iCloud Drive Causes File Explorer to not Refresh Automatically

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Level 1

14 points

iCloud Drive Causes File Explorer to not Refresh Automatically

I have been using iCloud Drive on my desktop PC for years without any major issues. But recently, I found that when I make changes to files (I mean any file, not just the ones in the drive), File Explorer does not show the change immediately. For example, if I create a folder in desktop, I need to manually refresh to see it being created; if I rename it, then I need another refresh to see the name change (and open it). Meanwhile, file explorer takes up a large chunk of my system resources (9% of a R7 3700X, which is a lot).

I tried many solutions found online, including fresh reinstall of Windows, yet none of them worked. Finally, I tried to use restore points. After waiting for the restore to finish, I found that it failed because it could not read the iCloud Drive stuff.

Then I tried to disable iCloud Drive on the iCloud panel. Surprisingly, this SOLVED THE GLITCH!

Does anyone have an idea what happened? What configuration do I need to change if I really want to use iCloud Drive on my PC? (since most of my documents are on it and I don't want to migrate files unless it becomes necessary)

Thanks!

Windows, Windows 10

Posted on Mar 24, 2020 3:45 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Andrew Carter

Level 1

50 points

Mar 26, 2020 12:14 PM in response to Gilbert_T

I believe I'm seeing the same thing on both my personal and work ThinkPads. It is even worse than the no update in Explorer - it seems to hang on restart/shutdown too. I uninstalled iCloud and did multiple restarts and testing of explorer and it all works now. I think this may be related to the recent iCloud update. No idea where the fault lies but it seems to be an issue.

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Answer 2

AFKAMP

Level 1

4 points

Apr 17, 2020 9:06 AM in response to Gilbert_T

You just don't know how much you have helped me! I was literally going crazy trying to figure out the problem. I was having reboot/restart issues, chrome would not stop running in the background and failed to reopen when I closed it, and I couldn't see new files in explore unless I refreshed. I did a clean install of windows, replaced my hard drive, and searched tons of forums trying to find the issue. And as it turns out it was iCloud all along. Thanks for posting this!

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