# Desktop app known issues
Source: https://nordvec.com/sk/docs/guides/desktop/known-issues#files-that-are-not-synced

## Files that are not synced [#files-that-are-not-synced]

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 [#a-files-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 [#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 [#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 [#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 [#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 [#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 [#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 [#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 [#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 [#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.