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
    2025-05-15T06:48:05+00:00

    After two months, all our family subscription accounts have been migrated to V2 and sharing is working again. The smaller the actual amount of data within the account has been, the earlier the migration took place.

    The execution and commination were really poor and annoying and trust into the services has suffered. In addition to that, I am quite sure, most occurrences of the issue could have been resolved by updating the one drive clients for Windows and Mac. An invest MS was not willing to make. IMHO this is due to the minimal priority MS is giving to the consumer market, amplified by the shift of resources to GenAI.

    Kind regards,

    Christian

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  2. 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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  3. Anonymous
    2025-05-15T07:11:13+00:00

    Just visit the web experience of Onedrive and select settings/options. If the last entry in the options menu blade is "Search Onedrive" your account is V1, if it is the option to recover, you are V2.

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  4. 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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  5. Anonymous
    2025-05-15T11:24:27+00:00

    Many thanks Christian for both the re-assurance that at least your family's OneDrives have now re-started offering proper local sync of mapped/shared directories from other users again.

    And for the the simple way to work out your OneDrive's backend version via online Settings > Options menu options 😎

    Following that method it looks like my main OneDrive changing to only online URL shared links is because the main shared folder I map is now on OneDrive v2 (with 'Restore your OneDrive' as last option inside OneDrive Web > Settings > Options left menu) whereas my main OneDrive is still v1 backend (with 'Search' as last option inside OneDrive Web > Settings > Options left menu)

    As both OneDrives are part of the same OneDrive Family Plan I'll keep my fingers crossed my main account migrates soon 🤞

    Meantime as a workaround I've created a 2nd Windows login for that other MS account on my PC, then Pinned as Quick Access in File Explorer that resultant other user's OneDrive folder in my main login 😶
    But now I'll need to login to 2 accounts on my PC every day! So that 2nd account's OneDrive will keep up to date with whatever changes I make in that favourite profile's OneDrive. The only good news is that if you are logged into both windows accounts at the same time, then when you access a file of the 2nd account's OneDrive it will download it (if needed) as part of the open request from main account. So you don't need to pre-sync locally all the 2nd account's files, they will work via On Demand.

    Obviously that's a pretty horrible workaround! So please Microsoft hurry up with this migrations 🙏

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