[Solved] “Make Sure Onedrive Is Running on Your PC Then Try Again”

Given that you are signed in to your OneDrive account, you can generally access the OneDrive files on your PC without any problem.

However, you can see the error message “make sure onedrive is running on your pc then try again” when accessing an online-only file.

While the message can seem daunting, just opening or restarting the OneDrive application generally solves the problem. However, you may sometimes require additional fixes.

So, without further delay, let’s get into the article to resolve the error message and avoid getting it in the future by tweaking several OneDrive settings.

How to Fix the “Make Sure Onedrive Is Running on Your PC Then Try Again” Error 

Before you move on to the fixes below, you can try restarting the application. 

For this, click the OneDrive cloud icon on the taskbar. If you don’t find it there, expand the Show hidden icon. (up arrow icon on the taskbar) and click it.

Now, click the gear icon and select Quit OneDrive. 

Also, ensure you aren’t trying to access the files while the sync is paused. You can resume it by selecting the Resume syncing option. See if it works.

Otherwise, you can go through the various fixes mentioned below in the article.

Disable Files on Demand

OneDrive has an on-demand feature that allows you to make your files only available online to save space on your local drive. 

Therefore, when you try to access an online-only file when OneDrive is closed, you will get the above error message.

You can look at the icons on the OneDrive files to know their status. A file with a blue cloud icon means the files are online-only and aren’t available on your device unless you open it. Also, you should be connected to the Internet to download them.

You can turn off the file on-demand feature and enable the Always keep on this device option to access them even when you are offline.

Nonetheless, here’s how you can disable the Files On-Demand feature on Onedrive to avoid getting the error message.

1. Open OneDrive and navigate to the Settings option.
2. Click the Settings tab.
3. Then, under the Files On-Demand section, uncheck the “Save space and download files as you use them” checkbox.
4. Click OK.
5. Relaunch and navigate to the OneDrive folder.
6. Next, right-click on each online-only file and select the Always keep on this device option. Alternatively, you can do it for the entire folder.
7. Check if the problem has been resolved.

Unlink the PC

You may get the error message if you have changed the OneDrive default location to a different location on the PC. So, unlink and relink the OneDrive account to avoid getting the error message.

However, copy its contents to another location and then continue to unlink your PC as follows.

1. Press Windows + S and search for “onedrive.”
2. Now, click the OneDrive cloud icon from the taskbar. Then, click the gear icon in the top right corner and select Settings.
3. Next, under the Account tab, click Unlink this PC and click OK.
4.  Reboot your PC and log in to your OneDrive account.
5. On the Your OneDrive folder prompt, ensure you have the default location(C:\Users\[Username]\OneDrive). Otherwise, click the Change location and set it to the default.
   
6. Check if your problem has been solved.

Use the Onedrive Web Version

If you are having problems using the OneDrive desktop application, you can use the OneDrive from the web as an alternative. 

For this, open a browser and log in to the Onedrive official website. Then, check if you are facing the same issue there.

Update OneDrive

An updated app comes with bug fixes and improvements; therefore, update the app to resolve your issues.

For a Windows system, OneDrive comes pre-installed, and it updates automatically. 

However, if you have the OneDrive app installed on your mobile, you need to update them manually.

Here’s how you can do it.

On Android

1. Open the Play Store app.
2. Tap your profile icon in the top-right corner.
3. Navigate to Manage apps and device > Manage.
4. Tap on Updates available and select Microsoft OneDrive.
5. Next, tap on Update next to it.
   

On iPhone

1. Open the App Store app.
2. Then, tap the profile icon in the top right corner.
3. Next, scroll to the Microsoft OneDrive app.
4. Tap the Update button next to it.

Reinstall OneDrive

As a last resort, you can reinstall the application to get rid of the error message. Here’s how you can do it for different devices.

On Windows

1. Press Windows + R and type the command appwiz.cpl.
2. Now, select Microsoft OneDrive from the list of applications.
3. Click Uninstall next to Organize.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions and continue the uninstallation process.
5. Then, press Windows + R and type %localappdata% .
6. Select and open the OneDrive folder and delete its contents. Or, save its contents somewhere else on your PC and delete them.
7. Download the OneDrive application and install it again on your PC.
8. Check if you are having any issues with the new application.