OneDrive Shared Files no longer show up as local folders

Eben Darling 10 Reputation points
2024-06-20T21:41:39.3533333+00:00

Until recently, like the last week, I could on OneDrive online and "add shortcut to my files". Then, it would show up on my PC as a local folder. Now, it only shows up as a shortcut and forces me to open it online. This is a step back in functionality and convenience. I share files with several users, and the drag-and-drop capability is now gone. I hope this is fixed soon. I have tried this on many different PCs and restarted OneDrive Sync, but the usual fixes are not working. Yes, I rebooted several PC's as well. Is this functionality now gone?

OneDrive
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A Microsoft file hosting and synchronization service.
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SharePoint
A group of Microsoft Products and technologies used for sharing and managing content, knowledge, and applications.
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OneDrive Management
OneDrive Management
OneDrive: A Microsoft file hosting and synchronization service.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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3 answers

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  1. Paulo Henrique 5 Reputation points
    2024-06-28T13:12:08.6333333+00:00

    This is a global flaw that has been reported for weeks and until now Microsoft has not officially acknowledged the problem and gone public with its retraction. It is no longer possible to synchronize shared folders on Onedrive in Windows Explorer. They show as a shortcut to the internet. In other words, clicking on the folder will not open the files directly, but will instead take you to Onedrive online in the browser. This flaw is impacting thousands of offices that mainly use the "Microsoft Family" or "Personal" license to share files between employees . Because now they can only work 100% through the browser, which completely reduces productivity. And it's not just this problem that was found, Microsoft's services and websites are crashing all the time, several bugs in the processing of files directly in Onedrive were also found, but the worst thing is that Microsoft hasn't fixed this yet.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  2. AllenXu-MSFT 17,666 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2024-06-21T08:29:48.7933333+00:00

    Hi @Eben Darling,

    No, I didn't hear any update about this functionality and as per my test, it works normally in my environment. As you said, it should save a copy of the file/folder you add shortcut locally on the PC. I believe there may be something wrong in the backend. I found a thread who has similar issue to yours: Shared file shortcuts are not showing up on OneDrive Desktop App. In this case, this issue suddenly disappeared automatically after trying several times disconnecting and reconnecting account to OneDrive. I suggest you create a service request to Microsoft in Microsoft 365 admin center. Microsoft experts can have a remote session with you and help you check from the backend.


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  3. Hussain Abdullah Tofa 0 Reputation points
    2024-06-25T17:15:59.5266667+00:00

    I have the same issue in my home. Usually when I add shortcuts to my files of a shared folder, it becomes a internet shortcut in the local folder. And the shortcut forces me to open the file online.

    I'm disappointed from this.

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