Desktop app known issues
Why the Nordvec desktop app declines a folder, skips a file, holds a removal or stops syncing, and what to do about each.
Each entry below is a decision the desktop app makes on purpose. This page is generated from the codes the app decides with, so every refusal code it can report is listed here with its cause and a workaround. If what you see is not here, report it with your app version and log file.
The app declines these folders when you pick them, and says why.
A whole drive cannot be added
What you see: A whole drive is too broad to sync. Pick a folder on it instead.
Cause: The root of a drive holds far more than documents, and watching it would make every scan and removal walk the entire drive.
Workaround: Add the folders on that drive that hold your documents, one at a time.
Your home folder cannot be added
What you see: Your account folder holds app data and settings as well as documents, and its name is your computer's account name. Pick Documents, Desktop, or another folder inside it.
Cause: Your home folder holds app data, settings and caches as well as documents, so watching it would put all of them in Nordvec. Its name is also your computer account name.
Workaround: Add Documents, Desktop or another folder inside your home folder instead.
A folder inside or around a watched folder cannot be added
What you see: This folder overlaps with a folder you are already watching.
Cause: A file in two watched folders would have two owners, and an exclusion set on one folder would not apply through the other.
Workaround: Files in a folder inside a watched folder already sync, so there is nothing to add. To watch a wider folder instead, stop watching the narrower one first: its documents leave Nordvec until the wider folder syncs them again.
These files stay on your computer and are listed on the Desktop sync page with the reason, so answers cannot cite them.
A file's path is too long
What you see: The path is too long for this system
Cause: The full path is longer than this operating system lets the app read.
Workaround: Shorten the folder or file names, or move the folder closer to the top of the drive. The file syncs once its path is short enough.
A file could not be read
What you see: This file could not be read
Cause: The operating system refused the app read access to the file.
Workaround: Give your user account read access to the file. On macOS, allow Nordvec Desktop under System Settings, Privacy & Security, Files and Folders. The app reads the file again when it changes and each time the app starts.
An item is not an ordinary file
What you see: This is not an ordinary file
Cause: It is a symbolic link, a device, a pipe or another special file. The app reads ordinary files only, so a link can never lead it to a file you did not pick.
Workaround: Add the folder that holds the real file instead of the link.
A file has more than one name on disk
What you see: This file has more than one name on disk
Cause: The file is a hard link: the same data has a second name, which can sit outside the folder you chose. The app cannot tell which folder the data belongs to, so it does not read it. Backup tools that save space this way produce such files.
Workaround: Replace the file with a plain copy of it, which has one name.
A file leads outside the watched folder
What you see: This file leads outside the watched folder
Cause: The file's path resolves, through a link or a junction, to a place outside the folder you chose.
Workaround: Add the folder the file really lives in.
A file is inside a folder you excluded
What you see: This file is inside a folder you excluded
Cause: You excluded a subfolder of a watched folder, and a file you pick inside it stays excluded.
Workaround: Turn the subfolder back on in the folder's card on the Desktop sync page, and its files sync.
A file is larger than the limit for its type
What you see: This file is larger than the limit for its type
Cause: Each file type has a size limit, checked before the file is read. If an earlier, smaller version was synced, its copy is removed so answers never cite content the file no longer has.
Workaround: Split the file into smaller files, or save it in a more compact format.
A file is empty
What you see: This file is empty, so there is nothing to search
Cause: A file with no content has nothing to search. If an earlier version had content, its copy is removed for the same reason as an oversized one.
Workaround: Nothing to do: the file syncs once it has content.
A file type cannot be searched
What you see: This file type cannot be searched
Cause: The file's extension is not one the app syncs.
Workaround: Save or export the file as one of the types in the size-limit table at the end of this page.
A file could not be added
What you see: This file could not be added
Cause: Reading the file failed for a reason other than the ones above, for example because it changed or was locked while the app read it.
Workaround: Close whatever has the file open. The app reads the file again when it changes and each time the app starts. If the same file keeps failing, report it with your log file attached.
Nothing is removed from Nordvec while the app cannot tell a deletion from a folder that is only out of reach.
Many files deleted at once stay in Nordvec until you confirm
What you see: Large deletion held for review
Cause: When more than 25% of a folder's files disappear within 7 days (in a folder of at least 20 files), the app holds their removal from Nordvec instead of carrying it out, because a moved or unplugged folder looks the same as a deletion.
Workaround: Confirm the removal on the folder's card on the Desktop sync page, or put the files back. A held removal you do not confirm is carried out on the date the page shows.
A folder that cannot be read keeps its documents in Nordvec
What you see: A synced folder is missing
Cause: When a watched folder cannot be read at all, for example on a disconnected drive or network share, the app treats it as unreachable rather than empty and removes nothing.
Workaround: Reconnect the drive, and syncing resumes. To remove the folder's documents from Nordvec, stop watching the folder.
A document in Nordvec follows its file on your computer. These are the two ways one is removed.
A document left Nordvec after its file was moved, renamed or deleted
Cause: A document is in Nordvec because its file is in a watched folder. When the file is deleted or moved out of the folder, its copy is removed. A renamed or moved file is a new path, so it syncs again as a new document.
Workaround: Put the file back, or wait for the moved file to sync. A file that is back on disk before its removal runs keeps its document.
Documents left Nordvec after you stopped watching or excluded a folder
Cause: Stopping watching a folder, or excluding a subfolder, removes its documents from Nordvec. The files on your computer are not touched.
Workaround: Add the folder again, or remove the exclusion, and its files sync again.
Each of these stops syncing for the signed-in account until it is fixed, and the app says which one it is.
Sync is off because the computer has no keyring
What you see: Nordvec encrypts your local sync data with a key from your system keyring, and this computer has none available. Install and unlock a keyring (gnome-keyring or kwallet), then sign in again.
Cause: The app encrypts its local sync data with a key the operating system's keychain protects, and never falls back to storing file names unencrypted. On Linux without a running gnome-keyring or KWallet there is no keychain to hold the key.
Workaround: Install and unlock gnome-keyring or KWallet, then sign in again.
Sync is off because a newer version wrote the local data
What you see: Your sync data was written by a newer version of Nordvec. Update the app to resume syncing.
Cause: The local sync data was written by a newer version of the app, usually because an older version was installed over it.
Workaround: Install the latest version.
Sync is off because the local sync data cannot be read
What you see: Your local sync state could not be read. Syncing is paused; reinstalling may be required.
Cause: The sync store could not be opened or read, for example because the file is damaged or its key cannot be unlocked by this user account.
Workaround: Report it with your log file attached. Do not delete the data directory first: it can hold removals that have not reached Nordvec yet.
The app syncs these file types, each up to the size shown. A larger file is listed as too large, and a type not in this table as one that cannot be searched.
| Largest file | File types |
|---|---|
| 50 MB | .csv, .docx, .htm, .html, .pdf, .pptx, .xls, .xlsx |
| 20 MB | .json, .xml |
| 15 MB | .gif, .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .svg, .webp |
| 10 MB | .md, .txt |
| 5 MB | .js, .jsx, .py, .sql, .ts, .tsx |