OneDrive not showing Shared Folders in File Explorer on new PC.

Question

OneDrive not showing Shared Folders in File Explorer on new PC.

DCSkells 20

Hey all, been a OneDrive user since before it was OneDrive and my wife is having an issue I just can't seem to resolve.

Situation:

My wife upgraded to a new PC. It came with Windows 11 and when we go her signed in, everything seemed to be okay.

Issue:

When she set her OneDrive up, she kept things in the Cloud and set it up to have them download as she opened them (we have 1TB OneDrive and she didn't want everything sycn'd). The issue comes when she uses File Explorer to access her OneDrive files.

Everything shows up in File Explorer EXCEPT any of her Share folders. We have a shared folder where we keep things we both use and when I open my File Explorer, I see everything, but when she does, she does not see the shares and the only way to access them is via the browser.

We have gone through all of the troubleshooting steps where we have disabled, cleared, re-enabled, deleted all files and had them sync again and all that mess. I have even tried to re-share them and nothing. Nothing we do will get them to show up locally in File Explorer.

Any ideas will help, we are just beyond frustrated with not being able to get something so simple fixed.

Thanks!

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Answer 1

Add the shared folder to your wife’s My files from OneDrive on the web; merely appearing under Shared does not add it to File Explorer.

Add the folder to File Explorer

On your wife’s new PC:

Sign in to OneDrive on the web using her personal Microsoft account.
In the left navigation, select Shared.
Locate the shared folder and verify it is marked Can edit.
Select the folder’s circle, or right-click the folder.
Select Add shortcut to My files.
Open My files in the browser and confirm the folder appears there.
Allow the OneDrive desktop app a few minutes to process the change, then check her OneDrive folder in File Explorer.

Microsoft documents that editable folders shared with a personal account can be added to My files this way. Shared folders added there can then appear through the OneDrive sync app without consuming her OneDrive storage allocation—the data counts against the owner’s storage. ^1^

Her existing Files On-Demand setting can remain enabled. The folder and its contents should display with blue cloud icons and download only when opened; Files On-Demand controls local disk usage, not whether a shared folder has been added to My files. ^2^

If “Add shortcut to My files” is unavailable

Check the applicable condition rather than resetting OneDrive again:

The folder is not marked “Can edit”: it cannot be added using the personal-account procedure. The owner must grant her edit access.
The shared item is an individual file: only shared folders—not individual shared files—can be added.
The folder already appears in My files: do not add or share it again; proceed to the next section.
The shortcut limit has been reached: personal OneDrive supports up to 100 folder shortcuts from one person’s OneDrive and 1,000 shortcuts overall. ^1^

If it is already in “My files” but absent from File Explorer

Because the unlink/reset/resync work has already been performed, check selective sync next:

Select the OneDrive cloud icon in the Windows notification area.
Open Help & Settings → Settings → Account.
Select Choose folders.
Ensure the newly added shared-folder shortcut is selected.
Select OK, then wait for File Explorer to refresh.

If the shortcut appears in File Explorer as a .url internet shortcut and opens the browser instead of behaving like a folder, Microsoft identifies this as temporary personal-OneDrive service behavior. The shortcut should automatically convert back to a folder when the service-side issue is resolved; until then, access remains through OneDrive on the web. ^1^

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