One Drive stopped allowing color changes to folders in Windows Explorer

Hi @Virgadean Richmond,

Good day. Sorry you’re going through this, and the details you shared are fully understood. 

Before we proceed, please note that this is a user-to-user community forum. As a moderator, I don’t have access to your Microsoft 365 tenant, your account, or your device to make changes directly. However, I’ll do my best to support you by sharing the appropriate resources and directing you to the right support channels. 

As your folders are still showing as synced, OneDrive is likely running normally in the background. The main issue seems to be that the option to change the folder color is no longer available or no longer appearing in your current OneDrive/File Explorer setup. 

This can sometimes be related to the OneDrive app version, Windows/File Explorer behavior, account type, or where the folder is being managed. 

Since you haven’t specified your account type (work/school vs. personal), I may not be able to provide an exact solution yet. Assuming you’re using a work account, please try the steps below. If you’re using a personal account, please let me know and I’ll tailor the guidance for that scenario.  

1/ Confirm the folder is inside your local OneDrive directory 

• Open File Explorer. 
• Navigate to your OneDrive folder. 
• Make sure the folder you are trying to color is actually stored within the OneDrive location and not in another local folder that is only being viewed through a shortcut. 

2/ Try changing the folder color from the OneDrive context menu 

• Right-click the folder. 
• Check whether you see a OneDrive option in the menu. 
• If available, select OneDrive > Folder color. 
• If this option no longer appears, that helps confirm the issue is related to the feature availability rather than sync. 

3/ Check if the folder color option is available in OneDrive on the web 

• Sign in to OneDrive online using your browser. 
• Locate the same folder. 
• Check whether the color option is available there. 
• If the option works on the web but not in File Explorer, the issue is likely isolated to the desktop/File Explorer integration. 

4/ Verify that OneDrive is fully updated 

• Select the OneDrive cloud icon in the system tray. 
• Go to Settings > About. 
• Check the version currently installed. 
• If an update is available, please install it and test again. 

5/ Test with a new folder 

• Create a brand-new folder inside OneDrive. 
• Right-click the new folder and check whether the folder color option appears. 
• This helps determine whether the issue affects all folders or only specific existing ones. 

Additionally, you can try unlinking and then re-linking your OneDrive account by going to Help & Settings > Settings > Account > Unlink this PC, and then signing in again to re-link your account. 

For you references:  

• Unlink and re-link OneDrive - Microsoft Support 
• Organize files and folders in Microsoft OneDrive - Microsoft Support 

Please understand that our initial reply may not always immediately resolve the issue. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.   

I hope this information is helpful. Should you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please feel free to share them in the comment below. I'm very happy to help.  

I look forward to hearing from you. 

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