A shared folder in one drive, cannot be synced to explorer. Option no longer available

Question

Good morning,

I am an experienced IT professional.

I have already confirmed permissions to one drive folders are fine.

And, one drive has been reinstalled etc.

The account in question is just a free outlook.com account.

Issue - You used to be able to see a sync option on the web access for any shared folders.

The folder was shared from another free one drive account.

This is no longer there.

I can add a shortcut, that is all.

And while the user can in indeed click on the shortcut to access files, the access is ONLY web access.

From my reading of other blogs, I assume that Microsoft no longer allow one drive free to sync shared folders to explorer?

And I need to advise my client to move to sharepoint. - or, a 365 business account.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello, Nick Wheeler1

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

This appears to be a known issue currently affecting OneDrive shared folders. Users from different regions have reported the same issue beginning approximately June 2024. We've summarized the main points of our current situation in this issue, you can review them at your convenience:

1-> Impact Summary:

Many customers worldwide have reported that their OneDrive shared folders have become inaccessible as regular file folders in File Explorer and instead appear as internet shortcuts. The reported issues include:

• Shared Folder Visibility - Users can see shared folders in a web browser, but these folders appear as link files (.URL) in File Explorer, which open the OneDrive website rather than displaying the folder contents.
• Synchronization Issues - Shared folders are not syncing properly with OneDrive on the desktop. Attempts to add these folders to "My Files" result in creating internet shortcuts instead of actual folders.
• Access and Sync Problems - Users are unable to sync shared folders with their local devices, resulting in workflow disruptions and inability to access files offline.

2-> Latest Update:

This issue may be due to an internal error affecting data synchronization and handling within the OneDrive service. Microsoft has acknowledged the problem and is actively working on a resolution.

• Efforts are underway to restore proper access to affected shared folders. Initial steps include investigating the issue's root cause and implementing fixes to ensure shared folders appear correctly as file folders in File Explorer.
• A comprehensive analysis is being conducted to determine the exact cause of the issue. Preliminary findings suggest a possible misconfiguration or recent update affecting shared folder handling and synchronization processes.

3- > Current Status:

• Some users have reported temporary workarounds, such as accessing shared folders directly via  OneDrive web interface -<onedrive.live.com>
• Microsoft internal engineers are closely monitoring the service and implementing fixes to ensure stability and proper synchronization of shared folders.

Also if you have any ideas or suggestions for Microsoft Office applications, you can use the dedicated feedback platform Ideas - Community (microsoft.com) (English platform), where dedicated developers will pay attention to your feedback and comment on it. After sending your feedback, you can share the feedback link in this forum so that other users with similar issues, including me, can vote for your feedback; the more votes you get, the more likely you are to get the attention of the development team. The more votes you get, the more likely you are to get the attention of the development team.

Additionally, you can also submit your ideas and suggestions by sending an email directly to the OneDrive Support team so that the OneDrive team can get feedback directly from users and make improvements.

Thank you for your understanding and support. Microsoft takes user feedback very seriously, and if you have any ideas or suggestions for OneDrive in the future, you can use the feedback channels listed above.

Please let us know if you have any questions or need more help.

Best regards

Mark . L - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

My advise is every should submit this problem each individual to microsoft.

Maybe than Microsoft understand how big and annoying this issue is.

By forcing us to use web environment, the step to switch to google workspace is much lower.

Answer 3

Thanks for the reply Mark. May I know when can we expect a solution to this issue? It is really inconvenient to work from OneDrive via the web browser. Also, we have to open the file in the shared folder in order to download it. Previously, we could select the file to download. Looking forward to your reply!

Answer 4

we are facing same problem and nobody is able to fix it. what is happening with microsoft.

Answer 5

Experiencing the exact same issue. My explorer version of our client file in MyFiles which was synced to my one drive account vanished. Only a link to this folder remained. I was able to open the folder and files through web broswer which again is exceedingly inconvenient. However, effective this morning the link simply returns an error message. The folder still appears in my Shared folder. But when I access it there, it returns the same error message. I am now not able to access any one drive folder content that is shared with me. My access remains correct and I appear on the list of eligible users when viewing my collegues one drive account to check permissions. She tried sharing it with me through my email address connected to the onedrive account. The email never comes through. I sent emails through to my onedrive associated email from another address and those are received. When we shard the folder through my non microsoft email, I receive the share email but am unable to open it. This is VERY BAD. What is going on with one drive!?!