Media file states it is synchronized physically, but it isn’t

When you upload a file or view an existing file in your media library and see, the URL / path of the file is not synchronized with the folder but it states “File is synchronized physically”, this can have different reasons.

Cause 1: No author for a given file

The WordPress core must know the current owner of the file at the time of calculating the physical path. For example, if you upload a file via the WP CLI command wp media import, this file has no owner.

There are two solutions:

• Update the author of the media file by WordPress core API through custom coding
• Use a plugin like Bulk Change Media Author (outdated, but still works)

Cause 2: Symlinks

Unfortunately, it is not possible to handle symbolic links with Real Physical Media.