In this article, we will explain what causes this error and provide you with solutions to fix it.
What causes ‘The tag present in the reparse point buffer is invalid’ in Windows?
As mentioned earlier, this error is caused by a problem with files and folders that are synced to OneDrive. The error message ‘The tag present in the reparse point buffer is invalid’ typically occurs when there is an issue with a reparse point, which contains metadata about the file or directory. If this metadata is corrupt or contains invalid data, Windows will display the following error. There are three different errors involved in the pop-up:
“Location is not available“, “File is not accessible”, and “The tag present in the reparse point buffer is invalid.“
Regardless of the variation of this error, the cause and fixes are almost identical and can be followed if you are facing this issue. Let’s start resolving this issue!
How to Fix this issue?
We have three solutions for this problem that you can perform and check if these solutions fix the issue you are facing. Each of them is listed below with detailed steps and explanations.
1. Install the latest Windows updates
Before you move on to any of the other fixes below, you should start by installing any pending updates that might still be waiting to get installed. The reason why is important is that Microsoft has already released dozens of hotfixes aimed at improving the stability of the OneDrive integration on both Windows 10 and Windows 11. To ensure that you’re taking advantage of every fix released by Microsoft, access the Windows Update component and install every pending update either you’re on Windows 10 or Windows 11. Follow the instructions below for step by step instructions on how to do this: If the same OneDrive issue is still ongoing, move down to the next potential fix below.
2. Reset the OneDrive cache folder
Several affected users dealing with the same kind of issue have confirmed that they managed to get the issue resolved by resetting the entire OneDrive cache while being signed in with an administrator account. Follow the instructions below to reset the entire OneDrive cache using an elevated Command Prompt: In case clearing OneDrive the cache didn’t do anything in your case, move down to the next potential fix below.
3. Run a CHKDSK scan
If none of the issues above have been effective in your case, there’s a high chance you’re dealing with an issue rooted in some kind of system file corruption affecting the junction files that the OneDrive On-Demand feature uses. In a scenario like this one, the best course of action should be to run a CHKDSK scan from an elevated command prompt in order to replace the corrupted OneDrive junction dependencies with healthy equivalents. Important: Before getting started with this method, it’s important to understand that running this type of repair will require a system reboot at the end of this procedure. Before moving forward, makes sure you save any document you might be currently working on. Once you’re ready to deploy a CHKDSK scan, follow the on-screen instructions below to deploy a CHKDSK scan:
