This Item Name or Type Isn’t Allowed in OneDrive – How to Fix 

OneDrive is a handy way to back up and transfer files between devices, and access your data wherever you go, provided you can actually get it uploaded, of course. Today, we aren’t looking at connection or syncing issues, but a smaller, but no less frustrating problem – your file name or type not being allowed.

In this article, we’ll be dealing with the “This item name or type isn’t allowed” error and what you can do to get past it.

Fixing the “This Name or Type Isn’t Allowed” Error

While primarily revolving around the nature and name of your file or folder, this error has a few other potential causes. Because of this, we’ve provided a few fixes below:

Check the Name of Your File or Folder

Let’s start with the likeliest offender. Just like Windows, OneDrive has its own naming restrictions for files and folders. The major ones include:

• A file path cannot exceed 400 characters
• Names cannot include certain characters (much like Windows), such as: “, *, :, <, >, ?, /, and |. These are used by the service itself and can interfere with the programming
• Certain file names are already in use by OneDrive (albeit secretly) and can’t be used either: .lock, CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM0 – COM9, LPT0 – LPT9, _vti_, desktop.ini
• Any file name starting with a ~$ sign or a space
• Specific file extensions, like “.tmp,” “desktop.ini,” “.ds_store,” “.pst,” “.asmx,” and “.aspx.” Some “.exe” files will also not be accepted

If you suspect that any of these is causing the issue, renaming is easy to do. Simply right-click your file in Explorer to rename it, or click once and the file name itself. Try uploading it afterwards.

Use the Web Client Instead

If you can’t upload to OneDrive via your PC, you can load up the web app on any browser and upload there. Simply sign in to your Microsoft account, and drag and drop your problematic file into the browser window to upload directly. If it works, then your problem may lie with a OneDrive sync error.

Unlink and Relink Your PC

If you’re struggling with syncing issues, then the solution might be to relink your OneDrive account to your PC – after unlinking it, of course. Here’s how:

Step 1. Open up your OneDrive via the icon in the System Tray.

Step 2. Click the Settings icon and navigate to the “Account” tab.

Step 3. Select the “Unlink this PC.”

Step 4. Once unlinked, reopen the OneDrive app.

Step 5. Enter your login details and sign in. Try uploading your file again.

If you’re still struggling after this step, then you can try clearing the app’s cache before relinking your account and device. Here’s what to do:

Step 1. Go through the steps above and unlink OneDrive.

Step 2. Open the Run dialog (Win + R) and type “%localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset” before pressing “Enter.”

Step 3. Your app cache should reset (caches sometimes cause upload and download issues).

Step 4. Relink your OneDrive to your machine and try the upload again.