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Open file location opens OneDrive in a browser

Anonymous
2023-08-01T15:29:13+00:00

Recently, I've noticed that when I right-click on a file and select "Open file location" in File Explorer, Windows does not open it in File Explorer as it used to, but it launches my default browser and opens this folder in the OneDrive Web App. I have no idea how to set it up in such a way that it uses File Explorer instead.

The problem specifically concerns these files which are in my OneDrive, but haven't been downloaded to my device yet (OneDrive app lets you keep icons of files which are stored online and downloads the file in the background when you try to open it for the first time). Again, it used to work fine, and I didn't change anything in my OneDrive or File Explorer settings.

I would greatly appreciate your help.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-08-01T20:27:11+00:00

    Hello,
    Thank you for your response! However, this is exactly what I wanted to avoid. I have quite a rich folder structure in OneDrive that I hate to navigate (I know, it's partly my fault). For instance, to get to a recently-opened file, I need to:

    • Go to OneDrive
    • Scroll 60+ folders to find the right one and open it
    • Scroll another 30+ folders to find the right one

    That's why I rely on the "Open File Location" functionality so much. It just takes me right to my sub-sub-sub folder where I have all my files and materials neatly stored. Also, with Office files I can first open the editor and then see recent files, but I also work with non-office tools quite a lot. Like authoring tools, sound and video editors etc., and this functionality doesn't always work great there.

    That's also why it's so frustrating -- OneDrive online tries to open some external (=non-Microsoft) files in the browser, it fails to do so (unknown file format), and it downloads an unnecessary copy to a different folder. That's why I'm trying to have Open file location use File explorer as it used to.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-08-01T18:16:04+00:00

    Hello,
    Good to hear from you! The problem is that I have 2 TB in my OneDrive and just 256 GB in my laptop, so I try to keep as many files (especially backup high quality video recordings) off the device for now :-(

    If this truly is the only way, I will eventually do it, but for now I would rather avoid it. Maybe I could downgrade my system back to Windows 10? Win 11 is so similar that I don't see any meaningful differences anyway.

    3 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2023-08-02T10:03:37+00:00

    I have to confess I rarely use File Explorer, but having just checked I have no option to'open file location' and as an observation the OneDrive folder contains a cached copy of the cloud data and as such the 'location' would be OneDrive web access

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-08-01T20:04:01+00:00

    You open the file via the OneDrive Folder in File Explorer

    Or say Word > Recents

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-08-01T17:59:00+00:00

    Hello Marek,

    I am Jaspreet Singh.

    If you have space on your primary partition try turning off “files on demand” option then letting the files download to the system.

    Once they are done turn In the file on demand option again.

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