OneDrive shared folders always open in webbrowser instead of windows explorer

I still have multiple users with this problem. It is not business critical, but it sure is a huge inconvenience. Can it be confirmed that the behavior is due to a backend migration, resulting in what appears to be random set of users for a random time period?

An explanation and time window for a resolution would sure go a long way in appeasing my customers. We do not look good when we have no such information to share with users and bosses.

Yes! It appears to also be working for me now, to some extent. In File Explorer, I'm now able to pin to Quick Access the folders that are shared with me, and I can use File Explorer to navigate into these folders, access, and open shared files. However, it's a little slow to sync updates to files. I updated a file in the browser earlier today, and it took a couple of hours to sync to my desktop.

OneDrive version 25.065.0406.0002

Yes! It appears to also be working for me now. In File Explorer, I'm now able to pin to Quick Access the folders that are shared with me, and I can use File Explorer to navigate into these folders, access, and open shared files.

OneDrive version 25.065.0406.0002

I must be one of the lucky ones. I tested it again after seeing yet another reply to this topic.

Without me changing anything, it is now working.

It looks like there was a May 15 update to OneDrive so perhaps that was it.

Here's an online-only method to restore shared OneDrive folder access via WebDAV until Microsoft figures their 💩 out for everyone! Edit 1: It was working great last night, but at some point, both folders that I mapped using this method disconnected and don't seem to want to reconnect this morning, so YMMV. 🤷‍♂️

SCENARIO

Account A shares access to a folder on Account B. The OneDrive desktop client app presents it like a URL in Windows Explorer instead of a native folder like it used to until whatever happened late 2024/early 2025. Boo!

FIX

1. Open Notepad then copy/paste this URL path template into it: https://d.docs.live.net/AccountA\_CID/SharedStuffFolderPath
2. In Windows Explorer, double-click the URL that used to work to open the shared folder in a browser. In the URL at the top of your browser, you'll see a link that looks something like this: https://onedrive.live.com/?id=A1S2D3F4G5H6J7K8%21112&cid=A1S2D3F4G5H6J7K8&mid=9I8U7Y6T5R4E3W2Q%214879&mcid=9I8U7Y6T5R4E3W2Q&sd=1
3. In the template from Step (1), replace AccountA_CID with the 16 alphanumerics after 'cid=' from the URL in Step (2)
   • Example: https://d.docs.live.net/A1S2D3F4G5H6J7K8/SharedFolderPath
4. Replace SharedFolderPath with the full path from the root (main folder) of Account A. If you do not own Account A and the shared folder is not right beneath the root folder, you may need to ask for some help from the Account A owner to get the full path (e.g. subfolder1/subsubfolder2/subsubsubfolder3/SharedStuffFolder)
   • Example (direct path under root): https://d.docs.live.net/A1S2D3F4G5H6J7K8/MicrosoftOneDriveIssues\_SharedFolderAccess
   • Example (longer path): https://d.docs.live.net/A1S2D3F4G5H6J7K8/Issues/Microsoft/OneDrive/SharedFolderAccess
   • In both examples, Account B must have shared access to the respective folder (e.g. MicrosoftOneDriveIssues_SharedFolderAccess or SharedFolderAccess) as provided by the Account A owner. This is no different than how the OneDrive client worked and how OneDrive online works.
5. Open Windows Explorer
6. In the Navigation pane on the left, right-click on 'This PC' then click on 'Map network drive' (Windows 11 may be a little different)
7. Select a drive letter for this Shared folder (you can always disconnect/change it later)
8. Copy/paste the complete URL path from Step (4) into the Folder field
9. (Recommended) Select Reconnect at sign-in
10. Do not select Connect using different credentials
11. When prompted, enter the login information for Account B and click OK
12. (Optional) In the Navigation pane on the left, Right-click on the new Shared drive and click Rename to simplify the name used throughout Windows
13. Wait for Microsoft to fix the OneDrive client which will be faster and provide offline access to your files again.

I hope this helps someone. Let me know if you have any questions or if I need to fix any of these instructions.