Last month, we were tipped off about a OneDrive issue by a Neowin reader where shared folders suddenly became web shortcuts. We checked and found that the problem is quite common, many users in different forums complained about the bug and it was related to workarounds.

Now in one of Microsoft’s forum threads, Mia.H, a Microsoft moderator and agent, responded and confirmed that Microsoft is looking into it. The response is thoroughly detailed and goes into the impact summary, last update and current status:

This appears to be a known issue currently affecting OneDrive shared folders. Users from different regions reported the same issue starting around June 2024. We have summarized the main points of our current situation on this topic, you can review them at your convenience:

1-> Summary of impact:

Many customers around the world have reported that their OneDrive shared folders have become inaccessible as normal file folders in File Explorer and instead appear as shortcuts on the web. The reported issues include:

• Shared folders are visible – Users can see shared folders in a web browser, but these folders appear as link files (.URL) in File Explorer, which open the OneDrive website instead of displaying the contents of the folders.
• Sync issues – Shared folders don’t sync properly with OneDrive on the desktop. Attempts to add these folders to “My Files” result in the creation of Internet shortcuts instead of actual folders.
• Access and sync issues – Users are unable to sync shared folders with their local devices, resulting in workflow disruptions and an inability to access files offline.

2-> last update:

This problem may be due to an internal error that affects the synchronization and handling of data in the OneDrive service. Microsoft has acknowledged the problem and is actively working on a solution.

Efforts are underway to restore proper access to the affected shared folders. The first steps involve investigating the root cause of the problem and applying fixes to ensure that the shared folders appear correctly as file folders in File Explorer.

A comprehensive analysis was conducted to determine the exact cause of the problem. Initial findings point to a possible misconfiguration or recent update affecting the handling and synchronization of shared folders.

3- > Current Status:

Some users have reported temporary workarounds, such as accessing shared folders directly through the OneDrive web interface –

Microsoft’s internal engineers closely monitor the service and implement fixes to ensure stability and correct synchronization of shared folders.

We fully understand the inconvenience and disruption caused by this issue. Our team is actively addressing this and working hard to fix it as soon as possible. We are still collecting and tracking many cases and thread behaviors, so we can always follow any new updates or fixes that come up.

You can find the answer in this thread (identified by Dr. Windows).

Therefore, if you are one of the users facing this problem, the good news is that Microsoft is aware of it and is investigating it. Hopefully the root cause will be identified soon and a fix will be rolled out.