OneDrive shared folders always open in webbrowser instead of windows explorer

Yikes, this is concerning. If an issue has been open since June 2024, it's likely that the problem is structural in nature, and that there is no easy solution. Similar to how the need for Mandatory Integrity Control required a re-write of the Windows operating system.

Since I rely on shared OneDrive folders on multiple MSAs in my homelab (to separate duties between admin/non-admin accounts) I already took the plunge and created a new Microsoft Account. It's inconvenient, but I've overcome greater challenges.

OneDrive Team: I love your product and happily pay an annual subscription for Microsoft 365 Family plan. 6TB of online storage for $99 USD per year is the best deal in tech outside of the Steam Summer Sale. If you need to deliver bad news, please be up-front and honest.

Hello Jay Yen Lim,

Thank you for supporting Microsoft products and posting in the community.

OneDrive shared folders showing up as shortcuts and opening from the browser is a OneDrive hot issue, and users all over the world have reported this exception.

Scroll to the bottom of this document, which you also read, and you can see the following response posted by the OneDrive team regarding this issue:

Add and sync shared folders to OneDrive for home - Microsoft Support

This issue has indeed been going on for several months, since June 2024 as far as I know. I‘m sorry to hear that this issue is now occurring in your OneDrive. We, as support staff, are not involved in the development and fixing of Microsoft products and I'm afraid we can't advise you on the exact timing of the fix.

The sad news is that only the OneDrive team can fix this issue, which is why you've tried troubleshooting such as resetting as well as relinking but it doesn't work. They are working on a solution and we share your expectation to see it fixed soon.

Please consider temporarily accessing shared folders fromOneDrive webuntil the issue is resolved.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. Please let us know if you have any questions!

Best regards

Ian - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

I just moved my family (4 members) and me over to Google Drive. I paid for Google One, which gives us 2T of space. So far, so good. There are differences, but we've decided that we can live with those. One Drive, we could no longer live with, with this problem gone unattended.

Dear Microsoft OneDrive Team,

We are beyond frustrated with the recent changes. You are actively pushing loyal users away and forcing us to explore alternative solutions. This is not a minor inconvenience — it’s a massive disruption to our workflow and trust in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.

Are you even listening to your customers? The feedback is loud and clear: this new direction is unacceptable. Restore the expected functionality and let us use OneDrive the way it was intended.

Your silence and inaction are damaging your credibility.

Sincerely,

Users all over the world

@ComCluster : when you have such a major issue, the first step is to role back your software to the state before the issue. But Microsoft is not considering his customers anymore, the only priority is AI and there is no developper to solve the problems of cash-cow customers. More than 8 months without solution is an affront. No IT major company did it previously !

You have no choice to buy a MS 365 licence without OneDrive. Because of this issue, I migrated to other cloud storage provider but I want to have my money back for such **** and crappy onedrive storage.

MICROSOFT GIVE ME MY MONNEY BACK !!!

I hope all the American customers will launch a class action and make Microsoft pay the fines.