How to fix error: unable to create file: OneDrive folder synchronization conflict in Git

The most reliable solution is to move your Git repository to a location that OneDrive doesn't sync. This eliminates the conflict entirely.

Step 1: Close applications using the repository
Close VS Code, your IDE, and any terminals open in the repository.

Step 2: Move the repository folder
Move your project folder to a non-synced location:

# Example: Move from OneDrive Documents to a local folder
Move-Item -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\OneDrive\Documents\my-project" -Destination "C:\Projects\my-project"

Or use File Explorer to drag the folder to a new location like:
- C:\Projects\
- C:\Users\YourName\Projects\ (outside OneDrive)
- D:\Code\ (different drive)

Step 3: Update your terminal/IDE to use the new path
Open a new terminal and navigate to the new location:

cd /c/Projects/my-project
git status

Recommended folder structure:

C:\
├── Projects\              # Your Git repositories (not synced)
│   ├── project-a\
│   └── project-b\
└── Users\YourName\
    └── OneDrive\         # Synced folder (no Git repos here)
        └── Documents\

If you must keep the repository in a OneDrive folder temporarily, pause syncing before running Git commands:

Pause OneDrive:
1. Click the OneDrive cloud icon in the system tray (bottom-right)
2. Click the gear icon (Settings)
3. Select "Pause syncing" → Choose 2 hours, 8 hours, or 24 hours

Run your Git commands:

git fetch origin
git pull origin main
git checkout feature-branch

Resume OneDrive:
1. Click the OneDrive icon again
2. Click "Resume syncing"

Using PowerShell to pause/resume:

# Note: There's no official CLI to pause OneDrive
# But you can stop the process temporarily
Stop-Process -Name "OneDrive" -Force

# Run your Git operations here

# Restart OneDrive
Start-Process "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\OneDrive\OneDrive.exe"

Important: This is a workaround, not a permanent solution. Every time you forget to pause, you risk conflicts.

OneDrive creates conflict copies with your computer name appended. These are generally outdated duplicates that can be safely deleted.

Find conflict files in .git directory:

# List all conflict files
Get-ChildItem -Path ".git" -Recurse -Filter "*-*" | Where-Object { $_.Name -match "-[A-Za-z0-9]+\." }

# Or search by your computer name
Get-ChildItem -Path ".git" -Recurse | Where-Object { $_.Name -like "*-$env:COMPUTERNAME*" }

In Git Bash:

# Find files with typical conflict patterns
find .git -name "*-*" -type f | grep -E "-(PC|DESKTOP|LAPTOP)"

Delete the conflict copies:

# Preview what will be deleted
Get-ChildItem -Path ".git" -Recurse | Where-Object { $_.Name -like "*-$env:COMPUTERNAME*" }

# Delete them (be careful!)
Get-ChildItem -Path ".git" -Recurse | Where-Object { $_.Name -like "*-$env:COMPUTERNAME*" } | Remove-Item

After deleting conflicts, verify repository integrity:

git fsck
git status

If Git reports errors, you may need to re-clone the repository.

If you have Windows Pro or Enterprise, you can configure OneDrive to exclude certain file types or folders:

Using Group Policy Editor:
1. Press Win + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter
2. Navigate to: Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → OneDrive
3. Find "Exclude specific kinds of files from being uploaded"
4. Enable it and add file extensions or patterns

Note: The Group Policy Editor cannot exclude specific folder names like .git directly, but you can exclude certain file types common in Git:
- *.pack
- *.idx
- *.lock

Registry alternative (all Windows versions):
Unfortunately, there's no registry key or native OneDrive feature to exclude folders by name like .gitignore works for Git.

Windows Pro only: If gpedit.msc is not available, you're on Windows Home and this option won't work. Consider the other solutions instead.

OneDrive's "Files On-Demand" feature can cause issues when Git tries to access files that exist only as placeholders in the cloud. Forcing the .git folder to stay local may help:

Make .git folder always available:
1. Open File Explorer and navigate to your repository
2. Right-click the .git folder
3. Select "Always keep on this device"

This downloads all files in .git and keeps them local, which may reduce some conflicts.

Important limitations:
- This doesn't prevent OneDrive from syncing changes TO the cloud
- It only ensures files are always downloaded FROM the cloud
- You'll still experience sync conflicts during Git operations

Check current sync status:

# Show OneDrive status for files in .git
attrib .git\*

Look for the O attribute (offline/cloud-only) or P (pinned/always available).

If OneDrive sync has corrupted your repository beyond repair, the safest option is to re-clone:

Step 1: Backup any uncommitted changes

# Check for uncommitted work
git status
git stash list

# If you have changes, copy modified files manually
# or try to create a patch (may fail if repo is corrupted)
git diff > ~/my-changes.patch

Step 2: Move or delete the corrupted repository

# Rename the old folder
Rename-Item -Path "my-project" -NewName "my-project-corrupted"

Step 3: Clone fresh to a non-OneDrive location

cd /c/Projects
git clone https://github.com/username/my-project.git
cd my-project

Step 4: Apply your saved changes (if any)

# If you saved a patch
git apply ~/my-changes.patch

# Or manually copy files from the backup

Step 5: Delete the corrupted folder
Once you've verified the new clone works and your changes are restored:

Remove-Item -Path "my-project-corrupted" -Recurse -Force

An advanced workaround is to keep your working files in OneDrive while storing the .git directory elsewhere using --separate-git-dir:

Clone with separate git directory:

# Keep working files in OneDrive, but .git folder elsewhere
git clone --separate-git-dir="C:/GitRepos/my-project.git" \
    https://github.com/username/my-project.git \
    "$HOME/OneDrive/Documents/my-project"

For an existing repository:

# Move .git to a non-synced location
mv .git /c/GitRepos/my-project.git

# Create a .git file pointing to the real location
echo "gitdir: C:/GitRepos/my-project.git" > .git

# Verify it works
git status

Directory structure:

C:\GitRepos\                      # Not synced by OneDrive
└── my-project.git\               # The actual .git directory
    ├── objects\
    ├── refs\
    └── ...

C:\Users\YourName\OneDrive\Documents\
└── my-project\                   # Synced by OneDrive
    ├── .git                      # File containing: gitdir: C:/GitRepos/my-project.git
    ├── src\
    └── ...

This way, your source code syncs to OneDrive for backup, but Git's internal files don't cause sync conflicts.