How to Access SharePoint Library in File Explorer

Question

I ran "Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant" on my OneDrive. It reported OneDrive may start to decline when you store more than 300,000 files in a single OneDrive business account. To work around this limit, ensure files are stored in multiple libraries." I have more than 900,000 files. So, I created 5 SharePoint Libraries. Moving the data from OneDrive into the new SharePoint Libraries took a long time. In order to see the new libraries, I clicked the link 'Add shortcut to OneDrive' on the SharePoint web interface. If I did not do that I could not see the file in File Explorer. Now when I run "Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant" on my OneDrive it still says I have more than 300,000 files, presumably because the OneDrive folder sees more than 900,000 files. But these are from shortcuts to 5 Libraries. How can I fix the situation, so the 5 SharePoint Sites are visible in File Explorer without exceeding the 300,000 limit?

According to video here https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sync-sharepoint-files-and-folders-87a96948-4dd7-43e4-aca1-53f3e18bea9b you can add SharePoint to Windows File Explorer not using OneDrive. I can only get files locally on my hard drive by pressing the Sync Button in the SharePoint site AND pressing 'Add shortcut to OneDrive'. I have also managed get a SharePoint library available in file explorer as a network drive but then the files are not stored locally.

There are suggestions it can be made to work using the SharePoint classic view. But I have found classic view illusive. The option only appears on sites that I do not own?

How do I make multiple libraries available in file explorer but not using OneDrive or as a network drive?

Answer 1

If I click Sync here

I am presented with

If I select 'Choose Application' I get

If I select OneDrive.exe I get

But I do not know where the files are being synced. I do not see any 'add items -library' feature or any icon like Contoso.

If I select 'Add shortcut to OneDrive' after 'Sync'

then the site appears in my OneDrive and is counted to my OneDrive limit as if all the files were in OneDrive.

Maybe I have disabled something? Or admin have disabled something?

Answer 2

Hi Harry,

Sorry for my late reply.

For the last screenshot in my reply, “Contoso” is my tenant’s name, and “add items” is my site name. Normally, the synced library folder will appear in the File Explorer.

For using the OneDrive client to sync the SharePoint library, there are two ways. One is adding a shortcut to OneDrive, after that the related folders will appear in your OneDrive folder and another is syncing the library directly to your device, as in my last screenshot. Since the window “We’re syncing your files…” will pop on, please go to your file explorer to reconfirm whether the library has been synced. If the SharePoint library still can’t be synced to local, I would like to suggest you uninstall your OneDrive and reinstall it from OneDrive release notes. After that, sync the library again.

Regards,

George