OneDrive: Shared folders are only available via internet shortcut

This just happened to me yesterday, How can such a major bug have existed since June 2024 and still not be fixed?

I got this update from One Drive support.

We understand that you are experiencing issues with shared files are showing but it opens as an internet shortcut link in file explorer. Actually, this is an emerging issue. We understand that this is not ideal and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

We have checked with our engineering team, and they acknowledged the issue, and have filed a bug for the same. It is in our development pipeline now and will need to be resolved with a product update.

At this time, we do not have an estimated time of accomplishment (ETA) for the resolution of this issue. However, we recommend you access the shared folders from OneDrive for Website https://onedrive.live.com for now. Your feedback is important to us. After this interaction you will receive a separate closure email with an opportunity to tell us about your experience.

We want to say thank you for helping us out to track this issue down and we should have a fix out soon, no specific ETA as we are still coding the solution.

Please accept our heartfelt apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. Though, we were unable to resolve this issue, we remain at your service for any future assistance you may need, and we would be more than happy to help with any other concerns. Your satisfaction is of great value to us, and we are always here to support you in any way we can.

Same issue.

Shared folders are appearing as Shortcuts and not getting sync'ed

I am having problems with shared folders in OneDrive. They are showing up as internet shortcuts only, I used to have them in File Explorer as a folder that I would click on to access content of that shared folder. My IT person found a website stating that Microsoft is aware of this issue. When will this be fixed?

I have exactly this problem now. when will this be fixed?

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.