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

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

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

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.

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.

This method doesn't work on my Windows 11 machine, neither in the described way using "net use", nor by using the "Add a network location" or "Map network drive" features in Windows Explorer. The error is always that the network name cannot be found.

However, if I enter the path to d.docs.live.net in the Edge browser, it accepts it and redirects me to the OneDrive web interface for that folder. The URL changes to onedrive.live.com, followed by the folder ID.

I also noticed that OneDrive for Android does no longer display recent changes in shared folders. Files that I added since the whole issue started for me three days ago are not showing up. They do show up in Outlook for Android, when I simulate adding an attachment to an email and navigate to the shared folder there. This is getting increasingly inconsistent and worrying.