Error to sync/copy file with more than 255 characters

[rockson]

What is the problem you are having with rclone?

I am performing a backup of Shared Drives from Google Drive to a local directory on Windows. When I attempt to copy/sync files with names exceeding 255 characters, the following message is displayed: 'The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

I've enabled the LongPathsEnabled option in Windows, and I can manually download or create a file with the same long name without any problems. The error only happens when using rclone

While searching, I found this topic. I tried to use the --inplace option, but the error persists.

Can't copy some files from remote to local drive

What is the problem you are having with rclone? I've made backups of a hard drive from a Windows machine to a Google remote and now I'm restoring the same backup to a hard drive on a Windows machine. The machine does support long paths but I keep getting errors with some files that have pretty long filenames, the errors (even when I enable debug) only say: Failed to copy: El nombre de archivo, el nombre de directorio o la sintaxis de la etiqueta del volumen no son correctos. Which means: Fail…

Run the command 'rclone version' and share the full output of the command.

rclone v1.71.1

• os/version: Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Datacenter 1809 (64 bit)
• os/kernel: 10.0.17763.7792 (x86_64)
• os/type: windows
• os/arch: amd64
• go/version: go1.25.1
• go/linking: static
• go/tags: cmount

Which cloud storage system are you using? (eg Google Drive)

Google Drive

The command you were trying to run (eg rclone copy /tmp remote:tmp)

rclone sync --verbose -vv Treinamento: E:\Arquivos\gdrive-backup\Treinamento

Please run 'rclone config redacted' and share the full output. If you get command not found, please make sure to update rclone.

Paste config here

A log from the command that you were trying to run with the -vv flag

2025/10/06 13:46:53 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.71.1" starting with parameters ["rclone" "sync" "--verbose" "-vv" "Treinamento:" "E:\\Arquivos\\gdrive-backup\\Treinamento"]
2025/10/06 13:46:53 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "Treinamento:"
2025/10/06 13:46:53 DEBUG : Using config file from "E:\\Arquivos\\rclone\\rclone.conf"
2025/10/06 13:46:53 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "drive-teste,team_drive=REDACTED,root_folder_id=:"
2025/10/06 13:46:53 DEBUG : drive-teste: detected overridden config - adding "{mf3vh}" suffix to name
2025/10/06 13:46:53 DEBUG : fs cache: renaming cache item "drive-teste,team_drive=REDACTED,root_folder_id=:" to be canonical "drive-teste{mf3vh}:"
2025/10/06 13:46:53 DEBUG : fs cache: renaming cache item "Treinamento:" to be canonical "drive-teste{mf3vh}:"
2025/10/06 13:46:53 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "E:\\Arquivos\\gdrive-backup\\Treinamento"
2025/10/06 13:46:53 DEBUG : fs cache: renaming cache item "E:\\Arquivos\\gdrive-backup\\Treinamento" to be canonical "//?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento"
2025/10/06 13:46:55 DEBUG : wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx: Need to transfer - File not found at Destination
2025/10/06 13:46:55 DEBUG : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: Waiting for checks to finish
2025/10/06 13:46:55 DEBUG : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: Waiting for transfers to finish
2025/10/06 13:46:55 DEBUG : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: File to upload is small (6505 bytes), uploading instead of streaming
2025/10/06 13:46:55 DEBUG : wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx: Updating size of doc after download to 6505
2025/10/06 13:46:55 ERROR : wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx: Failed to copy: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
2025/10/06 13:46:55 INFO  : wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowolol.55eeb1e6.partial: Failed to remove failed partial copy: CreateFile \\?\E:\Arquivos\gdrive-backup\Treinamento\wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowolol.55eeb1e6.partial: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
2025/10/06 13:46:55 ERROR : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: not deleting files as there were IO errors
2025/10/06 13:46:55 ERROR : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: not deleting directories as there were IO errors
2025/10/06 13:46:55 ERROR : Attempt 1/3 failed with 2 errors and: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
2025/10/06 13:46:56 DEBUG : wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx: Need to transfer - File not found at Destination
2025/10/06 13:46:56 DEBUG : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: Waiting for checks to finish
2025/10/06 13:46:56 DEBUG : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: Waiting for transfers to finish
2025/10/06 13:46:56 DEBUG : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: File to upload is small (6505 bytes), uploading instead of streaming
2025/10/06 13:46:56 DEBUG : wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx: Updating size of doc after download to 6505
2025/10/06 13:46:56 ERROR : wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx: Failed to copy: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
2025/10/06 13:46:56 INFO  : wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowolol.55eeb1e6.partial: Failed to remove failed partial copy: CreateFile \\?\E:\Arquivos\gdrive-backup\Treinamento\wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowolol.55eeb1e6.partial: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
2025/10/06 13:46:56 ERROR : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: not deleting files as there were IO errors
2025/10/06 13:46:56 ERROR : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: not deleting directories as there were IO errors
2025/10/06 13:46:56 ERROR : Attempt 2/3 failed with 2 errors and: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
2025/10/06 13:46:57 DEBUG : wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx: Need to transfer - File not found at Destination
2025/10/06 13:46:57 DEBUG : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: Waiting for checks to finish
2025/10/06 13:46:57 DEBUG : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: Waiting for transfers to finish
2025/10/06 13:46:57 DEBUG : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: File to upload is small (6505 bytes), uploading instead of streaming
2025/10/06 13:46:57 DEBUG : wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx: Updating size of doc after download to 6505
2025/10/06 13:46:57 ERROR : wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx: Failed to copy: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
2025/10/06 13:46:57 INFO  : wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowolol.55eeb1e6.partial: Failed to remove failed partial copy: CreateFile \\?\E:\Arquivos\gdrive-backup\Treinamento\wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowolol.55eeb1e6.partial: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
2025/10/06 13:46:57 ERROR : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: not deleting files as there were IO errors
2025/10/06 13:46:57 ERROR : Local file system at //?/E:/Arquivos/gdrive-backup/Treinamento: not deleting directories as there were IO errors
2025/10/06 13:46:57 ERROR : Attempt 3/3 failed with 2 errors and: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
2025/10/06 13:46:57 INFO  :
Transferred:       19.058 KiB / 19.058 KiB, 100%, 0 B/s, ETA -
Errors:                 2 (retrying may help)
Checks:                 0 / 0, -, Listed 3
Elapsed time:         4.0s

2025/10/06 13:46:57 DEBUG : 11 go routines active
2025/10/06 13:46:57 NOTICE: Failed to sync with 2 errors: last error was: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

I changed the filename for privacy reasons.

[kapitainsky]

@rockson

and I can manually download or create a file with the same long name without any problems. The error only happens when using rclone

Try to add--inplace flag to your sync command. Without it rclone creates initially files with names longer than their final names (at least for local destination). See more detailed description in docs.

Also note that Google Drive allows insanely long file names (10k character or similar), something no local filesystem can support. So you should pay close attention to what you copy anyway. If you have multiple files you would like to change names automatically check rclone convmv command. Among many options it has --name-transform truncate

[kapitainsky]

Sorry I see that you already tried –-inplace. And I think (would have to dig into changelogs to be sure) that rclone behaviour without --inplace became smarter which renders this advice useless in most cases anyway.

In order for somebody to investigate it further some real example would be useful. If you do not want to share your novel like real file names create some dummy one. But something real - meaning it fails with rclone and works using other means (also explain what you use). Last time I heard about NTFS long file names it was not supported by Windows own Files Explorer. Definitely about two years ago it was common knowledge not to enable this NTFS feature as it was hit and miss in terms of compatibility with even Microsoft own apps. So it was only advisable for some very special cases. But maybe it has changed by now. No idea.

[albertony]

@rockson

Local file system at //?/

By converting paths to use such a prefix, rclone uses long paths by default, documented here: Local Filesystem. Enabling the LongPathsEnabled option in Windows should not be necessary.

[albertony]

While the long path feature allows for paths of total length 32,767 characters, I’m pretty sure there is still a much shorter limit on individual path segments, although I don’t remember exactly and couldn’t find a source for it just now… In your case you have a file name which is very long, so my guess is you hit such a limit.

[kapitainsky]

@rockson

I can manually download or create a file with the same long name without any problems. The error only happens when using rclone

If this is true than it is something related to rclone IMO. Not that rclone does not support long names but maybe it uses some Windows API not aware of NTFS long file names feature.

[albertony]

If this is true than it is something related to rclone IMO. Not that rclone does not support long names but maybe it uses some Windows API not aware of NTFS long file names feature.

Oh right, good point.

To illustrate what I referred to:

Long name (262 characters) - fails with rclone and plain cmd echo command:

C:\Temp>rclone.exe touch "C:\Temp\wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx" --retries 1
2025/10/06 20:54:20 ERROR : Attempt 1/1 failed with 1 errors and: CreateFile \\?\C:\Temp\wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
2025/10/06 20:54:20 NOTICE: Failed to touch: CreateFile \\?\C:\Temp\wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

echo "" > "\\?\C:\Temp\wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx"
The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

Long path (270 characters) with shorter segments (I just inserted a path separator \ in the middle of the long name) - works:

C:\Temp>rclone.exe touch "C:\Temp\wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo\wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx" --retries 1

mkdir "\\?\C:\Temp\wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo"
echo "" > "\\?\C:\Temp\wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo\wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx"

But not unless the \\?\ prefix are in use:

C:\Temp>echo "" > "C:\Temp\wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo wololo\wololo wololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololo wololo wololowololowololowololowololo wololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololowololo.docx.docx"
The system cannot find the path specified.

[albertony]

@albertony

I’m pretty sure there is still a much shorter limit on individual path segments, although I don’t remember exactly and couldn’t find a source for it just now…

I know I have read this in some other Microsoft article, however I found one that confirms it, where the following numbers applies for NTFS:

Maximum file name length: 255 Unicode characters
Maximum path name length: 32,760 Unicode characters with each path component no more than 255 characters

(File System Functionality Comparison - Win32 apps | Microsoft Learn)

[rockson]

Hey guys, thanks for all the help and sorry for the late reply
Given this NTFS limitation, I added a new disk with ReFS to see if it would work, but I'm still getting the same error.

I've concluded that this is a Windows limitation. I ran the command:

rclone.exe touch "\\?\F:\Temp\wololo...long...path...txt" --retries 1

It successfully creates all the directories and the file. However, the file is unusable since Windows Explorer can't open it.

I finally understood how the user is creating these files. The file is created on Google Drive, and the Google Drive Desktop app syncs it to Windows as a truncated version with a ~ added to the name.

Resilient File System (ReFS) overview

It seems to be a limitation in the Win32 API rather than a file system limitation.

[kapitainsky]

Thank you for sharing your findings.