OneDrive: In windows 11, file explorer no longer allows you access to shared folders within "my files" or QuickAccess except as a link to the online version of the folder

Anonymous
2024-06-09T18:14:40+00:00

These issues are specifically for accessing files/folders within File Explorer.

Noted today that for shared folders that were previously added (and readded today) to My Files do not allow access to the contents of the folder but instead they appear as a link to the webpage portal for access to the folder.

Initial access to the web portal version did not seem to work until after logging out and back in again (I think this is referenced in a published workaround).

Further, the same shared folder cannot be accessed via the link in Quick Access. It provides a "location is not found" error instead.

Not sure if there's a fix to this pending?

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-02-24T20:10:24+00:00

    Not sure I understand. My recommendation creates a network drive that points to the OneDrive location that was shared with you. That works across networks as the OneDrive is cloud resident. This doesn't create a network file share on local network.

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-02-24T18:41:35+00:00

    This great if you're on the same network. This is what using for people in this office. If you are in a different office or different state, it's no good. I'm still waiting to see if they even pay attention to this site. It appears that this has nothing to do with a community they are a part of.

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-02-24T17:54:12+00:00

    TEMPORARY WORKAROUND / HACK

    I found a temporary workaround / hack for this issue. Microsoft really needs to properly fix this in the OneDrive client!

    The workaround involves mapping a network drive - via net use command which uses WebDAV to access the shared folder.

    1. Navigate to the OneDrive folder that was shared with you in your browser.
    2. The url will be something like https://onedrive.live.com/?id=...&cid=... .
    3. Copy the numbers/letters after cid=, this is your unique 16 hexadecimal content identifier for example 0123456789ABCDEF
    4. Open command (Windows+R cmd)
    5. Enter (or create simple batch file that you can run at startup or manually) net use L: /delete /Y net use L: https://d.docs.live.net/0123456789ABCDEF/Documents/Folder YOURPASSWORD /user:******@DOMAIN.COM /persistent:yes

    Where

    L: is the drive letter you want to use

    0123456789ABCDEF is your CID you copied in step 2
    /Documents/Folder is the folder that was shared with you
    YOURPASSWORD is your Windows password
    ******@DOMAIN.COM is your Windows user name

    You'll see the folder mapped to your network drive and you can access it in explorer and all MS apps just like a mapped network drive.

    CAVEATS

    1. This method uses basic authentication only, no OAuth - no MFA
    2. After a reboot, for some reason the network drive will not reconnect and when you try to access it, a dialog opens for you to enter credentials but does not work. Hence, the suggestion to create a simple .bat file and disconnect (/delete) network share and recreate it.
    3. This method seems to not like certain characters in the filename. The shared folder I accessed has subfolders with a percent sign at the beginning in order to place then at the top of the folder listing ... those show up as ^1whatever instead of %whatever

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-02-24T05:03:17+00:00

    Traffic on this issue has been heavier than usual today. You might think Microsoft would chime in. Are they hiding?

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  5. Anonymous
    2025-02-24T04:50:48+00:00

    More info: I can upload files to shared folders when using the web browser on Windows 11, whereas it stopped working in OneDrive for Android, as posted above.

    When checking the existing permissions of a shared folder, I noticed that despite my account being listed as having access, it did so by using a sharing link that anyone can use, which is not something I set up deliberately (I shared this folder years ago, probably around the year 2016).

    I deleted the existing sharing links (for "can view" and "can edit") and created a new "can edit" one that only applies to named people, added my personal account and shared the folder. I received an invitation email in which it says that "This invite will only work for you and people with existing access". The link works, but it hasn't made a difference to the folder's appearance in OneDrive for Windows - it's still just a link, not a folder.

    What do others see? Are your sharing links set to work for anyone, or for named people only? Does reconfiguring the sharing accomplish anything?

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