Microsoft confirms that OneDrive shared folders are indeed turning into web shortcuts

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Last month, we were made aware of a OneDrive issue by a Neowin reader where shared folders were suddenly turning into web shortcuts. We investigated and found that the issue was quite widespread with many users across various forums complaining about the bug and looking for workarounds.

Now in one of the Microsoft forum threads, Mia.H, a moderator and Microsoft agent, has responded confirming that Microsoft is looking into it. The answer is fully detailed and goes into the impact summary, latest update and current status:

This appears to be a known issue currently affecting OneDrive shared folders. Users from different regions have reported the same problem starting around June 2024. We have summarized the highlights of our current situation in this issue, 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 regular file folders in File Explorer and instead appear as web shortcuts. Reported problems include:

• Visibility of shared folders – 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 folder’s contents.
• Sync issues – Shared folders don’t sync properly with OneDrive on the desktop. Attempts to add these folders to My Files result in web shortcuts being created instead of the actual folders.
• Access and synchronization issues – Users are unable to synchronize shared folders with their local devices, resulting in workflow disruptions and the inability to access offline files.

2-> Latest update:

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

Efforts are being made to restore proper access to the affected shared folders. Initial steps include investigating the root cause of the problem and implementing fixes to ensure that shared folders are displayed correctly as file folders in File Explorer.

A comprehensive analysis is being conducted to determine the exact cause of the problem. Preliminary findings suggest a possible misconfiguration or recent update that affects the handling of shared folders and synchronization processes.

3- > Current status:

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

Microsoft’s internal engineers are closely monitoring the service and implementing fixes to ensure stability and proper synchronization of shared files.

We fully understand the concern and disruption caused by this matter. Our team is actively handling it and working hard to fix it as soon as possible. We are still collecting and monitoring many cases and thread behavior, so we can always follow any new updates or fixes that come out.

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

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