First time uploading a file, fallowing a Guide but it still fails

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1

I try to upload a file from my desktop to my google drive. I follow a Guide but it allways fails.

I think I dont understend how to wirte the cod right.

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

PS C:\Users\USER\Desktop> rclone copy C:/Users/USER/Desktop/ניסיון2 gms740:/ניסיון --dry-run

The results:
2025/08/06 21:22:49 ERROR : Local file system at //?/C:/Users/USER/Desktop/ניסיון2: error reading source root directory: directory not found
2025/08/06 21:22:49 ERROR : Attempt 1/3 failed with 1 errors and: directory not found
2025/08/06 21:22:49 ERROR : Local file system at //?/C:/Users/USER/Desktop/ניסיון2: error reading source root directory: directory not found
2025/08/06 21:22:49 ERROR : Attempt 2/3 failed with 1 errors and: directory not found
2025/08/06 21:22:50 ERROR : Local file system at //?/C:/Users/USER/Desktop/ניסיון2: error reading source root directory: directory not found
2025/08/06 21:22:50 ERROR : Attempt 3/3 failed with 1 errors and: directory not found
2025/08/06 21:22:50 NOTICE:
Transferred: 0 B / 0 B, -, 0 B/s, ETA -
Errors: 1 (retrying may help)
Elapsed time: 1.1s

2

before trying rclone copy, make sure rclone lsd works.
and enclose the paths with quotes.

run all command with -vv --retries=1

3

The rclone lsd works good when I dont add quotes (i rwote rclone lsd "sgm740": and it didnt work)
and when i dont add -vv --retries=1
(when i add it it writes:

rcolne : The term 'rcolne' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program.
Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:1
+ rcolne ksd gms740: -vv --retries=1
+ ~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (rcolne:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException)

When I run PS C:\Users\USER\Desktop> PS C:\Users\USER\Desktop> rclone copy "C:/Users/USER/Desktop/ניסיון2" "gms740:/ניסיון" --dry-run -vv --retries=1

It writes:

Get-Process : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument 'rclone'.
At line:1 char:1
+ PS C:\Users\USER\Desktop> rclone copy "C:/Users/USER/Desktop/ניסיון2" ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (:) [Get-Process], ParameterBindingException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PositionalParameterNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetProcessCommand

And when I add the file's tipe it did somthing else:
i put

PS C:\Users\USER\Desktop> C:\Users\USER\Desktop> rclone copy "C:/Users/USER/Desktop/ניסיון2.xlsx" "gms740:/ניסיון" --dry-run -vv --retries=1

And it said:

C:\Users\USER\Desktop> : The term 'C:\Users\USER\Desktop>' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check
the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:1
+ C:\Users\USER\Desktop> rclone copy "C:/Users/USER/Desktop/ניסיון2.xls ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (C:\Users\USER\Desktop>:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException
4

that shoul be rclone

5

ok, I put

PS C:\Users\USER\Desktop> rclone lsd gms740:  -vv --retries=1

and it said. wich is the corect drive

2025/08/09 11:19:38 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.70.3" starting with parameters ["C:\\rclone\\rclone.exe" "lsd" "gms740:" "-vv" "--retries=1"]
2025/08/09 11:19:38 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "gms740:"
2025/08/09 11:19:38 DEBUG : Using config file from "C:\\Users\\USER\\AppData\\Roaming\\rclone\\rclone.conf"
2025/08/09 11:19:39 DEBUG : Google drive root '': 'root_folder_id = 0AK7mWSAP-8MeUk9PVA' - save this in the config to speed up startup
           0 2025-07-04 18:34:02        -1 ארכיון דרקון הצפון
           0 2025-07-04 18:38:50        -1 ארכיון הקבצים של החברים שלי מעודכן ל25
           0 2025-06-21 14:56:01        -1 יפן 2025
           0 2025-07-04 23:45:02        -1 למשפחה
           0 2025-08-06 21:13:21        -1 ניסיון
           0 2025-07-04 19:25:11        -1 שאריות בית הספר
2025/08/09 11:19:40 DEBUG : 4 go routines active

I treid again and run (changed the name to english to make it easy

PS C:\Users\USER\Desktop> rclone copy "c:/try" gms740:

the answer

2025/08/09 13:09:38 ERROR : Local file system at //?/c:/try: error reading source root directory: directory not found
2025/08/09 13:09:38 ERROR : Attempt 1/3 failed with 1 errors and: directory not found

how to write the file's place corectly? It allways doesnt found the file, I treid to read on the internat and see vidoes and didnt find somthing that explain

6

To copy single files, use the copyto command instead.

Use

rclone copy

to copy directory content only.

So for one file:

rclone copyto "c:/try" gms740:try
7

as i already mentioned, run all commands with -vv --retries=1 and post the full output.

very confusing, please do not do that.

post the exact command and the exact output
or
do your testing on real foldrers with real names using english and post the exact output

now, post the output of rclone ls c:\ --max-depth=1 -vv --retries=1

8

afiak, rclone copy works fine with a single file as the source

9

hmmm...

//?/c:/try: tells me that rclone tries to treat it as a remote name??? Can it be some Windows quirk?

PS. You are right re copy behaviour:

$ rclone copy ./aaa drive: -vv
2025/08/09 17:31:23 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.70.3" starting with parameters ["rclone" "copy" "./aaa" "drive:" "-vv"]
2025/08/09 17:31:23 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "./aaa"
2025/08/09 17:31:23 DEBUG : Using config file from "/Users/kptsky/.config/rclone/rclone.conf"
2025/08/09 17:31:23 DEBUG : fs cache: renaming child cache item "./aaa" to be canonical for parent "/Users/kptsky/Temp/test"
2025/08/09 17:31:23 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "drive:"
2025/08/09 17:31:23 DEBUG : drive: Loaded invalid token from config file - ignoring
2025/08/09 17:31:23 DEBUG : Saving config "token" in section "drive" of the config file
2025/08/09 17:31:24 DEBUG : drive: Saved new token in config file
2025/08/09 17:31:24 DEBUG : Google drive root '': 'root_folder_id = 0AGpO07Pd6Q4NUk9PVA' - save this in the config to speed up startup
2025/08/09 17:31:24 DEBUG : aaa: Need to transfer - File not found at Destination
2025/08/09 17:31:26 DEBUG : aaa: md5 = d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e OK
2025/08/09 17:31:26 INFO  : aaa: Copied (new)
2025/08/09 17:31:26 INFO  :
Transferred:   	          0 B / 0 B, -, 0 B/s, ETA -
Transferred:            1 / 1, 100%
Elapsed time:         2.0s

2025/08/09 17:31:26 DEBUG : 8 go routines active
10

maybe, no way to know for sure as the OP obfuscated the paths and the debug output was not posted.

11

FYI. I have tried to reproduce it on Windows 11:

PS C:\>  "Hello World" | Out-File -FilePath "C:\2ניסיון"

PS C:\> ls 2נ*


    Directory: C:\


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----        09/08/2025     17:52             28 2ניסיון

PS C:\> rclone copy "C:/2ניסיון" drive: -vv
2025/08/09 17:57:47 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.70.3" starting with parameters ["C:\\Program Files\\rclone\\rclone.exe" "copy" "C:/2ניסיון" "drive:" "-vv"]
2025/08/09 17:57:47 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "C:/2ניסיון"
2025/08/09 17:57:47 DEBUG : Using config file from "C:\\Users\\kptsky\\.config\\rclone\\rclone.conf"
2025/08/09 17:57:47 DEBUG : fs cache: renaming child cache item "C:/2ניסיון" to be canonical for parent "//?/C:/"
2025/08/09 17:57:47 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "drive:"
2025/08/09 17:57:47 DEBUG : Google drive root '': 'root_folder_id = 0AGpO07Pd6Q4NUk9PVA' - save this in the config to speed up startup
2025/08/09 17:57:47 DEBUG : 2ניסיון: Size and modification time the same (differ by -438.3µs, within tolerance 1ms)
2025/08/09 17:57:47 DEBUG : 2ניסיון: Unchanged skipping
2025/08/09 17:57:47 INFO  :
Transferred:              0 B / 0 B, -, 0 B/s, ETA -
Elapsed time:         0.0s

2025/08/09 17:57:47 DEBUG : 4 go routines active

All works.

Let's see in @sapir.a full log (like in my example)

12

I read the document you added- do I need to preper a file in the drive for this to work?

In all the posts I copy the exact commands and output and I tested of a real file. Because it didn't work, I changed the file name to English (from "ניסיון2" to "tryy") to make it easier for you and the system, and when it didn't work, I put the file in an English folder, thinking that maybe it would help. I currently have a folder called "try" with a file in it called "tryy".

In general, my hope is to be able to upload and sync folder and files even if they are not in a folder.

  1. The commend of rclone copyto "c:/try" gms740:try

A. For the file itself (I draged it out from the folder for this command):

PS C:\Users\USER\Desktop> rclone copyto "c:/tryy" gms740:tryy -vv --retries=1```

the output

2025/08/10 13:04:23 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.70.3" starting with parameters ["C:\\rclone\\rclone.exe" "copyto" "c:/tryy" "gms740:tryy" "-vv" "--retries=1"]
2025/08/10 13:04:23 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "c:/tryy"
2025/08/10 13:04:23 DEBUG : Using config file from "C:\\Users\\USER\\AppData\\Roaming\\rclone\\rclone.conf"
2025/08/10 13:04:23 DEBUG : fs cache: renaming cache item "c:/tryy" to be canonical "//?/c:/tryy"
2025/08/10 13:04:23 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "gms740:tryy"
2025/08/10 13:04:23 DEBUG : Google drive root 'tryy': 'root_folder_id = 0AK7mWSAP-8MeUk9PVA' - save this in the config to speed up startup
2025/08/10 13:04:25 ERROR : Local file system at //?/c:/tryy: error reading source root directory: directory not found
2025/08/10 13:04:25 DEBUG : Google drive root 'tryy': Waiting for checks to finish
2025/08/10 13:04:25 DEBUG : Google drive root 'tryy': Waiting for transfers to finish
2025/08/10 13:04:25 ERROR : Attempt 1/1 failed with 1 errors and: directory not found
2025/08/10 13:04:25 INFO  :
Transferred:              0 B / 0 B, -, 0 B/s, ETA -
Errors:                 1 (retrying may help)
Elapsed time:         0.5s

2025/08/10 13:04:25 DEBUG : 4 go routines active
2025/08/10 13:04:25 NOTICE: Failed to copyto: directory not found

B. I tried to uploud the file alone when it is in the folder:

PS C:\Users\USER\Desktop> rclone copyto "c:/tryy" gms740:tryy -vv --retries=1

the output:

2025/08/10 13:07:50 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.70.3" starting with parameters ["C:\\rclone\\rclone.exe" "copyto" "c:/tryy" "gms740:tryy" "-vv" "--retries=1"]
2025/08/10 13:07:50 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "c:/tryy"
2025/08/10 13:07:50 DEBUG : Using config file from "C:\\Users\\USER\\AppData\\Roaming\\rclone\\rclone.conf"
2025/08/10 13:07:50 DEBUG : fs cache: renaming cache item "c:/tryy" to be canonical "//?/c:/tryy"
2025/08/10 13:07:50 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "gms740:tryy"
2025/08/10 13:07:50 DEBUG : Google drive root 'tryy': 'root_folder_id = 0AK7mWSAP-8MeUk9PVA' - save this in the config to speed up startup
2025/08/10 13:07:51 ERROR : Local file system at //?/c:/tryy: error reading source root directory: directory not found
2025/08/10 13:07:51 DEBUG : Google drive root 'tryy': Waiting for checks to finish
2025/08/10 13:07:51 DEBUG : Google drive root 'tryy': Waiting for transfers to finish
2025/08/10 13:07:51 ERROR : Attempt 1/1 failed with 1 errors and: directory not found
2025/08/10 13:07:51 INFO  :
Transferred:              0 B / 0 B, -, 0 B/s, ETA -
Errors:                 1 (retrying may help)
Elapsed time:         0.3s

2025/08/10 13:07:51 DEBUG : 4 go routines active
2025/08/10 13:07:51 NOTICE: Failed to copyto: directory not found

C. I tried it for the folder:

PS C:\Users\USER\Desktop> rclone copyto "c:/try" gms740:try -vv --retries=1

the output:

2025/08/10 13:17:50 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.70.3" starting with parameters ["C:\\rclone\\rclone.exe" "copyto" "c:/try" "gms740:try" "-vv" "--retries=1"]
2025/08/10 13:17:50 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "c:/try"
2025/08/10 13:17:50 DEBUG : Using config file from "C:\\Users\\USER\\AppData\\Roaming\\rclone\\rclone.conf"
2025/08/10 13:17:50 DEBUG : fs cache: renaming cache item "c:/try" to be canonical "//?/c:/try"
2025/08/10 13:17:50 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "gms740:try"
2025/08/10 13:17:50 DEBUG : Google drive root 'try': 'root_folder_id = 0AK7mWSAP-8MeUk9PVA' - save this in the config to speed up startup
2025/08/10 13:17:51 ERROR : Local file system at //?/c:/try: error reading source root directory: directory not found
2025/08/10 13:17:51 DEBUG : Google drive root 'try': Waiting for checks to finish
2025/08/10 13:17:51 DEBUG : Google drive root 'try': Waiting for transfers to finish
2025/08/10 13:17:51 ERROR : Attempt 1/1 failed with 1 errors and: directory not found
2025/08/10 13:17:51 INFO  :
Transferred:              0 B / 0 B, -, 0 B/s, ETA -
Errors:                 1 (retrying may help)
Elapsed time:         0.3s

2025/08/10 13:17:51 DEBUG : 4 go routines active
2025/08/10 13:17:51 NOTICE: Failed to copyto: directory not found

D. For the folder I put again

PS C:\Users\USER\Desktop> rclone copy "c:/try" gms740:try -vv --retries=1

The output:

2025/08/10 12:55:01 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.70.3" starting with parameters ["C:\\rclone\\rclone.exe" "copy" "c:/try" "gms740:try" "-vv" "--retries=1"]
2025/08/10 12:55:01 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "c:/try"
2025/08/10 12:55:01 DEBUG : Using config file from "C:\\Users\\USER\\AppData\\Roaming\\rclone\\rclone.conf"
2025/08/10 12:55:01 DEBUG : fs cache: renaming cache item "c:/try" to be canonical "//?/c:/try"
2025/08/10 12:55:01 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "gms740:try"
2025/08/10 12:55:01 DEBUG : gms740: Loaded invalid token from config file - ignoring
2025/08/10 12:55:01 DEBUG : Saving config "token" in section "gms740" of the config file
2025/08/10 12:55:02 DEBUG : Keeping previous permissions for config file: -rw-rw-rw-
2025/08/10 12:55:02 DEBUG : gms740: Saved new token in config file
2025/08/10 12:55:02 DEBUG : Google drive root 'try': 'root_folder_id = 0AK7mWSAP-8MeUk9PVA' - save this in the config to speed up startup
2025/08/10 12:55:03 ERROR : Local file system at //?/c:/try: error reading source root directory: directory not found
2025/08/10 12:55:03 DEBUG : Google drive root 'try': Waiting for checks to finish
2025/08/10 12:55:03 DEBUG : Google drive root 'try': Waiting for transfers to finish
2025/08/10 12:55:03 ERROR : Attempt 1/1 failed with 1 errors and: directory not found
2025/08/10 12:55:03 INFO  :
Transferred:              0 B / 0 B, -, 0 B/s, ETA -
Errors:                 1 (retrying may help)
Elapsed time:         0.5s

2025/08/10 12:55:03 DEBUG : 6 go routines active
2025/08/10 12:55:03 NOTICE: Failed to copy: directory not found

I also tried to add the file typ PS C:\Users\USER\Desktop> rclone copyto "c:/tryy.xlsx" gms740:tryy.xlsx -vv --retries=1:

2025/08/10 13:49:59 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.70.3" starting with parameters ["C:\\rclone\\rclone.exe" "copyto" "c:/tryy.xlsx" "gms740:tryy.xlsx" "-vv" "--retries=1"]
2025/08/10 13:49:59 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "c:/tryy.xlsx"
2025/08/10 13:49:59 DEBUG : Using config file from "C:\\Users\\USER\\AppData\\Roaming\\rclone\\rclone.conf"
2025/08/10 13:49:59 DEBUG : fs cache: renaming cache item "c:/tryy.xlsx" to be canonical "//?/c:/tryy.xlsx"
2025/08/10 13:49:59 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "gms740:tryy.xlsx"
2025/08/10 13:49:59 DEBUG : Google drive root 'tryy.xlsx': 'root_folder_id = 0AK7mWSAP-8MeUk9PVA' - save this in the config to speed up startup
2025/08/10 13:50:00 ERROR : Local file system at //?/c:/tryy.xlsx: error reading source root directory: directory not found
2025/08/10 13:50:00 DEBUG : Google drive root 'tryy.xlsx': Waiting for checks to finish
2025/08/10 13:50:00 DEBUG : Google drive root 'tryy.xlsx': Waiting for transfers to finish
2025/08/10 13:50:00 ERROR : Attempt 1/1 failed with 1 errors and: directory not found
2025/08/10 13:50:00 INFO  :
Transferred:              0 B / 0 B, -, 0 B/s, ETA -
Errors:                 1 (retrying may help)
Elapsed time:         0.4s

2025/08/10 13:50:00 DEBUG : 4 go routines active
2025/08/10 13:50:00 NOTICE: Failed to copyto: directory not found
13
  1. the output of rclone ls c:\ --max-depth=1 -vv --retries=1 is:

2025/08/10 13:10:36 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.70.3" starting with parameters ["C:\\rclone\\rclone.exe" "ls" "c:\\" "--max-depth=1" "-vv" "--retries=1"]

2025/08/10 13:10:36 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "c:\\"

2025/08/10 13:10:36 DEBUG : Using config file from "C:\\Users\\USER\\AppData\\Roaming\\rclone\\rclone.conf"

2025/08/10 13:10:36 DEBUG : fs cache: renaming cache item "c:\\" to be canonical "//?/c:/"

2025/08/10 13:10:36 NOTICE: Documents and Settings: Can't follow symlink without -L/--copy-links

12288 DumpStack.log.tmp

6747738112 hiberfil.sys

2818572288 pagefile.sys

16777216 swapfile.sys

2025/08/10 13:10:36 DEBUG : 2 go routines activ
14
  1. I am not sure what to write in order to do that but this is my try:
    A. I put $ rclone copy ./aaa drive: -vv --retries=1:
$ : The term '$' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the
spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:1
+ $ rclone copy ./aaa drive: -vv --retries=1
+ ~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: ($:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

B. I put $ rclone copy ./gms740 drive: -vv --retries=1:

$ : The term '$' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the
spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:1
+ $ rclone copy ./gms740 drive: -vv --retries=1
+ ~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: ($:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException
16

4.I am not sure what to write in order to do that but this is my try:
A. I put PS C:\> "Hello World" | Out-File -FilePath "C:\tryy" (tryy insted of "ניסיון2")

Get-Process : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument 'Hello World'.
At line:1 char:1
+ PS C:\>  "Hello World" | Out-File -FilePath "C:\tryy"
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (:) [Get-Process], ParameterBindingException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PositionalParameterNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetProcessCommand

B. i write PS C:\Users\USER\Desktop> C:\> "Hello World" | Out-File -FilePath "C:\tryy" -vv --retries=1:

C:\> : The term 'C:\>' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check
the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:1
+ C:\>  "Hello World" | Out-File -FilePath "C:\tryy" -vv --retries=1
+ ~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (C:\>:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

I am sorry for for the mass, because it's an experiment I have no problem renaming the files to make it easier to work with for starters, apologies for the confusion. If you need me to rename the folder or file again, let me know

In general, the software is supposed to do well with file and folder names that are not in English, right?

17

maybe, how do I know? and what is the tamplate of the correct syntax to indicate the source and destination when I use rclone?

18

I put rclone copy "C:\Users\USER\Desktop\tryy.xlsx" "gms740:" and it worked, I dont understand why it didnt wirte the remote error now but it did back then

sorry for the trouble

19

According to Google Gemini rclone uses internally the generic Windows path in a format starting with prefix “//?/”
So, the path is perfectly right on Windows.

20

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