Syncing issue with onedrive

Question

I keep getting this error in OneDrive. I would like to delete the shortcut by I do not know where it is located. I am not sure what it even means.

Answer 1

Hello @Micheli, John

Thank you for the information you provided.

To help refresh the sync and potentially resolve this behavior, could you please try the following steps? First, click on the OneDrive icon on your device, go to Settings, and select Quit OneDrive.

After that, open your browser and go to OneDrive.com, then navigate to Settings and select “Sync this OneDrive” and confirm. This will trigger a resync of your files on your device. Once this is completed, kindly check if the issue still occurs on your end.

Additionally, you may find it helpful to review the following discussion thread, where other users have shared different approaches based on their environments and file locations: OneDrive error - You're already syncing a shortcut to a folder from this shared library - Microsoft…

As a moderator, I do not have access to your OneDrive environment, so I’m unable to directly locate or identify the shortcut on your behalf. However, the shared experiences from other users in the article may provide useful guidance depending on where the shortcut is stored.

Thank you very much for your patience and cooperation. Please feel free to reach out if you need any further assistance.

Best regards,

---

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Answer 2

I do not know where the shortcut is located

Answer 3

The message means that OneDrive is already syncing a real folder called “Power System Controls - Documents” to your PC, and you also added a shortcut to that same folder in OneDrive. OneDrive is asking whether to replace the existing synced folder with the shortcut version.

To remove the shortcut instead of replacing the folder, delete the shortcut entry in OneDrive. Shortcuts are indicated by a small chain/link icon on the folder.

Use one of these methods:

1. Remove the shortcut from File Explorer (OneDrive folder)
   1. Open the OneDrive folder on the device.
   2. Look for a folder with the same name that has a small link/chain icon over it (this indicates it’s a shortcut, not the original folder).
   3. Right‑click that shortcut folder and select Delete. This removes only the shortcut, not the actual content in the shared location.
   4. If deletion fails, pause syncing in the OneDrive sync app, then try deleting the shortcut again.
2. Remove the shortcut from OneDrive on the web
   1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 account and open OneDrive from the app launcher, or open the OneDrive site URL directly.
   2. Go to My files.
   3. Find the shortcut folder (same name, with a small link icon).
   4. Right‑click it or select the three dots (…) next to it, then choose Remove.
   5. If removal fails, pause syncing in the OneDrive sync app and try again.

After the shortcut is removed, the prompt about replacing the folder with a shortcut should stop appearing, and the existing synced folder will continue to work normally.

---

References:

• You can't sync a shared folder that's set as a shortcut in OneDrive sync app
• OneDrive sync app error: Unable to sync shortcut
• What do the OneDrive icons mean?