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

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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

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-02-24T07:22:23+00:00

    Thanks for the instruction. If I understand you correctly, this is a fix to get (new) shared folders to sync with the local pc again. Is there a fix to get access to the local folder that shows up as an internet shortcut without having to sync all files again? I have >500 GB of images synced locally and according to disk utilization they are still there (somewhere) but the actual folder is replaced with the shortcut. I would like to avoid downloading everything again.

    Has anyone tried deleting the shortcut? Or unlinking the Onedrive account from the pc?

    Here's an update on my issue. The local folder containing approximately 600GB of images, now replaced with an internet shortcut, had been moved to the recycling bin on my PC (Windows 10). The files could easily be restored to another location on the disk (outside of the OneDrive folder).

    This is catastrophically handled by Microsoft, as they deleted my original files! Some might wonder why I synced the images to a shared folder and the reason is that I don't have enough space on the main account. The shared folder, which I own, belongs to the same Microsoft 365 Family plan. And no, this is not for backup purposes. I do have multiple other backups.

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-02-23T18:24:54+00:00

    TShame on Microsoft for taking too long to fix this. Time to abandon ship. Time to begin home hosting.

    Some tips for others considering the same:

    • I have a Mini PC at home, running Proxmox, which allows me to install multiple things on top
    • One installation is TrueNAS, linked to a large SSD inside the Mini PC
    • Another installation is Trilium Next, a note style application which is my Word replacement
    • Another installation is Grist, a spreadsheet style application, which is my Excel replacement
    • I obtained a "special copy" of Microsoft Office for when I need special functions (Trilum & Grist are not total replacements)
    • I use a free service called ZeroTier to access my home network when I'm not at home, there are lots of other ways to do this

    This does take effort to maintain so I understand this approach isn't for everyone, but the freedom is great.

    Combine this with the fact that mid last year Microsoft suspended my account and refused to tell me why, despite myself and my MP writing multiple letters to the UK executives of Microsoft. Only got it back after making a Subject Access Request, funny that isn't it? Microsoft can take away your account AT ANY TIME and WITHOUT NOTICE for ANY REASON THEY WANT. At least now I actually own my data.

    Now I can cancel my subscription and never look back. Everyone else should consider the same.

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-02-05T19:37:41+00:00

    It's been 8 months. Do you have an ETA for a fix yet?

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-02-03T19:32:09+00:00

    February 2025, the problem remains unresolved.

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