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
    2025-03-12T19:32:39+00:00

    I tested the ‘migration-to-newInfrastructure’ theory: account get migrated to a new infrastructure and when that happens the shared folders on not-migrated accounts become shortcuts.

    I took 2 accounts which I suspected to have the imaginary migration completed, and shared folders between them. Result: shares were real shares again, synced to the local drive.

    That supports what others reported: creating a new accounts and start over.

    The only thing is that creating new accounts and copying data back and forth takes a lot time and is not feasible for me.

    My hope is that the rest of the accounts gets migrated very very soon to that [maybe] new infrastructure. But maybe all of my findings are just coincidence.

    That's NOT the only problem. Some people in this conversation say new accounts are being created in the OLD server.

    If that's the case, they'll be migrated gradually at random moments in the future, meaning we'll lose the connection again.

    It's almost as if they were doing it this way to prevent everybody from doing this to solve their problem. 😬

    We should have a button on "old" accounts we can click to be prioritized for migration and there should be something that makes it clear at which server each account is.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2025-03-12T19:19:15+00:00

    I tested the ‘migration-to-newInfrastructure’ theory: account get migrated to a new infrastructure and when that happens the shared folders on not-migrated accounts become shortcuts.

    I took 2 accounts which I suspected to have the imaginary migration completed, and shared folders between them. Result: shares were real shares again, synced to the local drive.

    That supports what others reported: creating a new accounts and start over.

    The only thing is that creating new accounts and copying data back and forth takes a lot time and is not feasible for me.

    My hope is that the rest of the accounts gets migrated very very soon to that [maybe] new infrastructure. But maybe all of my findings are just coincidence.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2025-03-12T19:10:15+00:00

    That's great news...let's wait and see.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2025-03-12T19:00:48+00:00

    This is potentially in the process of being fixed. I have heard of urls turning back into shared folders but it hasn't happened for me yet. https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-finally-has-update-on-onedrive-shared-folders-turning-to-internet-shortcut-links/

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments