Folders Shared with me are syncing as internet shortcut in OneDrive on Windows PC

Anonymous
2024-06-08T04:53:55+00:00

Hi. I had some folders shared from different users in my OneDrive account. I had added the folders to my OneDrive with Add Shortcut to OneDrive button from Shared folders in cloud. The account is logged into a windows pc and every files including the folders shared with my were syncing fine until yesterday. Yesterday night the shared folders were completely removed from the Windows pc and folders are replaced with internet shortcut. This is such a big mess. I have tried unlinking the account and linking it back, changing the location of OneDrive on my windows pc and tried to get a new folder shared to my account and adding it to OneDrive. Nothing works so far. OneDrive has a big part in my daily activities. Please help me resolve this.

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2025-03-13T06:07:22+00:00

Here is the statement from the Microsoft OneDrive product group (Redmond USA) about the OneDrive Personal problem:

***This is related to a backend migration we are doing and unfortunately, we don’t fully support syncing shared folders in the case where one user has migrated and the other has not. We’re doing everything possible to accelerate things so that it can be resolved as soon as possible for users of the feature. When the accounts are migrated, there is automated logic that makes them go back to a syncing folder within several days.***I have heard, that shared Folder issue is gone.
The best thing is: WAIT and do nothing

Was this answer helpful?

200+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments No comments

3,079 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2025-03-14T11:08:17+00:00

    I, too, have just succumbed to this defect. I and others in my family have free accounts dating back many years. Part of our workflow is to use a search tool, X1, to crawl our content to make finding things easier. Without a filesystem based access point, this all breaks.

    As a point of interest, the night my account experienced the issue I was accessing content from a subfolder from another family member who was sharing their content. When I next looked at the top level folder of my account on my filesystem, it showed a URL link to the location that was originally a filesystem access point, as well as a folder that was now local with the original location name appended with my computer's name, whose only content, locally stored, was the folder and the file I was accessing with Word. This is the behavior I typically get when there is a sync issue and OneDrive creates a 'copy' with the computer's name appended.

    I'm now waiting, like everyone else, for this to be fixed. In the meantime I've taken a backup of our collective OneDrive world and copied it over to Google Drive.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2025-03-14T11:20:34+00:00

    Hi Nadav,

    It sounds like your OneDrive settings may have changed, possibly due to an update or a policy change in your organization. Here are a few steps you can try to restore local access to your shared folders:

    1. Check OneDrive Files On-Demand Settings

    • Click on the OneDrive icon in the system tray (bottom-right of your screen).
    • Select Settings > Sync and Backup > Advanced settings.
    • Look for the Files On-Demand option and turn it off if it’s enabled. This should force OneDrive to keep files available locally.

    2. Re-Sync Shared Folders

    • Open OneDrive Online and navigate to the shared folder.
    • Click Add shortcut to My Files (if available).
    • Then, go to your OneDrive folder on your PC, right-click, and select Sync from the OneDrive menu.

    3. Check Storage and Permissions

    • If the issue is with specific shared folders, ensure the owner hasn’t changed permissions or removed local sync access.
    • If your storage is full, OneDrive may not sync new files locally.

    4. Unlink and Relink OneDrive

    • Right-click the OneDrive icon and go to Settings > Account > Unlink this PC.
    • Restart your computer and sign back into OneDrive.
    • Choose the folders you want to sync and ensure shared folders are selected.

    If none of these steps work, let me know if you’re using a personal or business OneDrive account and if this happened after an update. I’ll try to assist further!

    Best,
    [Your Name]

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2025-03-14T11:22:32+00:00

    When will this ben fixed? It's been over half a year and the problem still exists.

    On top of that I can't edit any shared folder anymore (impossible to copy files to the folder or add any files) even though settings are 'can edit'. Is this linked tot the same issue?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2025-03-14T11:25:49+00:00

    Ah Ok, it was just an idea, but what you say makes sense. guess we will just have to wait

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments