows 11 issue.

3. Reinstall Google Drive

If some installation files are missing for Google Drive, then this could result in the program misbehaving. However, you can quickly try reinstalling the program and resolving the problem.

4. Turn off Windows Firewall

Chances are that the aggressive Defender Firewall settings are blocking the Google Drive sync process on your Windows 11 PC. You can turn off the Windows Firewall Defender and check if this resolves the Google Drive is not syncing on Windows 11 issue or not.

You can do the same with any of your third-party antivirus software. However, we suggest you immediately turn on the Firewall or antivirus as soon as you sync your files, as it protects you from being vulnerable to cyber attacks.

If you are confused about which antivirus to go for, we have a guide that lists some of the best andtested antivirus software you can use on your Windows 11 PC.

5. Run Google Drive as an admin

For some operations, Google Drive may ask you for admin permissions, which you can grant by following the abovementioned steps.

6. Check Google Drive storage

You should ensure that you have sufficient storage space in Google Drive. If there isn’t much space left, you won’t be able to move any files to your cloud storage, and the sync process will pause.

If the Google Drive storage is full, you can delete the unwanted files to make room for the file you wish to sync.

7. Check bandwidth settings in Google Drive

For the sync to work correctly, Google Drive requires sufficient download and upload speeds. You can uncheck the bandwidth settings and check whether this resolves the issue.

8. Reconnect your account

If there are some issues with your Google account, then you will also have issues with Google Drive. In such a case, we suggest you disconnect your Google account from Drive and reconnect it after waiting some time to fix the problem.

9. Clear the app cache

Cache files save all of your personalized settings for the app; if it gets corrupt, this could cause issues with your program.

In such a scenario, we suggest you follow the above steps, clear the app cache, and hopefully resolve the problem at your end.

10. Use the web version

If you are still having issues syncing your files to Google Drive on Windows 11, we suggest you use the web version. The web version is often free from such petty issues and works as efficiently as the desktop version.

11. Check if the Stream files option is enabled or not

That is it from us in this guide. Finally, we have a guide to help youfix Google Drive’s unable-to-connectproblem.

For users facing the wrongGoogle Drive quota issue, we suggest you refer to our guide and fix the problem.

We would also like you to check out our guide on fixingGoogle Drive that keeps crashing on Windows 10, 8.1, and 7. For users facingGoogle Drive saying you are not signed inerror, please check out our guide by clicking the link.

You can also refer to our guide and fix the“Whoops! There was a problem previewing this document” Google Drive error.

Feel free to let us know in the comments below which one of the above solutions fixed the problem of Google Drive not syncing on Windows 11.

Google Drive is Not Syncing on Windows 11: How to Fix it#

Why is Google Drive not syncing on my Windows 11 PC?#

What can I do if Google Drive is not syncing issue on my Windows 11 PC?#

1. Re-enable the sync process#

2. Delete the Desktop.ini file#

3. Reinstall Google Drive#

4. Turn off Windows Firewall#

5. Run Google Drive as an admin#

6. Check Google Drive storage#

7. Check bandwidth settings in Google Drive#

8. Reconnect your account#

9. Clear the app cache#

10. Use the web version#

11. Check if the Stream files option is enabled or not#