How to Fix OneDrive Shared Folder Not Showing in Explorer

What Is OneDrive Shared Folder?

OneDrive is a cloud service from Microsoft that allows you to create, store and protect your files. Share files with others and access them from anywhere on all your devices - laptops, phones, PCs, etc. OneDrive shared folders contain files and subfolders that are shared with you. These files and folders are shared primarily with different users in your organization for collaboration purposes.

When you use OneDrive connected to an account provided by your company or school, it is called OneDrive for Business. Shared folders in OneDrive for Business can be displayed and naturally browsed in File Explorer, just like your own OneDrive files.

How Do I Add a Shared OneDrive Folder in File Explorer

Small business owners can create a single shared folder called "Company" to share with other employees. With just a few clicks, other employees can see "Company" in File Explorer. There is no need to go to the OneDrive website. Subfolders and all files can be browsed and searched, and they don't take up any hard drive space.

Next, I'll walk you through the exact steps to display the OneDrive folder in File Explorer. If you've already added shared folders, but you're having issues with OneDrive shared folder not showing in Explorer, we suggest you skip this section and go to the next section for a solution.

1. Log in to your OneDrive account and create a shared folder called "Company".
2. Click Private in the Sharing column to open the Manage Access pane. Under Direct access, add the employees who will have access to the shared folder. Check the box Notify people and click Grant access.

3. Each employee will receive an email inviting them to open the shared folder. Click the Open button. The OneDrive website will open.

4. Click the Sync button at the top. Several windows will appear asking for permission to do something useful, tap OK.
5. Then, you have successfully added the OneDrive shared folder in Files Explorer.

Fixes for OneDrive Shared Folder Not Showing in Explorer

OneDrive is now one of the most important parts of Windows 10/11, especially for business users who use Office applications frequently. However, Microsoft's cloud storage client can sometimes cause a lot of trouble, as many people report the problem of OneDrive shared folder not showing in Explorer.

This is indeed a strange problem that doesn't happen often. But if it happens to you, don't fret, there are several ways to fix the problem.

Method 1. Update Windows to the Latest Version

It's possible that your version of Windows hasn't been updated in a long time, causing OneDrive shared folders to not show up in Explorer. Many OneDrive compatibility issues have actually been resolved in newer versions of Windows.

1. Press Windows + I to open the Settings on the computer.
2. Click Update & Security > Windows Update, and then click the Check for updates button.

3. If there is an update, please download it. Then check if OneDrive shows shared folders in File Explorer.

Method 2. Update OneDrive Desktop App Manually

By default, the OneDrive application is updated automatically. However, some users will turn off automatic updates in the settings. Outdated OneDrive applications may continue to have new issues, including OneDrive shared folder not showing in Explorer. You can resolve this issue by manually updating the OneDrive application.

1. Go to the OneDrive website, click Download and install the latest version of the app on your computer.
2. Click the Start button on your computer. Type OneDrive in the search box and click on the top result to launch it.

Method 3. Reset OneDrive Application

You can also choose to reset OneDrive to see if you can get the shared folders to show up in File Explorer. This is one of the common and most effective ways to resolve various issues with OneDrive.

🎇 Note: After resetting OneDrive, all tasks will be restarted, including re-syncing all files.

1. Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog.  Type: %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe/reset, and click OK to continue.

2. Sign in with your account information to connect to OneDrive, right-click the OneDrive icon in the taskbar, and click Settings.
3. Under the Settings tab, check the Start OneDrive automatically when I sign in to Windows, then click OK.

Best Alternative to Syncing Shared Folders to OneDrive

Many users have reported various problems with OneDrive, and this article on OneDrive shared folders not showing in Explorer is just one of them. There are others such as "OneDrive not connected", "OneDrive sync pending ", etc. When OneDrive crashes or doesn't work, users need to spend a lot of time to fix these problems.

If you are tired of constantly spending a lot of effort to fix OneDrive issues, you can switch to OneDrive alternatives that backup shared folders to the OneDrive cloud. AOMEI Backupper Standard is the best free file sync software. With its help, you can:

🎨 Choose different sync modes. It provides you with “Basic Sync”, “Mirror Sync”, “Real-Time Sync” and “Two-Way Sync”
🎨 Sync files to multiple storages. You can sync to cloud service (Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon Drive, etc.), NAS device, internal/external drive or USB drive, etc.
🎨 Set automatic sync task. You can use this feature to sync frequently changing data to keep files up to date and to avoid duplication of work.
🎨 All-around protection for your computer system and data. In addition to the sync function, it offers you backup, restore, clone, etc. You can use it to backup your system and quickly restore your computer to its previous state in case you encounter any system problems.

Steps to Sync Multiple Shared Folders to OneDrive

After understanding the basic information of this software, you can refer to the following steps to backup multiple folders to OneDrive for easy browsing by multiple people. First, download AOMEI Backupper Standard on your computer. This version only supports Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, XP, Vista. For server users, try AOMEI Backupper Server!

1. Start AOMEI Backupper, click Sync in the list on the left, and select Basic Sync on the right.

2. Then, you click Add Folder and select the files or folders from your computer that you want to share to OneDrive.

Tips:
🤿 If you want to sync multiple folders at the same time, click the "+" icon after adding the first source folder.
🤿 You can also choose to enable Filter settings (supported in Pro) to include or exclude folders and sync files with a certain file extension instead of all files.

3. Next, select your OneDrive cloud service path as the destination. Most cloud services folders are located by default in the C: \Users\UserName\OneDrive directory.

4. Then click Start Backup to back up the files or folders to the cloud. Wait until the operation is complete and click Finish.

Summary

If your OneDrive shared folder not showing in Explorer, you can refer to this article for help. The main purpose of creating a OneDrive shared folder is to allow more people to access files on OneDrive, which can be useful for many businesses.

OneDrive can be a great convenience for sharing files, but there are different problems encountered during the use. The problems in this article are just one of them, so if you don't want to go through the trouble of finding a solution every time, it is advisable to use a more versatile file sync software – AOMEI Backupper to help you sync the files or folders you want to share to OneDrive.