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
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

3,079 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2025-04-08T08:21:50+00:00

    So...

    This has been an issue for at least 10 months. Microsoft is either incapable of solving the problem or does not care. Not only have shared folders turned into links, but becuase I use more than one device I now have multiple copies of the deleted folder structures and maybe some duplicated files. i don't realy know. I can't really work it out. One of my devices is spontaneously uploading over 10,000 files this morning that were previosly synced.

    Coming at the same time that Microsoft is telling me I must throw at least some of my devices into landfill and spend thousands of pounds on new ones if I want to continue using their services, I really feel Microsoft is trying to push me in one direction.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2025-04-07T12:51:51+00:00

    The answer posted here is either not true or not accurate. I have my main account with this issue for 9 months and been subscribed to this question ever since. Its seems like some people have been lucky enough to have this "go away" within days or weeks, but I can tell you that I created new accounts which seemed to be the solution for a while, but some of those have now become the non-working types. I am not sure any more which are the new type of account and which are the old, but only know that there are 2 types that look different in the web front end and they are not compatible.

    If you are new here, you have my sympathy, but I can tell you are now on you own. Microsoft does not respond to this issue on this forum or if you contact them direcly via the OneDrive app. Nobody incl Micrsoft has been able to confirm or deny that upgrading to business will fix the issue and so the only real solution is to move.

    Only reason I am still here is because we need the other apps in the suite and so they own me. I have to admit it stings to have to pay more this year when there has been zero help on this issue. I'll just shutup and pay because thats the Microsoft way.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2025-04-07T11:30:59+00:00

    Worse still, nearly 400GB of files on my disk were silently deleted as a result, and I spent three weeks to recover these files.

    Is this merely a matter of "waiting"? Any competent architect should not let such an incident occur. I don't trust this feature anymore, as those statements indicate that it relies entirely on physical connections without logical adaptation.

    Moreover, at the very least, if Microsoft had sent any notification during these 9 months, I could have proactively moved the files to prevent them from being deleted.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2025-04-05T11:15:54+00:00

    For me, the issue started around March 19th when my account was auto-migrated, so I lost the sharing feature with my two other connected accounts.

    It took two and a half weeks to have all my accounts migrated to the new server by today.

    All of them have around ~800GB of data.

    I haven't waited for the auto-link resolver, so I reconnected my accounts manually (see the details ~ 2 pages earlier).

    It wasn't a pleasant experience; Microsoft had to manage it more professionally. However, it's not the end of the world.

    As a workaround, I invested in a basic Synology NAS that allegedly can handle multiple OneDrive accounts.

    It hasn't arrived yet, but hopefully, starting next week, I will have a Microsoft stup1d1ty proof system.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments