OneDrive – Shared folders can no longer sync locally since yesterday

Anonymous
2025-03-06T21:28:30+00:00

I have been experiencing an issue with the synchronization of shared OneDrive folders that started yesterday. Until now, I could successfully add shared folders to my OneDrive and have them sync locally, but now the folder is only appearing as a shortcut/link and is no longer treated as a regular folder in my OneDrive storage.

Problem:

  • Until yesterday, I could add shared folders to my OneDrive folder, and they would automatically sync so I could use the files directly on my PC.
  • Since yesterday, the shared folder is now only appearing as a link/shortcut, and it is not syncing locally.
  • The folder remains visible as an online link in the OneDrive Explorer, but I can't use it as a normal folder.
  • This affects all shared folders, both from external users and internal ones.
  • This change occurred suddenly on March 5, 2025, and was not present before.

What I have tried:

  1. Added the folder for synchronization again: This results in a link, not an actual sync.
  2. Updated the OneDrive client: I have installed the latest version of OneDrive, but the problem persists.
  3. Reinstalled OneDrive: I uninstalled and reinstalled OneDrive to fix any potential issues, but the problem remains.
  4. Cleared cache and stored credentials: This did not resolve the issue either.
  5. Checked the settings for a solution: I have reviewed all relevant options, but haven’t found a solution.

Questions:

  1. Was this feature intentionally changed by Microsoft, or is this a bug?
  2. Is there any way to reverse this change or make shared folders sync locally again like before?
  3. Is it possible to sync shared folders without the online link appearing?
  4. What steps should I take to resolve this issue?

Additional Information:

  • I am using OneDrive for Personal and syncing multiple folders from different users.
  • The files are still available online, but I am no longer able to use them offline as I did before.

I would greatly appreciate your assistance in resolving this issue. Thank you for your support!

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-05-15T18:55:51+00:00

    Thanks for this useful information, Christian_153. I see that my shared accounts appear to have migrated, but not my main personal account. I have offloaded most of my OneDrive storage to local devices for now so I have < 100GB on OneDrive. Hoping that will finally allow my account to migrate. Fingers crossed.

    One question for you - by "re-create the sync" do you mean:

    1. Pause, then restart OneDrive syncing on the local machine or
    2. Unlink the PC from OneDrive and then sign in again or
    3. something else?

    Thanks again in advance,

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-05-15T07:42:31+00:00

    Thanks Christian,

    So do you again have the "Sync" option on your web interface? Or did you not need to re-setup the sync?

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-05-15T06:59:49+00:00

    Thanks Christian. How do you know it's V2? Is it indicate somewhere in the app or online ?

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-05-11T10:11:21+00:00

    You would certainly hope there to be a high level plan/timescales for such a migration!
    Although I wouldn't hold your breath for Microsoft (or most large companies) to provide such useful information 😢

    And I agree that if they could group backend migrations on linked Family Plans/Subscriptions that would likely really help reduce the amount of time most people were feeling this pain.

    For info: Today I tried creating a new OneDrive folder with files on the account I need the mapped share from, and then sharing with full Edit permissions. As KellyMissey on Pg 11 here had said that worked for them.
    But no joy and I just got a web URL to OneDrive, not a proper folder or sync within Windows 😢
    Although KellyMissey said they tried that multiple times till it worked. I've only tried one atm

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  5. Anonymous
    2025-05-11T02:30:36+00:00

    @DigitalAmoeba, nice job summarising that. Thank you for taking the time. It makes sense now what causes the delay. I can see it would be too complicated (and maybe violate privacy) to find the links someone has to adjust the links to someone else's storage as it gets shifted to a new server.

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