nextcloud / nextcloud/desktop

[Bug]: Windows sync client stuck on "Searching for modification" when need to download a file

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#8,259 13 comments 2 reactions 1 assignee Claimed by @mgallien View on GitHub
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Description

### ⚠️ Before submitting, please verify the following: ⚠️

- [x] This is a **bug**, not a question or a configuration issue.
- [x] This issue is **not** already reported on Github (I've searched it).
- [x] Nextcloud Server and Desktop Client are **up to date**. See [Server Maintenance and Release Schedule](https://github.com/nextcloud/server/wiki/Maintenance-and-Release-Schedule) and [Desktop Releases](https://nextcloud.com/install/#install-clients) for supported versions.
- [x] I agree to follow Nextcloud's [Code of Conduct](https://nextcloud.com/contribute/code-of-conduct/)

### Bug description

When files have the cloud icon (meaning they are not stored locally on the computer), double-clicking to download them causes the following issue:

The client starts syncing, and the download progress bar appears at 0%, but then everything freezes. The progress bar remains at 0%, and the sync icon and message stay on "Checking for modifications..." The only way to resolve this is to force-quit the sync client. This issue occurs repeatedly.

### Steps to reproduce

1. Start the sync engine
2. Wait until initial sync is done
3. Double-click a file not present locally
4. Windows progress bar starts but stay at 0%, Sync engine stay on "Searching for modification" (I have french version so the text message of the sync window could be a bit different)
5. Need to force kill the sync client

### Expected behavior

The sync client should start syncing, the file should be downloaded and then the sync icon should go back to green check mark.

### Which files are affected by this bug

jpg files, pdf, docs documents, etc.

### Operating system

Windows

### Which version of the operating system you are running.

Windows 11

### Package

Official Windows MSI

### Nextcloud Server version

30.0.10

### Nextcloud Desktop Client version

3.16.4

### Is this bug present after an update or on a fresh install?

Fresh desktop client install

### Are you using the Nextcloud Server Encryption module?

Encryption is Disabled

### Are you using an external user-backend?

- [x] Default internal user-backend
- [ ] LDAP/ Active Directory
- [ ] SSO - SAML
- [ ] Other

### Nextcloud Server logs

```shell

```

### Additional info

This issue does not occur on all computers (only about 5% of them), but it is reproducible. Setting the files to "Always store locally" resolves the problem (the download then completes successfully), but this eliminates the benefits of virtual mode.

Since 95% of computers don't experience this issue, I suspect it may be caused by a specific service, software, or configuration on the affected machines. However, I’ve encountered the same problem even on a brand-new, fresh Windows installation.

I enabled logging on the client, but when the issue occurs, the log files show no relevant entries—the last line corresponds to the last successful sync job. It appears that the entire sync engine freezes and stops functioning.

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