help unsyncing a Sharepoint folder

Question

Dear Community:

After reading multiple posts, I still cannot figure out how to unsync a Sharepoint site folder in File Explorer. I synced a folder that is a sub folder and now I can't sync a folder above it on Sharepoint, so I want to unsync the first folder in order to sync with the higher level folder. All the instructions say to right-click on the folder in File Explorer and choose Settings; however, there is no option for Settings. I've tried this in File Explorer, on the OneDrive App and in Sharepoint and cannot find anywhere to unsync. Why can't there be an option to unsync rather than sync for folders that are already synced? I found an option in OneDrive to remove the shortcut, but it isn't clear if that will remove the sync. There is also an option to delete but I'm afraid that will delete the folder and not the sync. Very confusing!!!!! Any help is appreciated.

These are the options when I right-click in File Explorer. When I looked in Properties, there were no options to navigate to settings.

Answer 1

Dear kky11971,

Good day!

Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are glad to assist. We are looking into your situation and we will update the thread shortly.

Appreciate your patience and understanding and thank for your time and cooperation.

Sincerely,

Waqas Muhammad

Answer 2

Dear User,

Good day!!

Apologies for the inconvenience caused and please don’t worry, let’s work together on your concern and move towards a resolution path.

I understand your concern and would like to let you know that the folder you are trying to remove is a folder in the SharePoint Online which is added as a shortcut to your OneDrive and when the folder in the document library added as a shortcut, it’s not possible to sync the document library.

To remove the shortcut folder, please follow the below steps and check the outcome:

Open the File Explorer> Go to the OneDrive synced folder> Right-click on the shortcut folder name> If you get Show more options, click on it> Remove Shortcut.

.

If you are not able to find the Remove Shortcut option, please follow the below steps:

Open the OneDrive for Business in the browser> My Files> Select the shortcut folder> Remove shortcut> Wait for some time for OneDrive sync client to sync the changes and remove the shortcut folder.

If still the shortcut folder appears even after removing it, please reset your OneDrive sync client: Reset OneDrive - Microsoft Support

Appreciate your patience and understanding. Have a great day!!

Best Regards,

Sophia

Answer 3

Thanks for this response, it does help with how to stop syncing. My only question is why did Microsoft change the previous way of doing this? "remove shortcut" is completely non-intuitive compared to "stop syncing" Previous versions of onedrive had a list of folders you were syncing from Sharepoint and you could literally go to the one you wanted to stop syncing and stop syncing. This new method just wasted about 30 minutes of my time figureing out how to do such a simple task that I previously knew how to do. thanks

Answer 4

Thank you Sophia for these instructions. I've followed them and see the updated shortcuts in my OneDrive for Business online. I can now see the new shortcut in File Explorer.

But when I go to the Sharepoint document library "Documents" and click Sync, I still get an error that it can't sync because the subfolder (which was the old shortcut to my File Explorer) is already synced.

What is the difference, if any, between synced folders and shortcuts? Ideally, I'd like to have shortcuts to multiple folders that are organized inside my Documents Sharepoint library as this would be most convenient to find files or upload attachments in email; however, that doesn't appear to be possible without running into syncing issues. (?)

I'm just confused as to if I need to do anything in order to also sync a folder once I have it as a shortcut. When I created the new shortcut, did that automatically sync and is that why I still get an error?

Thank you again for your assistance.

@kky1

Answer 5

Dear User,

Thanks for writing back and updating with us. Apologies for the delay in the response.

As per the further updates, I would like to let you know that the error “You’re already syncing a shortcut to a folder from this shared library” will be encountered when any folder in the Document Library is added as a shortcut to your OneDrive and your OneDrive is synced to your PC, where the behavior is a by design limitation.

Here is the reference: Can't sync a shortcut folder with OneDrive - SharePoint | Microsoft Learn

Since you have already synced the OneDrive to your PC, when you add any content such as new files in the OneDrive Online or add the shortcuts to your OneDrive, they will be automatically show up in the OneDrive synced folder on your PC.

If you want to sync the SharePoint Online Document Libraries to your PC, then please make sure you don’t have any folder in your SharePoint Online Document Library (which you want to sync to your PC) added as a shortcut to your OneDrive and in the situation if the any folder in the Document Library to be synced is added a shortcut, please follow the steps in the above article explained.

If still there is any misunderstanding, please feel free to post back to us with more detailed information for better understanding and guiding you further.

Appreciate your patience and understanding with us. Have a good day!!

Best Regards,
Sophia