Microsoft confirms OneDrive shared folders are indeed turning into internet shortcuts

Last month, we were tipped about a OneDrive issue by a Neowin reader wherein shared folders were suddenly turning into internet shortcuts. We investigated and found that the issue was fairly widespread with many users across various forums complaining about the bug and they had to do with workarounds.

Now on one of the Microsoft forum threads, Mia.H, a moderator and Microsoft Agent, has responded confirming that Microsoft is looking into it. The response is thoroughly 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 issue beginning approximately June 2024. We've summarized the main points of our current situation in this issue, you can review them at your convenience:

1-> Impact Summary:

Many customers worldwide have reported that their OneDrive shared folders have become inaccessible as regular file folders in File Explorer and instead appear as internet shortcuts. The reported issues include:

• Shared Folder Visibility - 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 rather than displaying the folder contents.
• Synchronization Issues - Shared folders are not syncing properly with OneDrive on the desktop. Attempts to add these folders to "My Files" result in creating internet shortcuts instead of actual folders.
• Access and Sync Problems - Users are unable to sync shared folders with their local devices, resulting in workflow disruptions and inability to access files offline.

2-> Latest Update:

This issue may be due to an internal error affecting data synchronization and handling within the OneDrive service. Microsoft has acknowledged the problem and is actively working on a resolution.

Efforts are underway to restore proper access to affected shared folders. Initial steps include investigating the issue's root cause and implementing fixes to ensure shared folders appear correctly as file folders in File Explorer.

A comprehensive analysis is being conducted to determine the exact cause of the issue. Preliminary findings suggest a possible misconfiguration or recent update affecting shared folder handling and synchronization processes.

3- > Current Status:

Some users have reported temporary workarounds, such as accessing shared folders directly via OneDrive web interface -

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

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

You can find the answer in this thread.

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