The File On-Demand functionality lets you access OneDrive files on your Windows computer without downloading first. That way, users can save some storage on their computers while running low. However, if the OneDrive is showing the above-mentioned error message, it might be very frustrating when you are in a hurry.
Why does this error occur
There are mainly two reasons why a user can find this issue on his/her computer. Whenever the OneDrive requires to display files as per the user’s demand, it is mandatory to have Windows Cloud Filter Driver or cldflt.sys running in the background. If it is not running as it should be, there is a chance of getting this error message. Secondly, even if the Windows Cloud Filter Driver is running, users can get this problem if it is not attached to the drive where the sync folder is placed. By default, this ‘drive’ is the C drive, but it can be different in your case.
OneDrive cannot connect to Windows
To fix OneDrive cannot connect to Windows error when accessing files, follow these steps- To know more about these steps, keep reading.
1] Verify if Windows Cloud Filter Driver is running or not
To verify whether the Windows Cloud Filter Driver is running on your computer or not, you can take the help of Command Prompt. A couple of commands can help you out, no matter whether you need to verify or enable it. To get started, run Command Prompt with administrator privilege, and type this command- Hit the Enter button. After that, type the following command- After pressing the Enter button, your Command Prompt should display a result like this-
The STATE should show as 4 RUNNING. If it is showing anything else, it is the time to enable it on your computer. For that, type the following command in the Command Prompt window- Press the Enter button. If nothing wrong happens, you should see a success message saying [SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS. Now, you should restart your computer and check if you can access the file or not. If not, the other guide might be helpful for you.
2] Verify if Windows Cloud Filter Driver is attached to the drive
If the cldflt.sys is not linked to the driver where the sync folder is located on your Windows computer, you can find this error message. It happens after an update or malware attack. Therefore, you need to verify this setting. The best thing is that you can do this job with the help of Command Prompt. At first, you need to follow this guide to open an elevated Command Prompt window on your Windows computer. After opening it, paste the following command- and hit the Enter button. You should see a result like this-
If it is showing anything else, you need to execute this command- You should keep in mind that the “c” in the above command is the drive where the OneDrive folder is placed on your PC. Now restart your computer and use the Files On-Demand as usual. Related read: Fix OneDrive sync issues & problems on Windows 10.
